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Brain regions associated with acquisition and retrieval of verbal episodic memory

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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.

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Author notes

  1. C. D. Frith: To whom correspondence should be addressed

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6TB, UK

    T. Shallice & C. D. Frith

  2. MRC Cyclotron Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, DuCane Road, London, W12 OHS, UK

    P. Fletcher, C. D. Frith, P. Grasby, R. S. J. Frackowiak & R. J. Dolan

  3. Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine, Roland Hill Street, London, NWS 2QG, UK

    P. Fletcher, P. Grasby & R. J. Dolan

  4. National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1 3BG, UK

    R. S. J. Frackowiak & R. J. Dolan

Authors
  1. T. Shallice
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  2. P. Fletcher
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  3. C. D. Frith
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  4. P. Grasby
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  5. R. S. J. Frackowiak
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  6. R. J. Dolan
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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

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