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Processing content or location: Distinct brain activation in a memory task
Author(s) -
Treyer Valerie,
Buck Alfred,
Schnider Armin
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
hippocampus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.767
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1098-1063
pISSN - 1050-9631
DOI - 10.1002/hipo.20093
Subject(s) - task (project management) , neuroscience , psychology , content (measure theory) , cognitive psychology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , management , economics
Objects are defined by their content (“what”) and by their location (“where”). In the visual system, processing of these two types of information is segregated into distinct anatomical and functional pathways. Using H 2 15 O positron emission tomography to measure cerebral blood flow, we examined the differences in processing of “what” when compared with “where” information in human memory. We found that the detection of deviations from a previously learned image sequence activates distinct brain regions depending on whether the image's content or its location has changed. When deviations of an image's content had to be detected, the left medial temporal lobe (MTL) activation increased. In contrast, detection of deviations from the learned locations of the objects induced increased activation in the right MTL and in the right parietal cortex. These data demonstrate distinct contributions of the left and right MTL to the processing of “what” vs. “where” in memory. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.