Abstract
IT is widely held that conscious recall of past experiences involves a specific system—episodic memory1. Patients with amnesia have gross impairments of episodic memory while other kinds of memory remain intact2,3, suggesting that a separable brain system underlies episodic memory. We have used positron emission tomography (PET) to identify components of this system in normal volunteers. A dual-task interference paradigm4 was used to isolate brain areas associated with acquisition, and a cueing paradigm5 to isolate the areas concerned with retrieval from verbal episodic memory. Acquisition was associated with activity in the left pre-frontal cortex and the retrosplenial area, whereas retrieval was associated with activity in right prefrontal cortex and the precu-neus. Our results provide clear evidence that episodic memory involves a network of specific prefrontal and posterior structures6,7 which can be fractionated into different component processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tulving, E. Elements of Episodic Memory (Oxford Univ. Press, UK, 1983).
Mayes, A. R. Human Organic Memory Disorders (Cambridge Univ. Press, UK, 1988).
Baddeley, A. Human Memory (Erlbaum, Hove, 1990).
Baddeley, A. D., Eldridge, M., Lewis, V. & Thompson, N. J. exp. Psychol. Gen. 113, 518–540 (1984).
Squire, L. R. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89, 1837–1841 (1992).
Warrington, E. K. & Weiskrantz, L. Neuropsychologia 20, 233–248 (1982).
Goldman-Rakic, P. S. Rev. Neurosci. 11, 137–156 (1988).
Jacoby, L. J., Ste-Marie, D. & Toth, J. P. Attention: Selection, Awareness and Control (eds Baddeley, A. & Weiskrantz, L) (Oxford Univ. Press, UK, 1993).
Parkin, A. J., Reid, T. K. & Russo, R. Mem. Cog. 18, 507–514 (1990).
Grasby, P. M. et al. Brain 116, 1–20 (1993).
Petrides, M., Alivisatos, B., Meyer, E. & Evans, A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90, 878–882 (1993).
Frith, C. D., Friston, K. J., Liddle, P. F. & Frackowiak, R. S. J. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B244, 241–246 (1991).
Baddeley, A. D. Working Memory (Oxford Univ. Press, UK, 1986).
Shallice, T. From Neuropsychology to Mental Structure (Cambridge Univ. Press, UK, 1988).
Goldman-Rakic, P. S., Selemon, L. D. & Schwartz, M. S. Neuroscience 12, 719–743 (1984).
Valenstein, E. et al. Brain 110, 1631–1646 (1987).
Rudge, P. & Warrington, E. K. Brain 114, 349–360 (1991).
Stuss, D. T. et al. Neurology, 28, 1166–1172 (1978).
Baddeley, A. D. & Wilson, B. Autobiographical Memory (ed. Rubin, D.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1986).
Burgess, P. W. thesis, Univ. London (1992).
Roland, P. E. & Seitz, R. J. in Visualization of Brain Functions in the Human Brain (eds Ottoson, D. & Rostene, W.) 141–151 (Stockton, London, 1989).
Farah, M. J. Cognition 18, 245–272 (1984).
Squire, R. L. Psychol. Rev. 99, 195–231 (1992).
Rolls, E. T. & Treves, A. Network 1, 407–421 (1990).
Talairach, J. & Tournoux, P. Co-Planar Stereotactic Atlas of the Human Brain (Thieme, Stuttgart, 1988).
Wise, R. et al. Brain 114, 1803–1817 (1991).
Posner, M. I. & Petersen, S. E. A. Rev. Neurosci. 13, 25–42 (1990).
Robb, R. A. & Hanson, D. P. Aust. Phys. Eng. Sci. Med. 14, 9–30 (1991).
Friston, K. J., Frith, C. D., Liddle, P. F. & Frackowiak, R. S. J. J. comp. Ass. Tom. 15, 634–639 (1991).
Friston, K. J., Frith, C. D., Liddle, P. F. & Frackowiak, R. S. J. J. cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 11, 690–699 (1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shallice, T., Fletcher, P., Frith, C. et al. Brain regions associated with acquisition and retrieval of verbal episodic memory. Nature 368, 633–635 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/368633a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/368633a0
This article is cited by
-
A tripartite view of the posterior cingulate cortex
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2023)
-
Regional differences in the link between water exchange rate across the blood–brain barrier and cognitive performance in normal aging
GeroScience (2023)
-
Short timescale modulation of cortical and cerebellar activity in the early phase of motor sequence learning: an fMRI study
Brain Imaging and Behavior (2020)
-
A human memory circuit derived from brain lesions causing amnesia
Nature Communications (2019)
-
Gray matter volume covariance patterns associated with gait speed in older adults: a multi-cohort MRI study
Brain Imaging and Behavior (2019)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.