Episodic memory depends on the hippocampus and its coordination with a distributed network of interconnected brain areas. Recent findings indicate that the function of this network can be altered using network-targeted transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). These stimulation experiments have identified increases in episodic memory and the network-wide coordination it requires. Network-targeted stimulation the dominant framework for TMS experiments, in which stimulation is considered a focal virtual lesion. We offer a conceptual framework for important distinctions between network-wide and focal effects of stimulation on episodic memory and discuss factors that may influence the quality and quantity of stimulation effects. Findings from these experiments indicate that many properties of episodic memory can be effectively studied at the network level via noninvasive stimulation.

情景记忆取决于海马体及其与互连大脑区域的分布式网络的协调。最近的研究结果表明，可以使用网络定向经颅磁刺激（TMS）来改变该网络的功能。这些刺激实验已经确定了情景记忆及其所需的网络范围协调的增加。网络目标刺激是 TMS 实验的主要框架，其中刺激被认为是局灶性虚拟病变。我们为刺激对情景记忆的网络范围和局部影响之间的重要区别提供了一个概念框架，并讨论了可能影响刺激效果的质量和数量的因素。这些实验的结果表明，情景记忆的许多特性可以通过非侵入性刺激在网络水平上进行有效研究。