Source memory engages familiarity-like, not recollection-like, neural patterns: an fMRI meta-analysis

Source memory is often assumed to reflect strong, recollective retrieval. However, the structure of standard source-memory paradigms suggests that these tasks may instead rely on weaker mnemonic signals that require strategic, controlled processing. To clarify the functional and neural characteristics of source memory, a meta-analysis was conducted across 48 fMRI studies comprising three groups: source memory (source-correct > New), recollection (Remember > New), and familiarity (Know > New). Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE), combined with network-based analyses, identified convergent activity at both voxel-wise and large-scale network levels. Source memory was characterized by predominant engagement of the frontoparietal network (FPN) and relatively limited involvement of the default mode network (DMN)-an architecture consistent with effortful, control-related retrieval. Direct contrasts indicated that its neural profile differed from recollection and more closely resembled familiarity. These findings suggest that standard source memory paradigms may primarily capture deliberate, strategically supported retrieval, refining current accounts of its neural organization and positioning it toward the more control-dependent end of a continuum spanning more spontaneous to more strategic forms of retrieval.