RECOGNITION MEMORY FOR WORDS AND PICTURES - AN EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL STUDY

EVENT-RELATED potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the test phase of recognition memory tests for words and pictures of objects. ERPs elic ited by recognized items contained a temporo-parietally distributed po sitive shift (the parietal old/new effect), which was strongly left la teralized regardless of stimulus type. This finding suggests that the lateral distribution of the parietal old/new effect is unrelated to th e lateralization of the memory functions supported by the medial tempo ral lobe memory system. The ERPs to pictures, but not to words, also d emonstrated frontally distributed old/new effects, which shifted over time from a left-to a right-sided maximum. These effects may reflect t he richer informational content associated with episodic memory for pi ctures.