Nature Neuroscience
3, 1149 - 1152 (2000)
doi:10.1038/80671
Remembering episodes: a selective role for the hippocampus during retrieval
Laura L. Eldridge1, Barbara J. Knowlton1, Christopher S. Furmanski1, Susan Y. Bookheimer2
& Stephen A. Engel11
Department of Psychology, University of California,
Los Angeles, Box 951563, Franz Hall, Los Angeles
, California 90095-1563, USA
2
Brain Mapping Division, University of California, Los
Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563
, USA
Correspondence should be addressed to Laura L. Eldridge eldridge@psych.ucla.eduSome memories are linked to a specific time and place, allowing one to
re-experience the original event, whereas others are accompanied only by a
feeling of familiarity. To uncover the distinct neural bases for these two
types of memory, we measured brain activity during memory retrieval using
event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. We show that activity
in the hippocampus increased only when retrieval was accompanied by conscious
recollection of the learning episode. Hippocampal activity did not increase
for items recognized based on familiarity or for unrecognized items. These
results indicate that the hippocampus selectively supports the retrieval of
episodic memories.
|
