ABSTRACT
Over the past 20 years, neuropsychological investigations of brain-injured patients have provided important clues to the understanding of normal cognitive function. Indeed, there has been growing interest in the relationship between cognitive and brain processes, as exemplified by new terms such as cognitive neuroscience and cognitive neuropsychology (for review, see Broadbent & Weiskrantz, 1982; Lister & Weingartner, 1991; McCarthy & Warrington, 1990; Shallice, 1988; Squire, 1987). Of course, neurobehavioral approaches have been advocated by scientists in the past (Hebb, 1949; Lashley, 1950; Luria, 1973; Tolman, 1948), and thus this research endeavor is not entirely original. Yet recent interest is significant in that it has brought a new level of interaction between cognitive scientists and neuroscientists. In memory research, this approach has been fruitful in identifying reliable associations between memory impairment and the locus of brain injury. In addition, this approach has delineated dissociations of functions—that is, circumscribed brain lesions can affect certain functions but leave others entirely intact.
