Dynamic brain states during encoding and their post-encoding reinstatement predict episodic memory in children

Flexible transitions into an active-encoding brain state during scene encoding predict children’s episodic memory performance, and inactive-state transitions predict poorer performance.

• Why it matters: Episodic memory depends on dynamic brain organization, but how moment-to-moment neural configurations across encoding and offline phases relate to later memory in children is unclear.
• What they did: Children completed scene encoding followed by offline post-encoding rest while fMRI was recorded; a Bayesian Switching Dynamic Systems hidden Markov model with automatic state detection identified four encoding states and tracked state transitions and reemergence during rest.
• The result: Encoding states spontaneously reemerged during post-encoding rest, and a default-mode state with enhanced default mode network activity predicted memory outcomes specifically after post-encoding rest, not pre-encoding rest.

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