Impaired Visual and Odor Recognition Memory Span in Patients with Hippocampal Lesions

Daniel A. Levy, Joseph R. Manns, Ramona O. Hopkins, Jeffrey J. Gold, Larry R. Squire

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

In a recent study, rats with hippocampal lesions performed as well as did unoperated rats on an olfactory memory span task, performing ∼80% correct even when the span length reached 24 odors. This finding seems potentially at odds with demonstrations that memory-impaired patients typically fail tasks in which large amounts of information must be retained. Accordingly, we have assessed recognition memory span performance for line drawings of objects, designs, and odors in amnesic patients with damage thought to be limited to the hippocampal region. The patients were impaired on all three tasks. We consider possible explanations for the difference between the findings for humans and rats, including the fact that olfactory function is particularly well-developed in rodents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)531-536
Number of pages6
JournalLearning and Memory
Volume10
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2003
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute on AgingP50AG005131

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