Parietal Cortex and Episodic Memory: An Attentional Account

摘要

The contribution of the parietal cortex to episodic memory is a fascinating scientific puzzle. On one hand, parietal lesions do not normally yield severe episodic memory deficits, but on the other hand, parietal activations are seen frequently in functional neuroimaging studies of episodic memory. A review of these two categories of evidence suggests that the answer to the puzzle requires us to distinguish between dorsal and ventral parietal regions and between top-down vs. bottom-up attention as they are applied to memory.