Recognition memory for words and pictures: an event-related potential study

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the test phase of recognition memory tests for words and pictures of objects. ERPs elicited by recognized items contained a temporo-parietally distributed positive shift (the parietal old/new effect), which was strongly left lateralized regardless of stimulus type. This finding suggests that the lateral distribution of the parietal old/new effect is unrelated to the lateralization of the memory functions supported by the medial temporal lobe memory system. The ERPs to pictures, but not to words, also demonstrated frontally distributed old/new effects, which shifted over time from a left- to a right-sided maximum. These effects may reflect the richer informational content associated with episodic memory for pictures.