Neuroimaging correlates of negative priming.

Many theoretical accounts of selective attention and memory retrieval include reference to active inhibitory processes, such as those argued to underlie the negative priming effect. fMRI was used in order to investigate the areas of cortical activation associated with Stroop interference, Stroop facilitation and Stroop negative priming tasks. The most significant activation within the negative priming task was within the inferior parietal lobule, left temporal lobe and frontal lobes. Areas of cortical activation are discussed with reference to theoretical accounts of the negative priming effect.