A critical role for the anterior hippocampus in relational memory: evidence from an fMRI study comparing associative and item recognition.
Neuroscientific research has established that the hippocampal formation, a structure within the medial temporal lobe (MTL), plays a critical role in memory for facts and events (declarative memory) (Milner et al., 1998). However, its precise role remains unclear. According to one view, the hippocampus has a special role in relating or binding together previously unrelated pieces of information, while another view proposes that the hippocampus is equally involved in all forms of declarative memory, regardless of their demands on relational processing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we show that hippocampal activation is modulated by the extent to which a retrieval task depends on relational processing.
Giovanello
Kelly Sullivan
KS
Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston VA Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02130-4817, USA. ksull@bu.edu
Schnyer
David M
DM
Verfaellie
Mieke
M
D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*