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Psychobiological evidence for the distinction between episodic and semantic memory

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Abstract

The evidence for discrete neurobiological mechanisms that underlie episodic and semantic memory is reviewed. Published data from three separate lines of research are considered: studies of human amnesic patients, psychopharmacological studies of normal human subjects, and studies of working and reference memory in rodents, a distinction that is arguably analogous to the episodic/semantic dichotomy. It is concluded that the available evidence does not indicate that episodic and semantic memory are mediated by discrete neural subsystems. An alternative model of human memory is discussed, based on the concept of parallel distributed processing.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Emory University, 30322, Atlanta, Georgia

    Michael David Horner

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An earlier version of this paper was submitted as part of the author's qualifying examination at Emory University.

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Horner, M.D. Psychobiological evidence for the distinction between episodic and semantic memory. Neuropsychol Rev 1, 281–321 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01109027

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