ABSTRACT
The visual events that we experience are structured temporally—they begin and unfold over time, and terminate within a broader context of preceding, simultaneous, and ensuing events. To understand how the brain processes this temporal scaffolding in the service of visual memory, researchers have assessed memory for temporal information in association with a wide variety of visual stimuli, from well-controlled experimental stimuli to naturalistic, more ecologically valid experiences. Furthermore, given the importance of the medial temporal lobe to mnemonic processing, much attention has been paid to the involvement of these structures. As reviewed here, there is consistent evidence across different categories of visual stimuli to suggest that the medial temporal lobe plays a critical role in processing the temporal structure of visual memory and that these structures subserve memory for elapsed time and temporal order.
