title: Intact implicit verbal relational memory in medial temporal lobe amnesia.
abstract: To elucidate the role of the hippocampus in unaware relational memory, the present study examined the performance of amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe (MTL) lesions on a cued category-exemplar generation task. In contrast to a prior study in which amnesic patients showed impaired performance (Verfaellie et al., Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 2006, 6, 91-101), the current study employed a task that required active processing of the context word at test. In this version of the task, amnesic patients, like control participants, showed enhanced category exemplar priming when the context word associated with the target at study was reinstated at test. The finding of intact implicit memory for novel associations following hippocampal lesions in a task that requires flexible use of retrieval cues is inconsistent with a relational memory view that suggests that the hippocampus is critical for all forms of relational memory, regardless of awareness. Instead, it suggests that unaware memory for within-domain associations does not require MTL mediation.
authors.affiliation: Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. verf@bu.edu
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verfaelllie
authors.forename: Karen F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: LaRocque
authors.forename: Margaret M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Keane
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000647:Amnesia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003210:Concept Formation; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009929:Organ Size; D060865:Repetition Priming; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*