Exploring the Neural Underpinnings of Semantic and Perceptual False Memory Formation

Falsely remembering never-before-seen information can have significant negative consequences during everyday life, and can occur when novel information is semantically or perceptually similar to previously encoded experiences. The aim of the current research was to investigate the extent to which semantic and perceptual false memory are associated with overlapping vs distinct neural processes. To investigate this question, 30 younger adults encoded lists of images and words. At retrieval, participants underwent fMRI scanning and made memory judgments for items seen at encoding (targets) and new items that were perceptually or semantically similar to targets (lures). Consistent with our previous work showing that domain-general cognitive processes predict individual differences in false memory production (West et al., 2025) and consistent with past behavioral and neuroimaging false memory research, false memory activity, irrespective of domain, was associated with overlapping activity within the medial prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex. At the same time, unique domain-specific activation was observed in frontal (e.g., middle and inferior frontal gyri) and parietal (e.g., superior and inferior parietal lobes) regions for semantic false memory and in frontal (e.g., middle and inferior frontal gyri) and occipital (e.g., middle occipital gyrus) regions for perceptual false memory. Multivariate analyses examining the neural patterns associated with falsely remembered and novel yet related information indicated that semantic and perceptual items were represented as distinct and discriminable within frontoparietal regions commonly active during both semantic and perceptual false memory. Taken together, these results suggest that false memory formation is associated with both domain-general and domain-specific neural processes at retrieval.