The short and long of it: neural correlates of temporal-order memory for autobiographical events.

Full Abstract

Previous functional neuroimaging studies of temporal-order memory have investigated memory for laboratory stimuli that are causally unrelated and poor in sensory detail. In contrast, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated temporal-order memory for autobiographical events that were causally interconnected and rich in sensory detail. Participants took photographs at many campus locations over a period of several hours, and the following day they were scanned while making temporal-order judgments to pairs of photographs from different locations. By manipulating the temporal lag between the two locations in each trial, we compared the neural correlates associated with reconstruction processes, which we hypothesized depended on recollection and contribute mainly to short lags, and distance processes, which we hypothesized to depend on familiarity and contribute mainly to longer lags. Consistent with our hypotheses, parametric fMRI analyses linked shorter lags to activations in regions previously associated with recollection (left prefrontal, parahippocampal, precuneus, and visual cortices), and longer lags with regions previously associated with familiarity (right prefrontal cortex). The hemispheric asymmetry in prefrontal cortex activity fits very well with evidence and theories regarding the contributions of the left versus right prefrontal cortex to memory (recollection vs. familiarity processes) and cognition (systematic vs. heuristic processes). In sum, using a novel photo-paradigm, this study provided the first evidence regarding the neural correlates of temporal-order for autobiographical events.

Author information

Author/s: St Jacques, Peggy (P); Rubin, David C (DC); LaBar, Kevin S (KS); Cabeza, Roberto (R);

Affiliation: Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. peggy.st.jacques(-atsign-)duke.edu

Grants: R01 AG 023123 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; R01 AG023123-05 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of cognitive neuroscience (J Cogn Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 20 (issue 7) : pp 1327-41

Dates: Created 2008/08/01; Completed 2008/09/24; Revised 2009/05/07;

PMID: 18284345, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 5/8/2009, IMS Date: )

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