Kesner, R. P., DiMattia, B. V., and Crutcher, K. A. (1987). Evidence for neocortical involvement in reference memory.
Behavioral & Neural Biology, 47(1):40-53.
Abstract
Rats were trained on an eight-arm radial maze task using a procedure
that provides for an assessment of both working and reference
memory. Following training, rats received parietal cortex, medial
prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, or nucleus basalis magnocellularis
lesions. Rats with visual cortex lesions showed no change in
performance on either working or reference memory. Rats with
parietal cortex lesions displayed a temporary deficit in reference,
but no deficit on working memory. Animals with medial prefrontal
cortex lesions showed a temporary deficit on both working and
reference memory. Rats with extensive lateral frontal and parietal
cortex depletion of acetylcholinesterase following nucleus basalis
magnocellularis lesions had a marked disruption only of reference
but not of working memory. It is concluded that neocortex and
possibly the cholinergic projections to neocortex play an important
role in mediating reference memory.
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