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Abstract:
Abstract: Institute for Psychiatric Research; Department of
Psychiatry, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell
University Episodic memory concerns our memory for autobiographical
events. One interesting question in research on episodic memory is
the difference between fact memory and source memory. Fact (item)
memory is memory for what happened, whereas source memory is memory
for the context of the event. The aim of this research is to
determine whether there are different brain areas which underlie
these two types of memory. A functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) experiment was conducted using pictures (items) drawn in
either red or green ink (context) in an attempt to separate
processes involved in remembering fact vs. source. Statistical
parametric mapping was carried out to localize brain activities
associated with memory functions. Results showed that the right
prefrontal lobe was related to episodic memory retrieval for both
source and items. However, there was increased activation in both
left frontal and hippocampal regions for source memory retrieval
compared to item memory retrieval. A structural model was
constructed and path analysis was used to assess the functional
connectivity between hippocampal and prefrontal regions. The model
showed interaction between prefrontal and hippocampal regions
during source memory retrieval.
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