Bridging the gap between neuroimaging and neuropsychology: using working memory as a case-study

Abstract

Neuropsychology and neuroimaging both provide information about the relationship between brain structure and function, and thus attempt to understand if the neural basis of cognition should benefit from converging results obtained across the two methods. However, serious attempts to integrate the two methodologies face several challenges, such as differences in basic paradigm designs. To illustrate these points, this article will review neuropsychological and neuroimaging research in the area of working memory. Points of discussion will include discrepancies between neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence for domain-specific rehearsal systems, the role of left inferior parietal cortex in phonological storage, and the contributions of Brocas area and the cerebellum to articulatory rehearsal. Methodological factors and assumptions that may account for these discrepancies, and the steps that could be taken to overcome them, will be evaluated. The overall objective of this "case study" is to encourage neuroimagers and neuropsychologists to evaluate seriously the results obtained in both methodologies when formulating interpretations of their data and when designing new studies.