Constructing realistic engrams: Poststimulus activity of hippocampus and dorsal striatum predicts subsequent episodic memory

Encoding of real-life episodic memory commonly involves integration of information as the episode unfolds. Offline processing immediately following event offset is expected to play a role in encoding the episode into memory. In this study, we examined whether distinct human brain activitytime-lockedtotheoffsetofshortnarrativeaudiovisualepisodes could predict subsequent memory for the gist of the episodes. We found that a set of brain regions, most prominently the bilateral hippocampus and the bilateral caudate nucleus, exhibit memory-predictive activity time-locked to the stimulus offset. We propose that offline activity in these regions reflects registration to memory of integrated episodes.