The Principle of Cross-Cortical Consolidation of Declarative Memories

Abstract

Memory disorders due to neurological insult or injury can be highly selective. Impairments in remembering facts and events can arise while other memory functions remain intact. An explanation for anterograde and retrograde deficits in declarative memory is advanced that ascribes these deficits to a core defect in cross-cortical consolidation, a process whereby the components of a declarative memory are linked in an enduring manner. Through interactions between medial temporal and multiple cortical regions, a memory can repeatedly be accessed and associated with other information, during waking and during sleep. Connections among discrete cortical representations are thus strengthened, while a new representation of the essence of the declarative memory, gradually formed in the temporal lobe, provides enduring coherence to the dispersed neocortical representation of the memory.