ABSTRACT
Memory has been investigated extensively by those involved in neuropsychological research. This research has taken many forms encompassing practically all types of memory, ranging from information that is processed for the briefest of periods of time to memory across the lifespan. This chapter assesses the contribution that neuropsychologists have made both through the study of those individuals with brain damage and by use of neuroimaging procedures with healthy volunteers. Memory itself, at a most general level, refers to our ability to acquire, retain, and retrieve information (see Figure 7.1a). This information is stored in the brain, and thus analysis of those who have sustained damage to the brain, or techniques that allow us to image brain activity, provide us with means by which we can understand memory.
