Spatial memory encoding is associated with the anterior and posterior hippocampus: An fMRI activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

It has been hypothesized that differential processing occurs along the longitudinal (anterior–posterior) axis of the hippocampus. One hypothesis is that spatial memory (during both encoding and retrieval) is associated with the posterior hippocampus. An alternative hypothesis is that memory encoding (either spatial or nonspatial) is associated with the anterior hippocampus and memory retrieval is associated with the posterior hippocampus. Of importance, during spatial memory encoding, the spatial–posterior hypothesis predicts posterior hippocampal involvement, whereas the encoding–retrieval hypothesis predicts anterior hippocampal involvement. To distinguish between these hypotheses, we conducted a coordinate-based fMRI activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of 26 studies (with a total of 435 participants) that reported hippocampal activity during spatial memory encoding and/or spatial memory retrieval. Both spatial memory encoding and spatial memory retrieval produced extensive activity along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus as well as the entorhinal cortex, the perirhinal cortex, and the parahippocampal cortex. Critically, the contrast of spatial memory encoding and spatial memory retrieval produced activations in both the anterior hippocampus and the posterior hippocampus. That spatial memory encoding produced activity in both the anterior and posterior hippocampus can be taken to reject strict forms of the spatial–posterior hypothesis, which stipulates that all forms of spatial memory produce activity in the posterior hippocampus, and the encoding–retrieval hypothesis, which stipulates that all forms of encoding versus retrieval produce activity in only the anterior hippocampus. Our results indicate that spatial memory encoding can involve the anterior hippocampus and the posterior hippocampus.