Types of Memory or Attention? Impairments After Lesions of the

OADES, R. D. Types of memory or attention? ~rn~u~rrnent ~ af er lesions of the ~ip~ocum~us and l~mbic ventral tegmen-turn. BRAIN RES. BULL. 7(Z) 221-226, 1981.-AR animal with an u~mp~red “reference ” memory can distinguish between alternatives that belong to a rewarded set and those that are unrewarded. An animal with an unimpaired “work-ing ” memory can distinguish between alternatives where it has been rewarded (e.g., food has been eaten and not replaced) and those where it will be rewarded. Olton et al. [ 191 proposed that rats with fiibria-fornix or hippocampal damage showed a lasting deficit specific to “working ” memory. This hypothesis has been tested for animals with damage to the hippocam-pus, limbic ventral tegmentum, neocortex and for intact and operated controls on a task where food pellets must be found in four of 16 holes in a “hole-board ” arena. Only the first two groups were impaired in acquiring this task. The ~p~ent was marked for both types of “memory,” selective mechanisms related to attention. It is proposed that the deficit may, in part, be accounted for by deficits in the “Working ” memory “Reference ” memory Attention Fimbria-fomix Hippocampus Ventral tegmental area Hole-board Dopamine Noradrenaline SEVERAL hypotheses for an involvement of hippocamp~ function in cognitive activity have been proposed in the las