Hippocampal activity in working memory tasks: sparse, yet relevant.

Abstract

Recent studies suggest the hippocampus is involved in working memory (WM). Slotnick (this issue) critically reviewed relevant fMRI findings and concludes WM 'does not activate the hippocampus.' We extend Slotnick's review by discussing observations from human intracranial and lesion research. These studies do suggest hippocampal contributions to WM (beyond novelty encoding), which however are difficult to capture with conventional fMRI. Still, the advent of new fMRI techniques combined with a stronger emphasis on shared hippocampal mechanisms across short- and long-term memory pave an exciting path forward.