How we remember to remember something

[Bertilak]

Dissociable Neural Routes to Successful Prospective Memory
Mark A. McDaniel1
Pamela LaMontagne1
Stefanie M. Beck2
Michael K. Scullin1,3
Todd S. Braver1
1Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis
2Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden
3Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine
Mark A. McDaniel, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Dr., Campus Box 1125, St. Louis, MO 63130 E-mail: mmcdanie@artsci.wustl.edu
Author Contributions M. A. McDaniel and T. S. Braver developed the study concept. M. A. McDaniel, T. S. Braver, and M. K. Scullin were the primary contributors to the study design, with extensive pilot testing to develop a tractable paradigm for fMRI performed by M. K. Scullin. Testing and data collection were performed by P. LaMontagne, and P. LaMontagne and S. M. Beck analyzed and interpreted the data under the supervision of T. S. Braver. M. A. McDaniel, T. S. Braver, P. LaMontagne, and S. M. Beck drafted the manuscript, S. M. Beck developed the Supplemental Material, and M. K. Scullin provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Abstract
Identifying the processes by which people remember to execute an intention at an appropriate moment (prospective memory) remains a fundamental theoretical challenge. According to one account, top-down attentional control is required to maintain activation of the intention, initiate intention retrieval, or support monitoring. A diverging account suggests that bottom-up, spontaneous retrieval can be triggered by cues that have been associated with the intention and that sustained attentional processes are not required. We used a specialized experimental design and functional MRI methods to selectively marshal and identify each process. Results revealed a clear dissociation. One prospective-memory task recruited sustained activity in attentional-control areas, such as the anterior prefrontal cortex; the other engaged purely transient activity in parietal and ventral brain regions associated with attentional capture, target detection, and episodic retrieval. These patterns provide critical evidence that there are two neural routes to prospective memory, with each route emerging under different circumstances.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/08/01/0956797613481233.abstract

Is this why I tend to forget things when I do not put them in the same or a obvious spot each day?

[Buster's Uncle]

Habits are a highly effective memory aid.

[Geo]

Appearantly you didn't forget to notify people of a short absence, Dio.