[Memory: a functional imaging approach]

Functional imaging permits us to tackle in a better way one of the most noble functions of the human brain: memory. First of all, it is a way to validate the wide subdivisions proposed by cognitive psychology and clinical neuropsychology such as short-term memory/long-term memory dissociation, episodic memory/semantic memory dissociation and the distinction among working memory subcomponents. Moreover, functional imaging yields a new perspective on the global physiology of the brain. It makes it possible to propose new relationships that are more or less reciprocal between cerebral structures and cognitive functions and raises new fundamental questions. Thus, its first goal is to answer precise questions in the framework of definite cognitive models and it offers the possibility of elaborating a new modelling conception. Finally, functional imaging is a potential tool for a predictive approach to memory functions in both normal subjects and patients.