TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural mechanisms of voluntary and involuntary recall
T2 - A PET study
AU - Hall, Nicoline Marie
AU - Gjedde, Albert
AU - Kupers, Ron
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was financed by grants from the Danish National Research Foundation to the Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, University of Aarhus, and from The Danish Medical Research Council to the PET Center, Aarhus University Hospital. We thank Paul Cumming for help with the manual co-registration of some of the PET images.
PY - 2008/1/25
Y1 - 2008/1/25
N2 - Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies on episodic memory retrieval have primarily focused on volitional memory tasks. However, some conscious memories arise involuntarily, i.e. without a strategic retrieval attempt, yet little is known about the neural network underlying involuntary episodic memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether voluntary and involuntary recall are mediated by separate cortical networks. We used positron emission tomography (PET) to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 12 healthy subjects during voluntary and involuntary cued recall of pictures and a control condition with no episodic memory requirements. Involuntary recall was elicited by using an incidental memory task. Compared to the control condition, voluntary and involuntary recall were both associated with significant regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) increases in posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG; BA 23), left precuneus (BA 7), and right parahippocampal gyrus (BA 35/36). In addition, rCBF in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC; BA 8/9) and left precuneus (BA 7) was significantly larger during voluntary compared to involuntary recall, while rCBF was enhanced in left dorsolateral PFC (BA 9) during involuntary recall. The findings corroborate an association of the right PFC with a strategic component of episodic memory retrieval. Moreover, they show for the first time that it is possible to activate the medial temporal lobe, the PCG, and the precuneus, regions normally associated with retrieval success, without this strategic element. The relatively higher activity in precuneus during voluntary compared to involuntary recall suggests that activity in this region co-varies not only with retrieval success but also with retrieval intentionality.
AB - Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies on episodic memory retrieval have primarily focused on volitional memory tasks. However, some conscious memories arise involuntarily, i.e. without a strategic retrieval attempt, yet little is known about the neural network underlying involuntary episodic memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether voluntary and involuntary recall are mediated by separate cortical networks. We used positron emission tomography (PET) to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 12 healthy subjects during voluntary and involuntary cued recall of pictures and a control condition with no episodic memory requirements. Involuntary recall was elicited by using an incidental memory task. Compared to the control condition, voluntary and involuntary recall were both associated with significant regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) increases in posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG; BA 23), left precuneus (BA 7), and right parahippocampal gyrus (BA 35/36). In addition, rCBF in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC; BA 8/9) and left precuneus (BA 7) was significantly larger during voluntary compared to involuntary recall, while rCBF was enhanced in left dorsolateral PFC (BA 9) during involuntary recall. The findings corroborate an association of the right PFC with a strategic component of episodic memory retrieval. Moreover, they show for the first time that it is possible to activate the medial temporal lobe, the PCG, and the precuneus, regions normally associated with retrieval success, without this strategic element. The relatively higher activity in precuneus during voluntary compared to involuntary recall suggests that activity in this region co-varies not only with retrieval success but also with retrieval intentionality.
KW - Episodic memory
KW - Involuntary memory
KW - Medial temporal lobe
KW - Positron emission tomography
KW - Precuneus
KW - Prefrontal cortex
KW - Retrieval mode
KW - Retrieval success
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2007.08.026
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2007.08.026
M3 - Article
C2 - 17913256
AN - SCOPUS:36248965169
SN - 0166-4328
VL - 186
SP - 261
EP - 272
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
IS - 2
ER -