Conceptual knowledge frameworks termed schemas facilitate memory formation and are posited to support flexible behavior. In adults, the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) trade-off in supporting schema-based memory formation, such that encoding of subsequently remembered schema-congruent information relies on mPFC, whereas schema-incongruent information relies on MTL. Whether this is true in the immature brain and relates to behavioral flexibility is unknown. In this preliminary investigation, we aimed to replicate the adult findings in typically developing (TD) children and to investigate the relevance to behavioral flexibility by examining a disorder with pathognomonic behavioral rigidity, autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children completed an associative subsequent memory paradigm, encoding object-scene pairs in an MRI scanner and subsequently completing a recognition test outside the scanner after a delay. Recognition performance was back sorted to construct remembered vs forgotten contrasts. One-way ANOVAS were conducted in MTL and mPFC masks for schema-congruency, followed by congruency by flexibility scores. Exploratory analyses were then conducted within the whole brain. As reported in adults, episodic memory was strongest for schema-congruent object-scene pairs, followed by intermediate pairs, and lowest for schema-incongruent pairs in both TD and ASD groups. However, the trade-off between mPFC and MTL in TD children differed from adult reports such that mPFC supported memory for intermediate schema-congruency and left anterior MTL supported memory for schema-congruent pairs. In ASD, mPFC engagement interacted with flexibility such that activation supporting memory for intermediate schema-congruency varied with parent-reported flexibility and was higher in those with more flexible behavior. A similar interaction was also observed in both the left dorsolateral and rostrolateral PFC in whole-brain analysis. Our findings provide the first preliminary evidence for the association of schema-based episodic memory formation and behavioral flexibility, an executive function impaired in multiple developmental disorders. Upon replication, this line of research holds promise for memory-based interventions addressing executive problems of behavioral rigidity.

中文翻译：

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图式依赖情景记忆的神经关联以及与自闭症谱系障碍和典型发育行为灵活性的关联

称为模式的概念性知识框架有助于记忆形成，并旨在支持灵活的行为。在成人中，内侧颞叶 (MTL) 和内侧前额叶皮层 (mPFC) 在支持基于模式的记忆形成方面进行权衡，因此随后记住的模式一致信息的编码依赖于 mPFC，而模式不一致的信息依赖于 MTL . 这是否适用于未成熟的大脑并与行为灵活性有关尚不清楚。在这项初步调查中，我们的目的是在典型发育 (TD) 儿童中复制成人的发现，并通过检查具有特征性行为僵化的自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 来研究与行为灵活性的相关性。孩子们完成了一个联想性的后续记忆范式，在 MRI 扫描仪中编码对象场景对，然后在延迟后在扫描仪外完成识别测试。识别性能被反向排序以构建记住与遗忘的对比。在 MTL 和 mPFC 掩模中进行单向方差分析以实现模式一致性，然后通过灵活性分数进行一致性。然后在整个大脑中进行探索性分析。正如在成人中报告的那样，在 TD 和 ASD 组中，情景记忆对于模式一致的对象场景对最强，其次是中间对，对于模式不一致的对最低。然而，TD 儿童的 mPFC 和 MTL 之间的权衡不同于成人报告，例如 mPFC 支持中间模式一致性的记忆，左前 MTL 支持模式一致对的记忆。在自闭症中，mPFC 参与与灵活性相互作用，因此支持中间模式一致性的记忆的激活随父母报告的灵活性而变化，并且在那些具有更灵活行为的人中更高。在全脑分析中，在左侧背外侧和头外侧 PFC 中也观察到类似的相互作用。我们的研究结果为基于图式的情景记忆形成与行为灵活性的关联提供了第一个初步证据，行为灵活性是多种发育障碍中受损的执行功能。经过复制，这一研究系列有望通过基于记忆的干预措施解决行为僵化的执行问题。在全脑分析中，在左侧背外侧和头外侧 PFC 中也观察到类似的相互作用。我们的研究结果为基于图式的情景记忆形成与行为灵活性的关联提供了第一个初步证据，行为灵活性是多种发育障碍中受损的执行功能。经过复制，这一研究系列有望通过基于记忆的干预措施解决行为僵化的执行问题。在全脑分析中，在左侧背外侧和头外侧 PFC 中也观察到类似的相互作用。我们的研究结果为基于图式的情景记忆形成与行为灵活性的关联提供了第一个初步证据，行为灵活性是多种发育障碍中受损的执行功能。经过复制，这一研究系列有望通过基于记忆的干预措施解决行为僵化的执行问题。