It remains to be determined how different inputs for memory-encoding, such as the use of paper notebooks or mobile devices, affect retrieval processes. We compared three groups of participants who read dialogues on personal schedules and wrote down the scheduled appointments on a calendar using a paper notebook (Note), an electronic tablet (Tablet), or a smartphone (Phone). After the retention period for an hour including an interference task, we tested recognition memory of those appointments with visually presented questions in a retrieval task, while scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging. We obtained three major results. First, the duration of writing down schedules was significantly shorter for the Note group than the Tablet and Phone groups, and accuracy was much higher for the Note group in easier (i.e., more straightforward) questions. Because the input methods were equated as much as possible between the Note and Tablet groups, these results indicate that the cognitive processes for the Note group were actually deeper and more solid. Secondly, brain activations for all participants during the retrieval phase were localized in the bilateral hippocampus, precuneus, visual cortices, and language-related frontal regions, confirming the involvement of verbalized memory retrieval processes for appointments. Thirdly, activations in these regions were significantly higher for the Note group than those for the Tablet and Phone groups. These enhanced activations for the Note group could not be explained by general cognitive loads or task difficulty, because overall task performances were similar among the groups. The significant superiority in both accuracy and activations for the Note group suggested that the use of a paper notebook promoted the acquisition of rich encoding information and/or spatial information of real papers, and that this information could be utilized as effective retrieval clues, leading to higher activations in these specific regions.

中文翻译：

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纸质笔记本与移动设备：记忆检索过程中的大脑激活差异

内存编码的不同输入（例如使用纸质笔记本或移动设备）如何影响检索过程还有待确定。我们比较了三组参与者，他们按照个人时间表阅读对话，并使用纸质笔记本（Note），电子平板电脑（Tablet）或智能手机（Phone）在日历上写下预定的约会。在一个小时的保留期（包括干扰任务）之后，我们在检索任务中测试了这些约会的识别记忆，并在视觉上呈现了问题，同时使用了功能磁共振成像进行了扫描。我们获得了三个主要结果。首先，Note小组的写下时间表的持续时间明显短于Tablet和Phone小组，Note小组的准确度要容易得多（例如，更直接的问题）。由于Note和Tablet组之间的输入方法尽可能相等，因此这些结果表明Note组的认知过程实际上更深入，更牢固。其次，在检索阶段，所有参与者的大脑激活都位于双侧海马，足突，视觉皮层和与语言有关的额叶区域，从而证实了语言记忆检索过程对约会的参与。第三，Note组在这些区域的激活明显高于Tablet和Phone组。注释组的这些增强的激活不能用一般的认知负荷或任务难度来解释，因为各组之间的总体任务绩效是相似的。