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PD AND MEMORY The following is not especially cheerful for PWP, but fascinating. Two articles in the 6 Sep issue of Science, which arrived today, describe recent discoveries in the psychology of memory. They posit two distinct kinds of memory: Declarative memory, the ability to recall specific events or patterns (by which, for example, we can recognize names, faces, voices, etc) resides in the temporal lobes of the brain. Non-declarative memory is the ability to learn habits or tasks through repeated association or practice (for example, learning a new computer operating system ?) and resides in the striatum, specifically the putamen and the caudate. It includes not only motor skills but abstract skills as well, and depends directly on the dopamine supply from the substantia nigra. No surprise then, that Parkinson's patients are unimpaired in declarative memory, but have trouble learning associative relationships, and that the difficulty is reduced by l-dopa medication. Cheers, Joe J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks CA 91403