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Activation of medial temporal structures during episodic memory retrieval

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Abstract

MEDIAL temporal lobe structures have been implicated in human episodic memory. Patients with medial temporal lesions show memory deficits1–3, and functional neuroimaging studies have revealed activation in this region during episodic encoding and retrieval when data are averaged over a sample of subjects4–7. The relevance of such observations for memory performance has remained unclear, however. Here we have used positron emission tomography (PET) to examine cerebral blood flow related to verbal episodic retrieval. We observed strong positive correla-tions between retrieval and blood flow in left medial temporal structures in individual normal human subjects. In addition, multivariate analysis showed that regions in the left medial temporal lobe were dominant components of a pattern of brain regions that distinguished a high-retrieval condition from con-ditions of lower retrieval. These results suggest that medial temporal activity is related to retrieval success rather than retrieval attempt, possibly by reflecting reactivation of stored patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre, 3560 Bathurst Street, North York, Ontario, M64 2E1, Canada

    L. Nyberg, A. R. Mclntosh & E. Tulving

  2. Department of Psychology, Umeå University, S-90187, Umeå, Sweden

    L. Nyberg

  3. PET Centre, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada

    S. Houle

  4. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, S-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    L.-G. Nilsson

Authors
  1. L. Nyberg
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  2. A. R. Mclntosh
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  3. S. Houle
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  4. L.-G. Nilsson
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  5. E. Tulving
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Nyberg, L., Mclntosh, A., Houle, S. et al. Activation of medial temporal structures during episodic memory retrieval. Nature 380, 715–717 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/380715a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/380715a0

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