{
  "abstract": "Neurocomputational models predict that episodic memories are represented by sparse, pattern-separated hippocampal codes. Recognition within working memory capacity may instead rely on overlapping cortical codes. We analyzed human intracranial microwire recordings during a continuous recognition task to test whether retrieval demand and spiking activity at encoding determine which neural signal is expressed. We show that relative increases in firing from pre-stimulus to post-stimulus onset at encoding predicted an item-specific signal that was present only in the hippocampus and only during long-term memory retrieval of remembered items. In contrast, consistently elevated firing predicted a generic signal that distinguished remembered from novel items, was present in the hippocampus during both working and long-term memory retrieval, and extended to the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices during working memory. These findings are consistent with a new theory that distinguishes working memory from long-term memory in terms of the neural coding scheme accessed at retrieval.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of California San Diego"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "C. W. Tallman"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. T. Wixted"
    },
    {
      "name": "P. N. Steinmetz"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/01zw5ffes22r1.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.21.759719",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.759719v1.full",
  "id": "01zw5ffes22r1",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.759719v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Memory and Neural Mechanisms"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223651046",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.759719v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/01zw5ffes22r1.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:43Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.21.759719",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.759719v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Encoding activity predicts distinct recognition signals during working and long-term memory in the human hippocampus",
  "title_text": "Encoding activity predicts distinct recognition signals during working and long-term memory in the human hippocampus",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:43Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/01zw5ffes22r1",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}