page_title: Tip of the tongue
section_title: Neurological activation in the TOT state
hierarchical_section_title: Tip of the tongue / Phenomenon in the brain / Neurological activation in the TOT state
caption_attribution_description: Anterior cingulate cortex.
context_page_description: Tip of the tongue is the phenomenon of failing to retrieve a word or term from memory, combined with partial recall and the feeling that retrieval is imminent. The phenomenon's name comes from the saying, "It's on the tip of my tongue." The tip of the tongue phenomenon reveals that lexical access occurs in stages.
  People experiencing the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon can often recall one or more features of the target word, such as the first letter, its syllabic stress, and words similar in sound and/or meaning. Individuals report a feeling of being seized by the state, feeling something like mild anguish while searching for the word, and a sense of relief when the word is found. While many aspects of the tip-of-the-tongue state remain unclear, there are two major competing explanations for its occurrence, the direct-access view and the inferential view. Emotion and the strength of the emotional ties to what is trying to be remembered can also have an impact on the TOT phenomenon. The stronger the emotional ties, the longer it takes to retrieve the item from memory.
  TOT states should be separated from FOK states.
context_section_description: Several areas of the brain show increased activation in a TOT state. The following is a list of the specific structures that show increased activation during a tip of the tongue state:
  Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
  Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)
  Right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
  Right inferior prefrontal cortex (RIPC)
  Bilateral anterior frontal cortex
  Posterior medial parietal cortex
  Bilateral lateral parietal cortex
  Bilateral superior prefrontal cortex
  Supramarginal gyrus
  Superior temporal gyrus
  Supplementary motor area
  Left insular cortex
  It was also shown that in TOT state the activation of the parahippocampal gyrus is decreased.
  Not much is known about the exact function of these areas in the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. The areas activated during TOT may vary depending on the nature of the target word. For example, if the target word is a person's name, the fusiform face area will likely show activation as the rememberer processes the person's face. Problems like this make it difficult to determine what areas are specifically implicated in TOT states, and which are a byproduct of other cognitive functions. However, some inferences can be made about the roles of these structures based on theories of their functions derived from other studies of these structures, unrelated to TOT. It is hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex operate as a circuit to detect conflict, and may perform this role in detecting the conflict between the feeling of knowing the target word and the recall failure. The anterior cingulate cortex is also implicated in emotion and may show activation because of the emotional response to the tip of the tongue state. The posterior medial parietal cortex, bilateral lateral parietal cortex, and the bilateral superior prefrontal cortex are involved in retrieval and evaluation, and therefore may play a role in the metacognitive processes involved in the tip of the tongue phenomenon such as the evaluation of one's own knowledge and the probability of retrieval.
caption: The anterior cingulate cortex shows increased activation in TOT states
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