Effects of lesions of different parts of the septo-hippocampal system in primates on learning and retention of information acquired before or after surgery

Data from a large series of experiments on marmosets with lesions of the septal/diagonal band area, fornix or CA1 area of the hippocampus are analysed and it is shown that although all three lesions impair acquisition of a specific type of new information, lesions of CA1 result in a severe retrograde amnesia but no forgetting of that type of information adequately acquired after surgery.

Abstract

Data from a large series of experiments on marmosets with lesions of the septal/diagonal band area (DB), fornix or CA1 area of the hippocampus are analysed in terms of retention of information learned before surgery, acquisition of new information and retention of information acquired after surgery. It is shown that although all three lesions impair acquisition of a specific type of new information, lesions of CA1 result in a severe retrograde amnesia but no forgetting of that type of information adequately acquired after surgery, whereas lesions of the DB do not cause retrograde amnesia but do result in significant forgetting. Monkeys with fornix transection occupied an intermediate position in their pattern of learning impairments; some animals showed evidence of forgetting, whereas the great majority showed retrograde amnesia. These data may be relevant to an understanding of the different extent of amnesia in patients with different pathology within the medial temporal lobe and associated subcortical structures.