Memory for content and source in temporal lobe patients

Left and right temporal lobectomy patients and normal controls were tested in a memory task for which the to-be-remembered items were simple actions involving small objects. Participants either performed the actions, perceived the experimenter performing the actions, or imagined themselves performing the actions. The patients were deficient relative to the controls at remembering the actions and at remembering whether the actions were performed, perceived, or imagined. These results are interpreted as suggesting that the temporal lobes are involved in memory for the source as well as the content of past experiences.