Prospective memory: a comparative perspective

Abstract

Prospective memory consists of forming a representation of a future action, temporarily storing that representation in memory, and retrieving it at a future time point. Here, we review the recent development of animal models of prospective memory. We review experiments using rats that focus on the development of time-based and event-based prospective memory. Next, we review a number of prospective-memory approaches that have been used with a variety of non-human primates. Finally, we review selected approaches from the human literature on prospective memory to identify targets for development of animal models of prospective memory. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: "Tribute to Tom Zentall".

Keywords: Animal models; Event-based prospective memory; Primate; Prospective memory; Rodent; Time-based prospective memory.

Figure 1

A disruption in performance is shown by a compressed range in the psychophysical function after the event provided information that the meal could be obtained soon. (A) Anticipation of a meal reduced performance in the ongoing gap-duration task after the event relative to excellent performance at an earlier time point. Smooth curves are the best fitting functions to the mean data shown in the figure. Data are means with 1 SEM. (B) Rats anticipated the arrival of the meal, as shown by the increase in food-trough responses before the meal and the increase that occurs when the event provided information that the meal could be obtained soon. The horizontal line indicates when the event was presented during the last 10-min before the meal. The meal could be obtained beginning at 90 min by interrupting a photobeam in the food trough. The error bar is 1 SEM averaged across 90 min. Reproduced with permission from Wilson, A.G., Pizzo, M.J., & Crystal, J. D. (2013). Event-based prospective memory in the rat. Current Biology, 23, 1089–1093. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Figure 2

Performance in the ongoing task was severely disrupted after the event, relative to excellent performance at an earlier time point when the event had not occurred, for both early and late meals. (A–C) Anticipation of early (A) and late (B) meals severely disrupted performance in the ongoing task after the event, relative to excellent performance at an earlier time point. (C) When event and time were dissociated (using data from 25–34 min, with and without the event), performance was severely disrupted by the event. (A–C) Smooth curves are the best fitting functions to the mean data shown in the figure. Data are means with 1 SEM. (D) Rats anticipated the arrival of the meal, as shown by the increase in food-trough responses when the event provided information that the meal could be obtained soon; the meal could be obtained early or late (beginning at 35 or 260 min, respectively), which was randomly determined on each day. Horizontal lines indicate the last 10-min before the meal when the event was presented. The error bar is 1 SEM averaged across 35 and 260 min for each curve. Reproduced with permission from Wilson, A.G., Pizzo, M.J., & Crystal, J. D. (2013). Event-based prospective memory in the rat. Current Biology, 23, 1089–1093. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Figure 3

Event-based prospective memory is shown by putting event and time in conflict. (A) When the event was presented at a novel time, performance in the ongoing task was severely disrupted by the event. Smooth curves are the best fitting functions to the mean data shown in the figure. Data are means with 1 SEM. (B) When the event was presented at a novel time (illustrated by the horizontal bar), rats anticipated the arrival of the meal, as shown by the increase in food-trough responses when the event provided information that the meal could be obtained soon. The error bar is 1 SEM averaged across 290 min. Reproduced with permission from Wilson, A.G., Pizzo, M.J., & Crystal, J. D. (2013). Event-based prospective memory in the rat. Current Biology, 23, 1089–1093. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Figure 4

Multiple, repeated presentations of the event on the same day demonstrate that rats inactivate and reactivate the memory representation in an on-demand, event-based fashion. (A) When the event was presented at three novel times, performance in the ongoing task was severely disrupted by the event (filled bars), with excellent performance shown at other times (unfilled bars). Events occurred at 70–89, 130–149, and 200–219 min. No-event data come from 11–20, 110–129, and 160–199 min. Data are means with 1 SEM. (B) When the event was presented at three novel time (illustrated by the horizontal bars), rats anticipated the arrival of the meal, as shown by the increase in food-trough responses when the event provided information that the meal could be obtained soon. The error bar is 1 SEM averaged across 290 min. Reproduced with permission from Wilson, A.G., Pizzo, M.J., & Crystal, J. D. (2013). Event-based prospective memory in the rat. Current Biology, 23, 1089–1093. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.