Distinct subdivisions of human medial parietal cortex support recollection of people and places

  1. Edward H Silson  Is a corresponding author
  2. Adam Steel
  3. Alexis Kidder
  4. Adrian W Gilmore
  5. Chris I Baker
  1. National Institutes of Health, United States

Abstract

Human medial parietal cortex (MPC) is implicated in multiple cognitive processes including memory recall, visual scene processing and navigation, and is a core component of the default mode network. Here, we demonstrate distinct subdivisions of MPC that are selectively recruited during memory recall of either specific people or places. First, distinct regions of MPC exhibited differential functional connectivity with medial and lateral regions of ventral temporal cortex (VTC). Second, these same medial regions showed selective, but negative, responses to the visual presentation of different stimulus categories, with clear preferences for scenes and faces. Finally, and most critically, these regions were differentially recruited during memory recall of either people or places with a strong familiarity advantage. Taken together, these data suggest that the organizing principle defining the medial-lateral axis of VTC is reflected in MPC, but in the context of memory recall.

Data availability

Source data files have been provided for Figures 4 and 7 and Supplementary Figures 2, 3, & 4.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Edward H Silson

    Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
    For correspondence
    ed.silson@nih.gov
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-6149-7423
  2. Adam Steel

    Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-8876-933X
  3. Alexis Kidder

    Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Adrian W Gilmore

    Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-8910-5009
  5. Chris I Baker

    Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6861-8964

Funding

This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program (ZIAMH002909) of the National Institutes of Health - National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Study Protocol 93 M-0170, NCT00001360.

Ethics

Human subjects: All participants gave written informed consent according to procedures approved by the NIH Institutional Review Board (protocol 93-M-0170, clinical trials # NCT00001360).

Reviewing Editor

  1. Thomas Yeo, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Publication history

  1. Received: April 3, 2019
  2. Accepted: July 13, 2019
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: July 15, 2019 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: July 30, 2019 (version 2)

Copyright

This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

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  1. Edward H Silson
  2. Adam Steel
  3. Alexis Kidder
  4. Adrian W Gilmore
  5. Chris I Baker
(2019)
Distinct subdivisions of human medial parietal cortex support recollection of people and places
eLife 8:e47391.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.47391

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