Review

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9, 613-625 (August 2008) | doi:10.1038/nrn2459

Article series: Memory systems

The parietal cortex and episodic memory: an attentional account

Roberto Cabeza1, Elisa Ciaramelli2, Ingrid R. Olson3 & Morris Moscovitch2,4  About the authors

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The contribution of the parietal cortex to episodic memory is a fascinating scientific puzzle. On the one hand, parietal lesions do not normally yield severe episodic-memory deficits; on the other hand, parietal activations are seen frequently in functional-neuroimaging studies of episodic memory. A review of these two categories of evidence suggests that the answer to the puzzle requires us to distinguish between the contributions of dorsal and ventral parietal regions and between the influence of top-down and bottom-up attention on memory.

Author affiliations

  1. Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, B203 LSRC building, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
  2. Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest centre, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario M6A 2E1, Canada.
  3. Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA.
  4. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada.

Correspondence to: Roberto Cabeza1 Email: cabeza@duke.edu

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