Episodic memory for motivationally relevant events: A neo-Hebbian framework

Emrah Düzel
University College London & University Hospital Magdeburg 

While studies in rodents suggest that the neurotransmitter dopamine is necessary for enabling the 
molecular consolidation of hippocampal plasticity, very little is known about the role of dopamine for 
hippocampus-dependent memory in humans. On the basis of functional imaging studies and 
pharmacological experiments using the dopamine precursor levodopa, I will discuss which role dopamine 
may play for human episodic memory (a form of memory that is critically dependent on the 
hippocampus) in young and older adults. In particular, I will emphasize the motivational regulation of 
episodic memory from the vantage point of novelty and reward processing in dopaminergic circuitry. Our 
data point towards a framework in which dopamine release promotes the hippocampal consolidation of 
episodic memories while novelty and reward processing in dopaminergic circuitry motivates exploratory 
behavior. Finally, I will discuss how the precision of episodic memories are affected by active 
maintenance mechanisms during encoding and will show that distraction can sometimes be beneficial 
for memory.