Memory for places learned long ago is intact after hippocampal damage

Edmond Teng and Larry R. Squire ()
Additional contact information
Edmond Teng: Neurosciences University of California
Larry R. Squire: Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Nature, 1999, vol. 400, issue 6745, 675-677

Abstract: Abstract The hippocampus is part of a system of structures in the medial temporal lobe that are essential for memory1,2,3. One influential view of hippocampal function emphasizes its role in the acquisition and retrieval of spatial knowledge4,5. By this view, the hippocampus constructs and stores spatial maps and is therefore essential for learning and remembering places, including those learned about long ago. We tested a profoundly amnesic patient (E.P.), who has virtually complete bilateral damage to the hippocampus and extensive damage to adjacent structures in the medial temporal lobe. We asked him to recall the spatial layout of the region where he grew up, from which he moved away more than 50 years ago. E.P. performed as well as or better than age-matched control subjects who grew up in the same region and also moved away. In contrast, E.P. has no knowledge of his current neighbourhood, to which he moved after he became amnesic. Our results show that the medial temporal lobe is not the permanent repository of spatial maps, and support the view that the hippocampus and other structures in the medial temporal lobe are essential for the formation of long-term declarative memories, both spatial and non-spatial, but not for the retrieval of very remote memories, either spatial or non-spatial3,6.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/23276 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:400:y:1999:i:6745:d:10.1038_23276

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/23276

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().