Building memories: remembering and forgetting of verbal experiences as predicted by brain activity.
A fundamental question about human memory is why some experiences are remembered whereas others are forgotten. Brain activation during word encoding was measured using blocked and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how neural activation differs for subsequently remembered and subsequently forgotten experiences. Results revealed that the ability to later remember a verbal experience is predicted by the magnitude of activation in left prefrontal and temporal cortices during that experience. These findings provide direct evidence that left prefrontal and temporal regions jointly promote memory formation for verbalizable events.
Massachusetts General Hospital NMR Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. adwagner@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
A D
AD
Wagner
D L
DL
Schacter
M
M
Rotte
W
W
Koutstaal
A
A
Maril
A M
AM
Dale
B R
BR
Rosen
R L
RL
Buckner
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010465:Perception; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*