title: The role of the prefrontal cortex in object-place learning: a test of the attribute specificity model.
abstract: In order to test an attribute specificity model of prefrontal cortex function, rats with lesions in the prelimbic-infralimbic (PL-IL) or anterior cingulate and precentral (AC-PC) subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex and controls were trained on an object-place paired associate task. Rats with AC-PC lesions acquired the task as readily as controls. In contrast, the PL-IL lesioned rats did not learn the task. Whenever higher order processing is required to solve a task, the data support an attribute-specificity model of prefrontal cortex function in that the PL-IL cortices support both object and place attribute information in a variety of tasks including object-place paired associate learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 South 1530 East Room 502, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. rpkesner@behsci.utah.edu
authors.forename: Raymond P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Kesner
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ragozzino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D008032:Limbic System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*