Our findings comparing correct versus incorrect retrieval are consistent with several theoretical models of episodic memory394041 which emphasize the importance of hippocampal-neocortical interactions. At the same time, our findings provide novel evidence that the hippocampus, and MTL more generally, indeed serves as a central “hub” for all forms of memory representation compared to other cortical regions. This is congruous with our previous findings using this same paradigm showing significant levels of activation in the hippocampus during both spatial and temporal order retrieval6 and other studies emphasizing the importance of the hippocampus to both spatial and temporal order retrieval2345. The presence of the hippocampus as a primary hub in our study also provides novel insight into why the hippocampus frequently appears as a primary brain area in episodic memory.
