ABSTRACT

To a neuropsychologist the amnesic syndrome testifies to the utility of contrasting episodic memory with semantic memory. Double dissociations of a classical type in that each of the complementary sets of tasks can be performed normally with the other grossly impaired can be found between tasks dependent on episodic memory and tasks dependent on semantic memory. When activation in the supraspan condition was subtracted from that in the subspan condition, the regions significantly more activated were the perisylvian areas bilaterally. This may represent the greater use of the auditory-verbal short-term store in that condition, as this is known from both neuropsychological and PET studies to be located in this region of the left hemisphere. When functional imaging of memory processes began, an attempt should be made to contrast the regions activated by tasks requiring episodic memory with those involving other memory processes. A task stressing long-term verbal episodic memory was compared with an otherwise analogous task stressing phonological buffer processes.