filtering through correlation - MATLAB documentation

MATLAB documentation says that "imfilter performs multidimensional filtering using correlation, which is the same way that FILTER2 performs filtering. When no correlation or convolution option is specified, imfilter uses correlation." I guess what is possible for M-D is also possible for 1-D signals. Filtering (linear convolution) can be implemented through circular convolutions through DFTs for efficiency of computation. And I am curious to know why filtering is done through correlation as stated in documentation. Any ideas or references?