Attentional Switch to Memory: An early and critical phase of the cognitive cascade allowing autobiographical memory retrieval

Remembering and mentally reliving yesterday’s lunch is a typical example of episodic autobiographical memory retrieval. In the present review, we reappraised the complex cascade of cognitive processes involved in memory retrieval, by highlighting one particular phase that has received little interest so far: attentional switch to memory (AStoM). As attention cannot be simultaneously directed toward external stimuli and internal memories, there has to be an attentional switch from the external to the internal world in order to initiate memory retrieval. We formulated hypotheses and developed hypothetical models of both the cognitive and brain processes that accompany AStoM. We suggest that gaze aversion could serve as an objective temporal marker of the point at which people switch their attention to memory, and discuss the possibility of identifying a similar EEG marker. We also highlight several fields (neuropsychology, neuroscience, social cognition, comparative psychology, human-machine interfaces, robot interactions) in which AStoM markers could be essential. Our review thus provides a new framework for understanding memory retrieval.