Fornix transection impairs conditional visuomotor learning in tasks involving nonspatially differentiated responses.
Rhesus monkeys learned a series of conditional visuomotor associations involving two-dimensional "objects" that instructed one of three responses: tapping a touch screen, steady contact with the screen for a brief period, or steady contact for a longer period. Relative to controls, fornix-transected monkeys were impaired in the acquisition of new associations and in the retention of preoperatively learned ones. These findings challenge the view that the hippocampal system participates in associative learning only when spatial information is relevant to either the stimulus or the response.
Brasted
Peter J
PJ
Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. Peter_Brasted@nih.gov
Bussey
Timothy J
TJ
Murray
Elisabeth A
EA
Wise
Steven P
SP
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*