# CSR&D Research Career Scientist Award

> **NIH VA IK6** · VA SAN DIEGO HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 (1) Our work is directed towards understanding the structure, organization, and anatomy of human memory.
We study neurological patients who have circumscribed memory impairment as the result of brain injury or
disease that has damaged the hippocampus bilaterally. We also study healthy volunteers using the technique
of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This work is continuing to reveal useful and important
information about the organization of memory and the brain systems that support memory. In this work, I
collaborate with Christine Smith, Ph.D. at the VA (Research Health Science Specialist), who in 2016 obtained
independent VA funding. I also collaborate with Robert Clark, Ph.D. (VA investigator) in his program of work on
memory in rodents.
 Memory is a precious mental faculty. Lost or diminished memory, as occurs in neurological disease,
leads to a loss of self, a loss of one’s life history, and a loss of the ability to have enduring contact with other
human beings. Memory problems are common in VA neurological and psychiatric patients. Modest difficulties
with memory are of course well-documented as a universal feature of normal aging, and more severe memory
problems are a prominent early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Our work is intended to learn how memory is
affected by these conditions, how the brain accomplishes learning and memory, and what brain structures are
important. Our neuropsychological work has provided new tests, the possibility of better and earlier diagnosis,
improved understanding of the conditions that affect memory, and established a clearer path to the
development of interventions for treating and ultimately preventing diseases that affect memory.
 During the past 10 years, our work has been reported in 95 publications, (53 peer-reviewed journal
articles, 20 books or book chapters, 18 invited reviews, and four other pieces). We explored a number of
issues that are prominent in current discussions about the organization of memory. We investigated how eye
movements can be experience-dependent (e.g., different depending on whether a scene is novel or recently
presented); the key distinction between conscious and unconscious memory systems; the function of the
hippocampus with respect to the constructs of recollection and familiarity; the brain-based distinction between
short-term (working) memory and long-term memory; the role of the hippocampus and related medial temporal
lobe structures in recollecting the recent past, the remote past, and in imagining the future; the special status of
face recognition with respect to hippocampal function; the possible role of medial temporal lobe structures in
certain perceptual functions; and the role of these structures in navigation, scene construction, and spatial
cognition. Over my career, my work has been cited 48,000 times and continues to be cited about 2000
times/year. My h-index is 108.
 Current work proceeds on several fronts. First, we are...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10039495
- **Project number:** 5IK6CX001644-04
- **Recipient organization:** VA SAN DIEGO HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Larry R Squire
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-10-01 → 2024-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10039495

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10039495, CSR&D Research Career Scientist Award (5IK6CX001644-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10039495. Licensed CC0.

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