Memory retrieval and the parietal cortex: A review of evidence from a dual-process perspective

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 46; no. 7; pp. 1787 - 1799
• Main Authors: Vilberg, Kaia L., Rugg, Michael D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2008
• Subjects: Attention - physiology; Brain Mapping; Decision Making - physiology; Episodic memory; Evoked Potentials - physiology; Familiarity; Functional Laterality - physiology; Humans; Judgment - physiology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - statistics & numerical data; Memory - physiology; Mental Recall - physiology; Meta-analysis; Models, Neurological; Neural Pathways - physiology; Oxygen - blood; Parietal Lobe - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Recognition (Psychology) - physiology; Recognition memory; Recollection; Recognition memory; Familiarity; Episodic memory; Recollection; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.01.004

Although regions of the parietal cortex have been consistently implicated in episodic memory retrieval, the functional roles of these regions remain poorly understood. The present review presents a meta-analysis of findings from event-related fMRI studies reporting the loci of retrieval effects associated with familiarity- and recollection-related recognition judgments. The results of this analysis support previous suggestions that retrieval-related activity in lateral parietal cortex dissociates between superior regions, where activity likely reflects the task relevance of different classes of recognition test items, and more inferior regions where retrieval-related activity appears closely linked to successful recollection. It is proposed that inferior lateral parietal cortex forms part of a neural network supporting the ‘episodic buffer’ [Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417–423].