Cerebral cortex
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We measured the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 11 healthy volunteers with PET (positron emission tomography). The main purpose was to map the areas of the human brain that changed rCBF during (1) the storage, (2) retrieval from long-term memory, and (3) recognition of complex visual geometrical patterns. A control measurement was done with subjects at rest. ⋯ If this is true, storage, retrieval, and recognition of complex visual patterns are mediated by higher-level visual areas. Thus, visual learning and recognition of the same patterns make use of identical visual areas, whereas retrieval of this material from the storage sites activates only a subset of the visual areas. The extravisual networks mediating storage, retrieval, and recognition differ, indicating that the ways by which the brain accesses the storage sites are different.