Could activity in anterior frontal regions predict performance on declarative memory tests?
Few studies have tested the correlation between traditional declarative memory scores and functional brain imaging measures of memory. We examined the predictable capabilities of magnetoencephalography-derived measures, scanned during a high-load encoding-memory task, in the immediate (LM-1) and delayed (LM-2) recall from the Wechsler memory scale. The number of activity sources on the left frontal pole (between 300 and 600 ms) predicted scores in LM-1 and LM-2. Collapsing the activity in the left frontal pole and the orbitofrontal cortex increased the goodness of the solution for the LM-2 scores. The fact that rostral-frontal measures achieved significant values highlights the importance of executive processes, such as the implementation of memory strategies and top-down control mechanisms, in the performance of high-load memory tasks.