The following article requires a subscription:



(Format: HTML, PDF)

: In 3 experiments, a total of 32 inbred DA Agouti and 14 outbred Sprague-Dawley rats were tested once daily on a four-choice delayed matching-to-sample task with a water reward. Each day the correct place changed, and a single exposure to it was provided on information trials. Lesions of the hippocampal formation that involved the fornix or dorsal hippocampus bilaterally produced a severe impairment in the performance of previously trained Ss. By contrast, lesions of the ventral hippocampus did not preclude reacquisition of the place-memory task. Some otherwise impaired Ss with fornical lesions were able to find the water when aided by nonplace cues that consistently signaled reward. Reducing the number of choices from 4 to 2 did not aid the impaired Ss. Certain lesions of the hippocampal formation in the rat produce a deficit appropriately described as amnesia. The memory deficit is consistent with a role for the hippocampus in processing of place information and shows some parallels to the amnesia seen in persons with temporal lobe lesions. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

(C) 1978 by the American Psychological Association