Comparison of associative recognition versus source recognition

•Object pairs were encoded with two study contexts.•MTL activity was found for associative and source recognition.•Cortical activity differed between associative and source recognition.•MTL is involved in concurrent retrieval of associative and source memories.

The importance of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) for memory of arbitrary associations has been well established. However, the contribution of the MTL in concurrent retrieval of different classes of associations remains unclear. The present fMRI study investigated neural correlates of concurrent retrieval of associative and source memories. Participants studied a list of object pairs with two study tasks and judged the status and context of the pair during test. Associative retrieval was supported by neural activity in bilateral prefrontal cortex and left ventral occipito-temporal cortex, while source recognition was linked to activity in the right caudate. Both the hippocampus and MTL cortex showed retrieval activity for associative and source memory. Importantly, greater brain activity for successful associative recognition accompanied with successful source recognition was evident in left perirhinal and anterior hippocampal regions. These results indicate that the MTL is critical in the retrieval of different classes of associations.