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Prior knowledge and long-term memory can guide our attention to facilitate search for and detection of subtle targets embedded in a complex scene. A number of neuropsychological and experimental studies have investigated this effect, yet results in the field remain mixed, as there is a lack of consensus regarding the neural correlates thought to support memory-guided attention. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify a common set of brain structures involved in memory-guided attention. Statistical analyses were computed on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies that presented participants with a task that required them to detect a target or a change embedded in repeated and novel complex visual displays. After a systematic search, 10 fMRI studies met the selection criteria and were included in the analysis. The results yielded four significant clusters. Activity in right inferior parietal (Brodmann area BA 9) and right superior parietal (BA 7) lobes suggests involvement of a fronto-parietal attention network, while activity in left mid-cingulate cortex (BA 23) and right middle frontal gyrus (BA 10) suggests involvement of a fronto-parietal control network. These findings are consistent with the notion that fronto-parietal circuits are important for interfacing retrieved memories with attentional systems to guide search. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory Psychology > Learning Psychology > Attention.
Fischer et al. (Sun,) studied this question.