Intact visual perception in memory-impaired patients with medial temporal lobe lesions.
A recent proposal that structures of the medial temporal lobe support visual perception in addition to memory challenges the long-standing idea that the ability to acquire new memories is separable from other cognitive and perceptual functions. In four experiments, we have put this proposal to a rigorous test. Six memory-impaired patients with well characterized lesions of either the hippocampal region or the hippocampal region plus additional medial temporal lobe structures were assessed on difficult tests of visual perceptual discrimination. Across all four experiments, the patients performed as well as controls. The results show that visual perception is intact in memory-impaired patients with damage to the medial temporal lobe even when perception is assessed with challenging tasks. Furthermore, the results support the principle that the ability to acquire new memories is a distinct cerebral function, dissociable from other perceptual and cognitive functions.
Shrager
Yael
Y
Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Gold
Jeffrey J
JJ
Hopkins
Ramona O
RO
Squire
Larry R
LR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception