In <36ac2c26.58664074 at news.zedat.fu-berlin.de>
cijadra at zedat.fu-berlin.de (Cijadrachon) writes:
>>
- - - - - (snip) - - - - - - - - - -
>>In <368290C8.A4EBE2 at hotmail.com> shadowrunner at hotmail.com writes:
>>>I'm looking for any information about neuro or physiologic difference
>>between verbal and non-verbal memory.
>>There ain't just two.
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>But you better ask someone else for that, F.Frank LeFever, Ph.D.
>might have some theories about memory systems.
>>Talking about which:
>>>... I have found it usefuly to subdivide "non-verbal" memory as well.
n.b.: most
>>people mean "visual" when they say "non-verbal", but of course we can
>>think of some kinds of non-visual non-verbal memory. Within VISUAL
>>non-verbal memory, the most obvious (and so far best studied)
>>disstinction is between "what" and "where" perceptual and memory
>>systems.
>>Could you elaborate on that, especially the last sentence?
>>(If you can, with locations.)
>>Tough I guess that might be too much trouble, F.Frank LeFever, Ph.D.
No, not too much trouble. I regret, however, that my files of relevant
articles are at work, and I'm posting from home, so cannot give you
detailed references (i.e. literature citations).
Generally speaking, "visual" information takes many parallel paths from
primary visual cortex to other brain areas, and the different paths are
encoding different aspects of visual input. Many years ago, Mortimer
Mishkin and colleagues began to indentify a "dorsal stream", which
carried (primarily? only?) information about the location of visual
objects in space, and a "ventral stream" which carried (primarily?
only?) information about object identity: hence "where" and "what"
visual information. They were exploring memory systems and were
particularly interested in tracing these two streams to the
hippocampus.
Maybe I should be more explicit: in dorsal and ventral areas of
so-called "association cortex" in (occipito-)parietal lobe.
(I have some comments on this in my summary of a conference I organized
for NYNG, in which Mishkin was one of the speakers...published in Int.
J. Neuroscience, but---cannot even tell you exact year just now!)
MUCH subsequent work has verified and extended their findings,
including an excellent study in humans, using fMRI, just recently;
I filed a copy of the report just in the last day or so...
I've done a small amount of work in this area myself, abstract in J. of
the International Neuropsychological Society (presented at its meeting
in Seattle--c. 4 years ago??), and further work with the test I devised
was reported by others at the INS Orlando meeting 1-2 years later
(abstract also in JINS).
Maybe I'll remember to bring at least copies of my OWN stuff home (I
have an incomplete file here now) and be able to give citations
later...
(n.b.: for those interested in fMRI of cognitive function, check out
www.nyas.org re Feb. 3 meeting of Neuroscience Section of NH Academy of
Sciences; the speaker will also be speaking at an Academy meeting I,m
organizing for March 30, on cortical representation of first and
secoond languages in bilinguals)
F. Frank LeFever, Ph.D.
New York Neuropsycholgy Group
