Prefrontal cortex and working memory for spatial response, spatial location, and visual object information in the rat.
In the first experiment, rats were trained on a working memory task for a spatial response (right-left turn) information using a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. Following lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPF), which includes anterior cingulate and medial precentral cortex, there was a profound working memory deficit even at the shortest delay. In the second experiment, rats were trained on a working memory task for spatial location information using a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. Following lesions of the MPF, there was only a mild working memory deficit, whereas following dorsal hippocampal lesions there was a profound working memory deficit even at the shortest delay. In the third experiment, rats were trained on a working memory task for visual object information using a delayed nonmatching-to-sample procedure. Following lesions of the MPF, there were no working memory deficits, whereas following lesions of the prelimbic and infralimbic cortex there was a profound working memory deficit even at the shortest delay. The results suggest that different neural subregions of the prefrontal cortex mediate working memory for specific attribute information.
Kesner
R P
RP
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA.
Hunt
M E
ME
Williams
J M
JM
Long
J M
JM
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*