The elucidation of the neural systems underlying human memory has been frutiful enterprise. Studies of human pathology (lesion, dementias) and more recently functional neuroimaging studies have begun to identify multiple memory systems. Recent efforts have begun to interelate findings from studies of temporal lobe (traditionally considered a region involved in memory consolidation) with findings from frontal lobe system (often implicated in working memory tasks). This talk presents novel data from single unit recording in the temporal lobe during a working memory task and identifies a population of neurons strongly implicated in the maintenance of memory. These data provide some of the very first evidence for a direct role of the lateral temporal lobe during an active memory task..