Hemispheric asymmetry in encoding and retrieval processes in short-term memory and long-term memory: A tachistoscopic and divided visual field study in normal subjects

The Hemispheric Encoding/Retrieval Asymmetry (HERA) model, based on functional neuroimaging studies in normal subjects, postulates that encoding and retrieval processes involve respectively left and right hemispheres in long-term memory. Using a tachistoscopic and divided visual field technique, our study confirmed the HERA model in young and normal subjects. Our study showed that the HERA model seems valid in short-term memory for verbal material, but not for nonverbal material. We can hypothetize that the nature of encoding and retrieval processes could be not the same in short-term memory and long-term memory. (C) 1999 Academic Press.