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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on July 27, 2005
Cerebral Cortex 2006 16(4):519-528; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhi131
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

A Direct Comparison of Anterior Prefrontal Cortex Involvement in Episodic Retrieval and Integration

Jeremy R. Reynolds, Kathleen B. McDermott and Todd S. Braver

Department of Psychology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63139, USA

Address correspondence to Jeremy R. Reynolds, Department of Psychology, Campus Box 1125, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63139, USA. Email: jrreynol{at}artsci.wustl.edu.

Retrieval of information from episodic memory reliably engages regions within the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC). This observation has led researchers to suggest that these regions may subserve processes intimately tied to episodic retrieval. However, the aPFC is also recruited by other complex tasks not requiring episodic retrieval. One hypothesis concerning these results is that episodic retrieval recruits a general cognitive process that is subserved by the aPFC. The current study tested a specific version of this hypothesis — namely, that the integration of internally represented information is this process. Event-related fMRI was employed in a 2 (memory task: encoding versus retrieval) x 2 (level of integration: low versus high) factorial within-subjects design. A functional dissociation was observed, with one aPFC subregion uniquely sensitive to level of integration and another jointly sensitive to level of integration and memory task. Analysis of event-related activation latencies indicated that level of integration and memory task effects occurred with significantly different timing. The results provide the first direct evidence regarding the functional specialization within lateral aPFC and the nature of its recruitment during complex cognitive tasks. Moreover, the study highlights the benefits of activation latency analysis for understanding functional contributions and dissociations between closely linked brain regions.

Key Words: episodic retrieval • fronto-polar cortex • integration • prefrontal cortex • subgoal


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