Role of the rodent hippocampus in paired-associate learning involving associations between a stimulus and a spatial location.
The ability of rats with control or hippocampal lesions to learn an object-place, odor-place, or object-odor paired-associate task was assessed in a cheeseboard maze apparatus. The data indicate that rats with hippocampal lesions were significantly impaired, compared with controls, in learning both the object-place and the odor-place paired-associate tasks. However, rats with hippocampal lesions learned the object-odor paired-associate task as readily as did controls. The data suggest that the rodent hippocampus is involved in paired-associate learning when a stimulus must be associated with a spatial location. However, the hippocampus is not involved in paired-associate learning when the association does not involve a spatial component.
Gilbert
Paul E
PE
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA.
Kesner
Raymond P
RP
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*