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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Mar 25.
Published in final edited form as: Cortex. 2012 Mar 30;48(9):1091–1102. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.03.017

Table 2.

Primary characteristics of the declarative and procedural memory systems and functions in first and second languages, based on Ullman (2001, 2004, 2005)

Declarative memory Procedural memory
Neural basis • Medial temporal lobe, particularly the hippocampus • Frontal/basal ganglia circuits
• Neocortical regions, including temporal and parietal cortex and BA 45/47 • Inferior frontal gyrus, particularly BA 44
Non-linguistic function • Semantic (facts) and episodic (events) memory • Motor and cognitive skills and habits
Primary linguistic function for L1 • L1 lexicon • L1 grammar
Primary linguistic function for L2 • L2 lexicon and grammar at low proficiency and exposure • No posited role for L2 lexicon or grammar at low proficiency and exposure
• L2 lexicon at high proficiency and exposure • L2 grammar at high proficiency and exposure

Note. BA = Brodmann area. L1 = First language. L2 = Second language.