Expert Witness Journal Issue 65 February 2026 - Flipbook - Page 53
New study rede昀椀nes our
understanding of how memory works
by University of Nottingham
A new study into how di昀昀erent parts of memory
work in the brain has shown that the same brain
areas are involved in retrieving di昀昀erent types
of information, the 昀椀ndings could rede昀椀ne how
memory is understood and studied.
Researchers from the School of Psychology at the
University of Nottingham and the Cognition and
Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge
have examined episodic and semantic memory,
combining task based and fMRI data and have
shown that there is no di昀昀erence in neural activity
between successful semantic and episodic retrieval.
The 昀椀ndings have been published today in Nature
Human Behaviour.
Episodic memory refers to the ability to remember a
past event that occurred in a particular spatial and
temporal context. This type of memory supports the
human capacity to re-experience events from our
past, as a form of “mental time travel”. Semantic
memory, on the other hand, refers to the ability to
remember facts and general knowledge about the
world that are retrieved independently from their
original spatial or temporal context.
In this research the team examined how information
associated with successful episodic and semantic
memory is processed and stored, using tasks that
are more closely matched. 40 participants recalled
pairings between logos and brand names, where
the pairings corresponded to real-world knowledge
(semantic task), or were learned in an initial study
phase (episodic task).
fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
scanning was used whilst participants were asked to
recall details about the associated brand from their
prior knowledge in the semantic task, or details
about the pairing in the study phase in the episodic
task.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
51
FEBRUARY 2026
