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Volume 17, Number 12,
Issue of June 15, 1997
pp. 4904-4913
Copyright ©1997 Society for Neuroscience
Time Course of Cortical Activations in Implicit and Explicit
Recall
Rajendra D. Badgaiyan and
Michael I. Posner
Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University of Oregon,
Eugene, Oregon 97403
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
FOOTNOTES
REFERENCES
ABSTRACT
The distinction between implicit and explicit retrieval of learned
material is central to recent thinking about the neural systems
underlying memory. Word stem completion is one task in which subjects
can be instructed either to make a deliberate recall (explicit
instruction) or to be told to complete the stem with any appropriate
word (implicit instruction). Positron emission tomography (PET) studies
have indicated that during implicit retrieval, there is reduced blood
flow in right posterior areas, whereas some tasks of explicit retrieval
involve frontal and hippocampal activation. However, there is no
information about the timing of these activations or how implicit and
explicit retrieval might be related.
We used word stem completion tasks similar to those used in the PET
studies, but used high-density electrical recording designed to allow
localization of the regions involved in the tasks and to provide
temporal information. We found reduced activity for primed words in
right posterior cortex corresponding to previous PET results. The
reduction occurred within the first 200 msec after input, suggesting
early interaction with the information stored in this area. Similar
reductions observed during explicit recall of the previously presented
words indicate that priming is similar under implicit and explicit
conditions. In addition, when priming was not an adequate basis for
response, then frontal areas were active. Retrieval of unprimed words
under implicit instruction elicited right frontal activation, whereas
explicit retrieval activated frontal areas bilaterally. Left frontal
and hippocampal activations appear to occur only when the retrieval involved use of the words from the list studied previously.
Key words:
priming;
word stem completion;
implicit memory;
explicit
memory;
hippocampus;
frontal cortex;
parietal cortex;
temporal
cortex
INTRODUCTION
Recent experiments using a variety of techniques
have supported the view that memory is not a unitary faculty and that
different types of memory have distinct neural networks (Tulving and
Schacter, 1990 ; Schacter et al., 1993 ; Nyberg et al., 1996 ). One such
distinction is between explicit (intentional) and implicit
(unintentional) retrieval (Graf and Schacter, 1985 ; Schacter et al.,
1993 ).
Of particular importance are tasks in which the same material can be
retrieved implicitly under one instruction and explicitly under
another. In the word stem completion task, subjects learn a list of
words and then later, three-letter strings are used as cues for
retrieval. When the instruction is to pronounce the first word that
comes to mind beginning with the three-letter stem, the subject need
not be aware of any relationship to the previously learned words.
Nonetheless, previously learned words are recalled with significantly
higher than chance probability (Squire et al., 1992 ; Buckner et al.,
1995 ). In this task, explicit retrieval strategies can be evoked by
instructing the subject to retrieve words from the studied list.
Under implicit instructions, stems of the studied words (primed stems)
show a reduction of blood flow in right posterior cortex when compared
with unprimed stems (Squire et al., 1992 ; Buckner et al., 1995 ;
Schacter et al., 1996 ). Frontal and hippocampal activations have been
found in some tasks involving explicit retrieval (Buckner et al., 1995 ;
Schacter et al., 1996 ), but the precise cognitive function associated
with these activations is unclear. In addition, because positron
emission tomography (PET) studies lack temporal resolution, it is
uncertain whether the reduced flow in the right cortex is a result of
the memory for the previously presented words stored in the right
posterior area or the easier word generation that occurs when an item
that has been primed simply results in reduced blood flow.
To address these questions, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs)
in 64 channels during retrieval of words from three-letter stems. In
this study, explicit and implicit retrieval tasks differed only in the
instructions. In the implicit task, subjects were required to pronounce
the first word that came to mind, beginning with the presented stem,
whereas in the explicit retrieval task, subjects were instructed to
complete the stems using previously shown study words and to generate
novel words only if the stems could not be completed using the study
list. Stems from the primed and unprimed words were presented randomly
in the same task block.
Recent studies of word association have shown that scalp-recorded ERPs
can be related to PET generators by use of Brain Electric Source
Analysis (BESA) algorithm (Scherg and Berg, 1995 ), even in complex
cognitive tasks (Abdullaev and Posner, 1997 ; Snyder et al., 1995 ). In
addition to the timing information, the use of ERPs allowed us to sort
mixed primed and unprimed trials presented within the same list. In
addition, by presenting primed and unprimed stems randomly in a single
block, we ensured that the subjects did not develop a separate strategy
to deal with each type of item.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted in three phases on a total of 48 native English-speaking students of the University of Oregon (female,
26; mean age, 22.2 years). All subjects were paid for their
participation, reported normal or corrected-to-normal vision, and were
right-handed as assessed by Edinburgh handedness inventory questionnaires (Raczkowski et al., 1974 ).
In the first phase, ERPs were recorded in 24 subjects and grand
averaged waveform generated. In the second phase, this experiment was
repeated on 16 subjects to confirm replicability of the results. In the
first two phases, subjects were tested first for implicit recall and
then for explicit recall on similar paradigms. In the third phase,
eight subjects were tested only for explicit recall to verify that
previous exposure to the implicit task did not affect the activity
during the explicit task.
For this experiment, a list of 450 words was prepared in such a way
that no two words had similar first three letters (stem) and each stem
made at least 10 words in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Length
of words varied between four and nine letters. These words were
randomized, and 90 of them were separated for use as filler words that
were presented before and after each study list to minimize primacy and
recency effects. The remaining words were randomly divided in 12 lists
of 30 words. Six of these were presented as study lists and were used
to study implicit or explicit recall, whereas the remaining lists were
used for the control tasks.
After informed consent was obtained, the EEG electrode net was applied
and the subject was seated in a sound-attenuated chamber. In the first
two phases, the experiment began with three implicit memory blocks.
Each of these blocks had a word-reading stage and a stem-completion
stage (Table 1). In the word reading stage, a list of 45 words was presented in upper case (black on white background). Each
word was displayed for 3 sec on the center of a computer monitor. The
first 9 and the last 6 words were drawn from the filler list, and 30 words from one of the study lists were shown between the fillers.
Subjects were asked to assess whether the word would be easy or
difficult for a child to understand and to respond by pressing either a
right or left key. This task was introduced to ensure that the
presented words were attended. After an interval of 2 min, the
stem-completion stage began. In this stage, 60 lower case three-letter
strings were shown for 3 sec each. Half of the strings were the first
three letters of the previously presented study list, and the remaining
strings were derived from one of the three control lists. None of the control stems could be completed using any of the study words. Stems
from the two lists were presented in random order, and the task of the
subject was to pronounce the first word that came to mind, beginning
with the stem. They were advised not to use proper nouns and to avoid
blinking before making a response. Subjects were also instructed not to
make any body movements not associated with the response. Pronounced
words were recorded on a tape recorder, and the voice onset latency was
determined using a microphone channel connected to a voice-operated
relay. While the subjects were completing stems, a scalp EEG was
recorded using a 64 channel EEG electrode net (Tucker et al.,
1994 ).
Table 1.
Scheme of experimental
paradigm
|
Word-reading stage (Stage 1) |
Stem-completion
stage (Stage 2) |
Condition |
|
| Implicit
memory |
45 Upper case words |
30 Lower case
stems (primed) |
PRIMING |
| (3 Blocks) |
Filler 1-9 and
40-45 |
30 Lower case stems (unprimed) |
PRIMING
BASELINE |
|
Study list 10-39 |
| Explicit memory |
45 Upper case
words |
30 Lower case stems (primed) |
RECALL |
| (3 Blocks) |
Filler
1-9 and 40-45 |
30 Lower case stems (unprimed) |
RECALL
BASELINE |
|
Study list 10-39 |
|
|
|
There were three implicit memory blocks. Each block contained stems
from the PRIMING condition, in which stems were derived from the words
presented during word-reading stage, and the PRIMING BASELINE
condition, in which no previously learned word could complete the stem.
At the end of the implicit memory blocks, subjects were allowed a break
for ~5 min before beginning the three explicit memory blocks.
The explicit memory blocks had the same structure as the implicit
memory blocks, but had different words/stems and instructions. In the
stem-completion stage, subjects were informed that it was possible to
complete some of the stems using the list of words shown in the
word-reading stage and were instructed to use the study list words for
completing stems whenever possible. They were allowed to make guesses
and were told to come up with a novel word only if they could not
recall any study list word beginning with the given stem. Tasks
involving stems from the study list were designated as RECALL, and
those involving stems from the control list were named RECALL BASELINE.
Each subject was tested in three such blocks. Control list words were
never shown to the subjects in any of the implicit or explicit memory
blocks.
In the first two phases, implicit memory blocks always preceded
explicit memory to reduce explicit recall effort during implicit memory
blocks. In the third phase, subjects were tested only for explicit
memory.
During the stem completion stage, a 1 sec EEG epoch beginning 184 msec
before stem onset and sampled at 250 samples/sec was collected. The EEG
samples were collected with a 0.15-50 Hz bandpass from 64 electrode
sites referenced to the right mastoid channel. The signals were
baseline corrected, edited off-line for exclusion of ocular and motion
artifacts, and referenced algebraically to an average reference
derivation. The averaged ERP data were filtered digitally with a 50 Hz
low-pass filter to reduce electromyographic contamination. The ERPs
were averaged separately for each of four conditions, PRIMING, PRIMING
BASELINE, RECALL, and RECALL BASELINE. For comparing two conditions,
difference waves were analyzed statistically using nonparametric
Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for each of the 4 msec samples. Where
appropriate, ANOVA was used on selected windows. Two-dimensional
spherical spline interpolated head surface images were created for the
difference waves at 4 msec intervals to depict the temporal continuity
and topography of statistical significance of difference by
t test. Difference waves were also analyzed using BESA
algorithm (Scherg and Berg, 1995 ) to determine topography of the
best-fitting dipoles.
Grand averaged waveforms were generated separately for each condition
for all subjects who participated in the study, and the differences
were considered significant only when the probability was
p < 0.05.
RESULTS
The words produced during the stem-completion stage were analyzed
to assess whether there was a difference between implicit and explicit
instructions. For the words actually presented during the word-reading
stage, 42.2% were produced during the stem-completion stage under
implicit instruction and 47.4% under explicit instruction. This
difference was significant by t test
(p < 0.01). Subjects completed 18.1% of the
items with words from the control list. Because subjects were never
shown the control lists, generating items from this list had to occur
only by chance.
In the implicit memory blocks, mean latency for completing a stem with
a word that was on the previously studied list (PRIMING) was 1293 msec,
whereas for words not on the list (PRIMING BASELINE), mean latency was
1311 msec. In the explicit memory blocks, latencies were longer than
under implicit conditions. For primed words (RECALL), this was 1452 msec, and for unprimed (RECALL BASELINE), 1508 msec.
The longer reaction times and higher percentages of recall from the
list under explicit instructions indicate an effort by subjects to
recall items from the list. The lower response times and higher
percentage of correct response for primed items indicate that having an
item on the previously studied list increased the likelihood that it
would be generated for stem completion irrespective of
instructions.
ERPs recorded using a 64 channel electrode net were average referenced,
and separate grand average waveforms were plotted for each condition of
the study. The channels found to have significant variation under any
two conditions in phase 1 were selected for additional analyses in
phases 2 and 3. Topographic location of these channels is shown in
Figure 1. ERPs of the channels in each of the four
regions (left frontal, right frontal, right parietotemporal, and medial
frontoparietal) were collapsed, and these collapsed ERPs represented
potentials in the respective areas.
Fig. 1.
Topography of the 64 channel EEG net showing
location of the channels (shaded area), which showed
significantly different potentials under any two task conditions in
phase 1 of the study. These channels were selected for additional
analyses in this study.
[View Larger Version of this Image (46K GIF file)]
In earlier publications (Badgaiyan and Posner, 1996a ,b ), we reported
that for primed items under implicit instruction, ERPs differed
significantly from unprimed items over a set of channels in the right
parietotemporal and another set in the right frontal area (Fig.
2). Potentials at these two sites were collapsed
separately, and the resultant ERP suggested that at both of these
sites, electrical activity was less positive for words that had been
primed compared with the unprimed baseline. Whereas the difference
appeared early (60-200 msec) in the right parietotemporal area, it was
not evident until 250 msec after stem presentation in the right frontal
channels. The posterior activity seems to reflect the hypothesized
reduction in activity because of priming. We hypothesized that the
frontal activity might reflect the requirement that subjects have to
generate an appropriate word for unprimed items when no information was stored. Such additional computation is not needed for primed items, because the response word had been stored at the word-reading stage.
This may be the reason for attenuated right frontal activity in priming
tasks.
Fig. 2.
The ERPs obtained in the PRIMING and PRIMING
BASELINE conditions after collapsing potentials of the channels in the
right parietotemporal, frontal, and medial frontoparietal regions shown in Figure 1. The waveforms differed significantly
(p < 0.01) in the shaded
area. The figure also shows an interpolated image of the
significance of difference between the two conditions.
[View Larger Version of this Image (40K GIF file)]
In addition to the attenuation of potentials over the right
parietotemporal and frontal areas, the ERPs for primed words were more
positive than baseline in the medial frontoparietal channels. The
difference was significant after 400 msec following stimulus presentation. Interpolated images showing statistical difference between the ERPs in the PRIMING and PRIMING BASELINE items after 120, 440, and 520 msec following stem presentation are shown in Figure
2.
In the explicit memory blocks, we separated stems derived from the
study list (RECALL) and those derived from the control list (RECALL
BASELINE). In the former condition, the subjects intentionally recalled
the study words they were presented earlier, whereas in the later
condition, besides making an effort to retrieve study list words, the
subjects also generated an unstudied novel word, because none of the
baseline stems could be completed using the study list. Thus, although
both conditions required recall effort, one (RECALL) involved recall of
primed (studied) words, whereas the other (RECALL BASELINE) involved
retrieval of unprimed words.
Under both instruction conditions (Implicit and Explicit memory
blocks), mean voice onset latency and percentage of correct retrieval
differed significantly for the primed and unprimed items. To understand
the neural computations involved in the recall of primed and unprimed
words, grand averaged ERPs obtained during the PRIMING and PRIMING
BASELINE conditions were subtracted from those obtained in primed
(RECALL) and unprimed (RECALL BASELINE) conditions of the explicit
memory blocks. The subtraction of PRIMING ERP from RECALL ERP
represented brain activations required by recall from the list.
Similarly, the subtraction of the PRIMING BASELINE ERP from the RECALL
BASELINE ERP provides information about brain activity related to
attempts to recall words from the list, because in both cases, subjects
had to generate a novel word. Subtraction of RECALL and RECALL BASELINE
could reveal how priming from previous learning influenced responses
under the explicit instructions as well as influenced the additional
operations needed to generate a response when subjects fail to retrieve
an appropriate response from the list.
RECALL and PRIMING comparison (Fig. 3)
ERPs elicited in the RECALL and PRIMING tasks differed
significantly in channels over the right and the left frontal, right parietotemporal and medial frontoparietal areas in phase 1. These channels were selected for further analysis. Grand averaged ERPs for
each of these regions are shown in Figure 3.
Fig. 3.
The ERPs obtained in the RECALL and PRIMING
conditions after collapsing potentials of the channels in the left and
right frontal, medial frontoparietal, and right parietotemporal regions
shown in Figure 1. The waveforms differed significantly
(p < 0.01) in the shaded area.
The figure also shows an interpolated image of the significance of
difference between the two conditions.
[View Larger Version of this Image (31K GIF file)]
ERPs of the RECALL and PRIMING tasks differed significantly in the left
frontal channels between 312 and 496 msec. Mean amplitude between 350 and 450 msec of stem presentation was 0.9 µV in the RECALL and
1.6 µV in the PRIMING condition. Potentials in the right frontal
channels differed significantly between 308 and 540 msec, and the mean
potential between 350 and 450 msec in the RECALL and PRIMING task was
1.3 and 0.67 µV, respectively.
Right parietotemporal channels that differed in the PRIMING and PRIMING
BASELINE subtraction between 60 and 200 msec did not show any
difference during this time window in the RECALL and PRIMING
subtraction. The potentials, however, differed significantly between
220 and 496 msec. During this time period, RECALL evoked less
positivity than the PRIMING, and the mean potential was 1.1 µV in the
PRIMING and 0.58 µV in the RECALL condition.
Medial frontoparietal channels that elicited higher potential in the
PRIMING as compared with the PRIMING BASELINE after 400 msec of stem
presentation showed a difference in the RECALL and PRIMING subtraction
too, but the difference appeared earlier. They differed significantly
between 260 and 484 msec. The PRIMING ERP was more positive than the
RECALL ERP, and the mean potential between 260 and 484 msec was 0.63 and 0.22 µV, respectively, in the PRIMING and RECALL conditions.
Interpolated images showing statistical difference between the
ERPs obtained in the RECALL and PRIMING conditions after 368 and 500 msec following stem presentation are shown in Figure 3.
RECALL BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE comparison
(Fig. 4)
To understand the brain activations during explicit recall of
unprimed words, ERPs evoked by the RECALL BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE
tasks were compared. This comparison indicated that unlike the RECALL
and PRIMING comparison, frontal activation was unilateral. There was no
significant difference in the right frontal ERP, and the difference in
the left frontal channels was similar to that observed in the RECALL
and PRIMING comparison. Potentials were less negative in the RECALL
BASELINE than in the PRIMING BASELINE between 260 and 440 msec. Mean
amplitude during this period was 0.96 and 1.78 µV for the RECALL
BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE, respectively.
Fig. 4.
The ERPs obtained in the RECALL BASELINE and
PRIMING BASELINE conditions after collapsing potentials of the channels
in the left and right frontal, medial frontoparietal, and right
parietotemporal regions shown in Figure 1. The waveforms differed
significantly (p < 0.01) in the
shaded area. The figure also shows an interpolated image of
the significance of difference between the two conditions.
[View Larger Version of this Image (27K GIF file)]
Interestingly, right parietotemporal channels that differed at
different time windows in the PRIMING and PRIMING BASELINE and the
RECALL and PRIMING comparisons did not show any difference in the
RECALL BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE comparison. The ERPs in the medial
frontoparietal channels were also similar in the two baseline
conditions.
Interpolated images showing statistical difference between the ERPs in
the RECALL BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE tasks after 344 msec of stem
presentation are shown in Figure 4.
RECALL and RECALL BASELINE comparison (Fig. 5)
Comparison of the ERPs elicited in the two explicit memory
conditions did not show any difference in frontal channels, indicating that frontal activity was similar during explicit retrieval of primed
and unprimed words. Right parietotemporal channels that elicited less
positivity in the PRIMING and PRIMING BASELINE comparison in the early
phase (60-200 msec) and in the RECALL and PRIMING comparison in the
late phase (220-496 msec) showed lower potential for the RECALL as
compared with the RECALL BASELINE, at both the early and the late
phases. Mean potential in the early phase was 0.46 µV in the RECALL
BASELINE and 0.08 µV in RECALL. It was 1.15 and 0.72 µV,
respectively, in the RECALL BASELINE and RECALL in the late phase.
Because the attenuation in the early phase was observed in both the
PRIMING and the RECALL conditions, and both tasks required recall of
the primed words, this effect may be associated with the retrieval of
primed words. This finding supports the idea that storage of the
previously studied word involves right posterior areas, and this
storage is activated automatically irrespective of the instruction. In
the medial frontoparietal channels, the RECALL ERP was significantly
more positive than RECALL BASELINE ERP between 566 and 732 msec. Mean
potential during this period was 0.55 and 0.16 µV for the RECALL and
RECALL BASELINE, respectively. This difference was similar to that
observed in the PRIMING and PRIMING BASELINE comparison, but it was 166 msec later in the RECALL and RECALL BASELINE subtraction.
Fig. 5.
The ERPs obtained in the RECALL and RECALL
BASELINE conditions after collapsing potentials of the channels in the
left and right frontal, medial frontoparietal, and right
parietotemporal regions shown in Figure 1. The waveforms differed
significantly (p < 0.01) in the
shaded area. The figure also shows an interpolated image of
the significance of difference between the two conditions.
[View Larger Version of this Image (33K GIF file)]
Interpolated images showing statistical difference between the ERPs in
the RECALL and RECALL BASELINE after 84 and 516 msec of stem
presentation are shown in Figure 5.
In phase 3, eight subjects participated in the explicit memory blocks
only. The idea of introducing this phase was to see whether the brain
activations were similar when explicit memory blocks were not preceded
by implicit memory blocks. Grand averaged ERPs of these subjects were
essentially the same as those obtained in the RECALL and RECALL
BASELINE conditions of phases 1 and 2. Comparison of the RECALL and
RECALL BASELINE ERPs revealed similar differences in the medial
frontoparietal and right parietotemporal channels observed in the grand
averaged ERP of 40 subjects who participated in phases 1 and 2.
RECALL and PRIMING BASELINE comparison (Fig. 6)
This comparison revealed significant left frontal activation in
the RECALL task. The difference was statistically significant between
288 and 448 msec, and the mean potentials during this time window were
1.12 and 1.45 µV, respectively, for the RECALL and PRIMING
BASELINE. The difference was similar to that observed in the RECALL and
PRIMING comparison, indicating that left frontal activity was not
altered by priming.
Fig. 6.
The ERPs obtained in the RECALL and PRIMING
BASELINE conditions after collapsing potentials of the channels in the
left and right frontal, medial frontoparietal, and right
parietotemporal regions shown in Figure 1. The waveforms differed
significantly (p < 0.01) in the
shaded area.
[View Larger Version of this Image (27K GIF file)]
Medial frontoparietal channels evoked an effect that was similar to the
effect observed in the PRIMING and PRIMING BASELINE and the RECALL and
RECALL BASELINE comparisons. In these channels, RECALL ERP was more
positive than the PRIMING BASELINE ERP after 512 msec of stem
presentation. Potentials in the right parietotemporal channels differed
in both the early (60-200 msec) and the late phases (220-496 msec),
with the RECALL task showing greater positivity.
Dipole source localization
Difference waves between the RECALL and PRIMING ERPs were analyzed
using the BESA algorithm (Scherg and Berg, 1995 ) to determine topography of the best-fitting dipoles (Fig. 7). This
subtraction essentially revealed the brain activations required for
explicit recall of recently studied words when there was a possibility of successful retrieval. A single-source dipole localized deep in the
right hemisphere was responsible for 84% of neural activity between
165 and 215 msec of stem presentation.
Fig. 7.
Location of the best-fit dipole (generated using
BESA) in the difference wave obtained after the RECALL and PRIMING
(135-165 msec) and the RECALL BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE
subtractions.
[View Larger Version of this Image (26K GIF file)]
The difference wave between the RECALL BASELINE and PRIMING BASELINE
conditions represented the brain activations involved in the explicit
recall effort, where there was no possibility of successful retrieval
from the previously studied list. In this condition, a single source of
dipole was responsible for 83.6% of activity between 234 and 284 msec
(Fig. 8) after stimulus presentation. This dipole was
localized deep inside the left hemisphere.
Although precise localization of the dipoles responsible for generating
scalp potentials is difficult in terms of the involved brain areas,
location of the dipoles when combined with the information obtained
from the imaging studies having better spatial resolution provides
clues about the brain areas involved. Topography of the dipoles
(x = 18.3, y = 8.0, z = 24; and x = 28.0, y = 26.0, z = 22.0 mm) interpreted in light of the PET studies
(Squire et al., 1992 ; Kapur N. et al., 1995; Schacter et al., 1996 )
that have reported hippocampal activations under explicit recall
conditions suggests that the dipole sources were located in the right
(PRIMING RECALL) and the left (RECALL BASELINE PRIMING
BASELINE) hippocampal regions.
Analysis of the difference waves generated after the PRIMING PRIMING BASELINE and the RECALL RECALL BASELINE subtractions did not reveal any strong source of dipole in the 1 sec epoch.
DISCUSSION
Implicit retrieval
When subjects receive a stem from an item in a memorized list and
are asked to say the first word that comes to mind beginning with the
stem, there is a reduction of right posterior electrical activity
during the first 200 msec after stem input in comparison to control
items for which no appropriate word had been presented. This result
confirms earlier PET work demonstrating reduced right posterior
activation for primed words (Squire et al., 1992 ; Buckner et al., 1995 ;
Schacter et al., 1996 ) and also suggests that information stored in the
right posterior brain is contacted by the string within the first 200 msec of input.
As a result of a successful match, the frontal operations involved in
retrieving candidate words do not occur. Thus, primed words under
implicit instruction show reduced right frontal electrical activity
after 250 msec. This view of priming as an early automatic influence of
the stored words is confirmed when one compares the RECALL to RECALL
BASELINE. RECALL also involves influence from earlier learning, because
the word was presented previously, but now a successful match is not
sufficient, because the subject must also know explicitly that the word
comes from the previous list. Thus, in this subtraction, there is a
right posterior attenuation indicative of priming, but both the RECALL
and the RECALL BASELINE conditions also activate equivalent bilateral
frontal search systems.
It appears that the explicit and implicit retrieval processes for
primed words share common computations in the right posterior cortex.
However, there was also attenuation of the right frontal potentials in
the PRIMING task compared with the PRIMING BASELINE. An earlier PET
study (Buckner et al., 1995 ) also found reduced blood flow in the right
frontal area for primed items, but the difference was not significant
statistically. It appears that the activation of the frontal cortex is
not required for implicit recall of primed words (Schacter et al.,
1996 ), but it becomes involved when additional search operations are
required, either because there is no priming by previous learning or
because the instructions require search of the stored information.
Explicit retrieval
What activity is involved in explicit retrieval? A major result of
this study is that explicit retrieval creates a pattern of frontal
brain activity that is not present for implicit priming. The frontal
activity begins by 250 msec. However, the activity in the frontal and
hippocampal region is complex and highly overlapping in time. It will
clearly require additional studies to sort out their function and time
course.
There are many conditions that produce explicit retrieval. When the
instruction is to say the first word that comes to mind, but the
response has not been primed, only right frontal activation was found.
In this case, there is little competition between retrieved items,
because all words that start with the string are appropriate.
However, when instructed to recall a specific item from the previously
memorized list, there is likely to be competition between items, and
subjects must take the additional step of checking any candidate with
the stored list. This process requires ~200 msec and is associated
with left frontal activity. Our results, then, suggest activation of
the left frontal cortex in the tasks that require explicit effort to
search for the appropriate word from the previously studied list and
right frontal activation in the tasks associated with the conditions in
which any word starting with the string is correct.
A review of earlier imaging studies suggests that when a task requires
explicit search effort, there is activation of the left frontal cortex.
Thus, search for an appropriate use for a noun (Petersen et al., 1988 ;
Raichle et al., 1994 ) or for a semantic relation (Demb et al., 1995 ) or
for words in the study list (Buckner et al., 1995 ; Schacter et al.,
1996 ) all produced left frontal activation. Conditions requiring simple
associations after extensive practice with a list and thus without
competition can produce right frontal activity (Snyder et al., 1995 ),
as can retrieval of a previously studied picture (Tulving et al., 1994 ;
Tulving and Pearlstone, 1996 ) or a face-name association (Haxby et
al., 1996 ).
Results from imaging studies have shown activation of the hippocampus
in memory and recall tasks (Squire et al., 1992 ; Kapur N. et al., 1995;
Schacter et al., 1996 ). However, a precise definition of what activates
either right or left hippocampus is still unclear. In our experiments,
we found evidence of activation in the hippocampal region only in
explicit recall, which is consistent with the findings of recent PET
experiments in which increased blood flow was observed in the area of
the hippocampus in tasks of explicit memory (Squire et al., 1992 ;
Schacter et al., 1996 ), but not in implicit memory tests (Schacter et
al., 1996 ). Activation in the hippocampal region overlapped the time
course of frontal activity, as discussed above.
We found evidence of activity in the right hippocampal region when
words had been studied and subjects were successful in recalling them.
This result is consistent with the view that the right hippocampus is
involved in short-term retrieval (Squire, 1992 ; Frackowiak, 1994 ) but
also supports the idea that the right hippocampal region reflects
successful retrieval. In contrast, activation in the left hippocampal
region was found under conditions when subjects searched unsuccessfully
for an appropriate studied item such as in the RECALL BASELINE where no
item in the previously studied list fit the string. The association of
activity in the right hippocampal region with successful retrieval of a
stored word fits with the PET findings that indicate that successful retrieval is associated with the activation of posterior cortical regions (Kapur S. et al., 1995) and that the subtraction of low recall
from high-recall conditions leads to activity in the right hippocampal
formation (Schacter et al., 1996 ).
Output
A midfrontoparietal area showed activation after 400 msec whenever
a relatively fast response condition (PRIMING, RECALL) was compared
with a slower response condition (PRIMING BASELINE, RECALL BASELINE).
We conclude that this area has more to do with preparing the candidate
word for output. The scalp distribution of this activation, centered
over frontoparietal electrodes, fits with other data from our
laboratory suggesting a relationship of this area to phonological
coding of words (Posner et al., 1997 ).
Circuitry
Consider successful retrieval of a previously stored word under
explicit instructions. According to our results, the input string makes
contact with the previously stored words in the right posterior cortex
within the first 200 msec of input. This occurs automatically under
both implicit and explicit instructions. In the case of implicit
instructions, priming is sufficient to generate a response so that no
additional search occurs. However, for explicit retrieval, priming is
not sufficient to make the response, because subjects need to verify
explicitly that this word was on the previously studied list. Thus,
under this condition, frontal activity is initiated ~250 msec after
input. The search for an explicit response potentially involves several
overlapping mechanisms, and we are suggesting only some of them.
Because in the case of explicit recall, only some of the retrieved
words are acceptable (those from the studied list), bilateral frontal
activity is found, and during the same period (250-600 msec), there is
attenuation of the right parietal activation. The hippocampal
activation occurs during the same time interval, suggesting that
retrieval of candidate words is a major part of the explicit recall
task. Output processes involved in generation of a motor program for
making the response appear over phonological areas starting at ~400
msec and continuing to 800 msec. The actual verbal response output
began as early as 1100 msec (mean response time, 1452 msec) in this
condition. Thus, the convergence of PET and ERP data begins to reveal
the complex organization of computations needed to perform this
word-retrieval task.
FOOTNOTES
Received Oct. 17, 1996; revised April 3, 1997; accepted April 8, 1997.
This research was supported by Office of Naval Research Grant
N00014-96-0273, grants from the J. S. McDonnell and Pew Memorial Trusts, and the W. M. Keck Foundation to the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention at the University of Oregon. We are grateful
to Bruce McCandliss for his help.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Rajendra D. Badgaiyan,
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3811 O'Hara Street, Suite E-533, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
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