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.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Scoville, W. B. & Milner, B. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat. 20, 11–21 (1957).
Zola-Morgan, S., Squire, L. R. & Amaral, D. G. J. Neurosci. 6, 2950–2967 (1986).
Victor, M. & Agamanolis, J. J. cogn. Neurosci. 2, 246–257 (1990).
Squire, L. R. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89, 1837–1841 (1992).
Schacter, D. L. et al. Nature 376, 587–590 (1995).
Schacter, D. L. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93, 321–325 (1996).
Grady, C. L. et al. Science 269, 218–221 (1995).
Herscovitch, P., Markham, J. & Raichle, M. E. J. nucl. Med. 24, 782–789 (1983).
Fletcher, P. C. et al. Brain 118, 401–416 (1995).
Grafton, S. T., Woods, R. P. & Tyszka, J. M. Hum. Brain Mapp. 1, 221–234 (1994).
Kosslyn, S. M. et al. J. cogn. Neurosci. 8, 78–82 (1996).
Smith, M. L. in Handbook of Neuropsychology Vol. 3 (eds Boller, F. & Grafman, J.) (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1989).
Grasby, P. M. et al. Neurosci. Lett. 163, 185–188 (1993).
Bookstein, F. L. et al. Commun. statist. Theory Meth. 19, 765–804 (1990).
Haxby, J. V. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93, 922–927 (1996).
Markowitsch, H. J. Brain Res. Rev. 21, 117–127 (1995).
Amaral, D. G. in Discussions in Neuroscience: Learning and Memory (eds Squire, L. R., Mishkin, M. & Shimamurs, A.) (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1990).
Squire, L. R. & Zola-Morgan, S. Science 253, 1380–1386 (1991).
Press, G. A., Amaral, D. G. & Squire, L. R. Nature 341, 54–57 (1989).
Graf, P., Shimamura, A. P. & Squire, L. R. J. exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 11, 386–396 (1985).
Haist, F., Shimamura, A. P. & Squire, L. R. J.exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 18, 691–702 (1992).
McClelland, J. L., McNaughton, B. L. & O'Reilly, R. C. Psychol. Rev. 102, 419–457 (1995).
Talairach, J. & Tournoux, P. Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain (Georg Thieme, Stuttgart, 1988).
Friston, K. J. et al. Hum. Brain Mapp. 2, 189–201 (1995).
Edgington, E. S. Randomization Tests (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1987).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/380715a0
This article is cited by
-
Mapping brain functional networks topological characteristics in new daily persistent headache: a magnetoencephalography study
The Journal of Headache and Pain (2023)
-
FDG-PET Contributions to the Pathophysiology of Memory Impairment
Neuropsychology Review (2015)
-
Specific and disease stage-dependent episodic memory-related brain activation patterns in Alzheimer’s disease: a coordinate-based meta-analysis
Brain Structure and Function (2015)
-
Differences in verbal memory retrieval in breast cancer chemotherapy patients compared to healthy controls: a prospective fMRI study
Brain Imaging and Behavior (2013)
-
Glucose effects on long-term memory performance: duration and domain specificity
Psychopharmacology (2010)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.