ABSTRACT
In this chapter we focus on recent studies employing functional imaging methods to investigate human episodic memory retrieval. Episodic retrieval was one of the first aspects of memory to receive systematic study using neuroimaging methods, and has continued to be studied intensively. Many of these studies have been described in review articles published within the last few years (see Buckner & Koutstaal, 1998; Cabeza & Nyberg, 2000; Desgranges, Baron, & Eustache, 1998; Fletcher, Frith, & Rugg, 1997, for reviews of neuroimaging studies; and see Friedman & Johnson, 2000; Rugg, 1995; Rugg & Allan, 1999, for reviews of related electrophysiological work), as have some of the theoretical notions inspired by this research (Rugg & Wilding, 2000; Tulving, Kapur, Craik, Moscovitch, & Houle, 1994a; Wheeler, Stuss, & Tulving, 1997). It is not the goal of the present chapter to revisit the ground covered by these earlier reviews; instead, we concentrate on recent studies of retrieval that have employed “event-related” neuroimaging methods. We address three principal questions: (1) to what extent are the findings from event-related studies consistent with those obtained using older methodologies? (2) What do the findings tell us about the functional and neural bases of episodic retrieval? (3) What directions should be taken by future research employing these methods?
