Consolidating Dispersed Neocortical Memories: The Missing Link in Amnesia

Ken A. Paller*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Consolidation is often conceptualised as a general process by which memory traces can be strengthened in the brain. An alternative idea, developed here, is that a particular sort of consolidation is required for establishing memories belonging to a neurobiologically defined category - memories dispersed across multiple distinct neocortical zones. These memories are consolidated via the formation of a neocortical cell assembly that confers coherence to the set of scattered neocortical memory traces. A set of memory traces linked in this manner can subsequently serve as the basis for conscious recollection. A disruption of this neocortical consolidation process is held to be responsible for the patterns of preserved and impaired memory observed in amnesic patients. A suitable strategy for empirically testing this sort of theory requires an examination of evidence from neuropsychological studies of amnesia and from studies of the neural substrates of memory functions in normal subjects.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)73-88
Number of pages16
JournalMemory
Volume5
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1997

Funding

Requests for reprints should be sent to Ken Paller, Departm ent of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA. Em ail: kap@ nwu.edu I acknowledge support from NINDS grant #NS34639 and thank the many memory theorists who have influenced the ideas expressed here. Special thanks to Larry Squire and Andrew M ayes, who provided useful feedback on previous versions of this paper.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • General Psychology

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