Ecphorizing semi-conscious information via the right temporopolar cortex-a pet study

Abstract

The hypothesis that the retrieval of both well-known and vaguely known old memories of an emotional content will activate the right lateral temporopolar cortex was tested in one subject who was in psychotherapy because of her presumed sexual abuse as a child and who could produce symbolic scenes of her abuse by painting them. Indeed, H₂ ¹⁵O positron emission tomographical results revealed regional cerebral blood flow changes in the right anterior temporal cortex under both conditions, but more so under the vaguely known but not concretely verbalizable ones. These findings make it very likely that the right temporolateral cortex is a major region for ecphorizing (i.e. associating and binding retrieval cues to the retrieval itself) old emotional information of a personal nature, even if it cannot be verbalized.