Retrieving Memories via Internal Context Requires the Hippocampus

Retrieving memories via internal context requires the hippocampus.

Episodic memory encodes the unique contexts of events so that people can remember the details of an experience when cued by only a subset of event features (Tulving, 1972). In humans, the hippocampus is crucial for this kind of memory (Scoville and Milner, 1957; Vargha-Khadem et al., 1997). The present study tested whether the hippocampus was required for nonspatial, context-dependent memory re...

Making context memories independent of the hippocampus.

We present evidence that certain learning parameters can make a memory, even a very recent one, become independent of the hippocampus. We confirm earlier findings that damage to the hippocampus causes severe retrograde amnesia for context memories, but we show that repeated learning sessions create a context memory that is not vulnerable to the damage. The findings demonstrate that memories nor...

Hippocampus, temporal context and taste memories.

Human research points to the relevance of the hippocampus for episodic memory, i.e. the ability to remember unique events that took place at a particular time and place (Tulving, 2002). The study of the hippocampal involvement in animal models of episodic memory faces several pitfalls (Eichenbaum and Fortin, 2003). As an alternative animal model, episodic-like taste memories may be studied usin...

Active hippocampus during nonconscious memories.

The hippocampal formation is known for its importance in conscious, declarative memory. Here, we report neuroimaging evidence in humans for an additional role of the hippocampal formation in nonconscious memory. We maskedly presented combinations of faces and written professions such that subjects were not aware of them. Nevertheless, the masked presentations activated many of the brain regions...

Membrane Research in a Global Context Requires Collaboration, not Competition!