Learning and memory: recent findings Peter Bright and Michael D. Kopelman Recent findings from neuroimaging, event-related potential and lesion investigations reflect a rapidly emerging view that the memory system is widely distributed throughout the cortex. It is clear that the pattern of cortical involvement during encoding and retrieval of memories is critically dependent on the nature and complexity of task demands. This has implications, both for existing models of memory function, and in the methodology of future investigations and the issues they address. No consensus has yet been reached on a number of issues, perhaps most notably the role of the hippocampus in retrieval, but advances in measurement techniques should enable some of these matters to be resolved. Further work must address the complex dynamics of the memory system, the extent to which the same regions underlie different functions, and how different regions interact and reflect common functions. Curr Opin Neurol 14:000±000. # 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Correspondence to Peter Bright, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK Tel: +44 01223 766 457; fax: +44 01223 766 452; and e-mail: pb208@cam.ac.uk Current Opinion in Neurology 2001, 14:000±000 Abbreviations MRI magnetic resonance imaging REM rapid eye movement # 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 1350-7540 Introduction The present review examines recent neuroimaging, event-related potential and lesion investigations of human memory and learning (mostly published since February 2000). We have avoided purely cognitive, theoretical studies, except where they have direct relevance to issues of localization. The effects of ageing on memory and learning pro- cesses are also excluded. The ®ndings are grouped together into four broad areas of interest: working memory, episodic memory, remote memory and semantic memory. Finally, we consider other issues that do not fall easily into any of those categories. Working memory The concept of working memory provides a structure by which the temporary storage of informa- tion that is necessary for performing complex cognitive tasks can be conceptualized [1]. At the centre of the model is an attentional controller, the central executive, which is served by two slave systems, one holding verbal and acoustic information, and the other holding visuo-spatial information. A further component has recently been proposed, the `episodic buffer', which binds information held in working memory subsystems and long-term memory into a single, integrated representation [2 . ]. Under the control of the central executive, it is presented as a capacity-limited, critical stage of long-term episodic learning. Evidence for the role of the prefrontal cortex in the temporary integration of verbal and spatial information has been suggested in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study by Prabharakan et al. [3]. The central executive remains the least understood component of working memory. However, recent lesion and neuroimaging studies have begun to delineate possible subcomponents. Burgess et al. [4] examined retrospective memory, prospective memory and planning components of a novel multitasking procedure in 60 patients with focal frontal, parietal or occipital lesions. Evidence for fractionation of the central executive was found, with de®cits in delayed recall of task rules associated with left anterior cingulate involvement, and planning de®cits related primarily to a right dorsolateral prefrontal involvement. Retrospective (e.g. rule learning) and prospective (e.g. plan-following) de®cits were both associated with left posterior cingulate and occipital lesions. 1 NU 140414