Abstract

What is the parietal lobe contribution to long-term memory?

Yazar, Y., Bergström, Z.M., & Simons, J.S. (2012). Cortex, 48, 1381-1382.

Until relatively recently, the lateral parietal lobe (PL) was not considered an important region for long-term memory, typically associated instead with functions such as visuospatial attention and visually-guided reaching. Scientific interest in a possible link with episodic memory was fuelled by the realisation of an intriguing discrepancy between functional imaging studies of episodic memory retrieval, which showed consistent PL activation, and the seemingly unaffected memory performance in patients with PL lesions. Shallice and Cooper dedicated a section in their book The Organisation of Mind to this newly emerged topic, reflecting how it has rapidly become an established research focus in the cognitive neurosciences.