QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, March 15, 2006, 26(11):2907-2913; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5481-05.2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wolff, M. Articles by Dalrymple-Alford, J. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wolff, M. Articles by Dalrymple-Alford, J. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Beyond Spatial Memory: The Anterior Thalamus and Memory for the Temporal Order of a Sequence of Odor Cues

Mathieu Wolff, Sheree J. Gibb, and John C. Dalrymple-Alford

Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson’s and Brain Research and Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand

Correspondence should be addressed to John C. Dalrymple-Alford, Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson’s and Brain Research and Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private bag 4800, Ilam Road, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand. Email: john.dalrymple-alford{at}canterbury.ac.nz

Influential recent proposals state that the anterior thalamic (AT) nuclei constitute key components of an "extended hippocampal system." This idea is, however, based on lesion studies that used spatial memory tasks and there has been no evidence that AT lesions cause deficits in any hippocampal-dependent nonspatial tasks. The present study investigated the role of the AT nuclei in nonspatial memory for a sequence of events based on the temporal order of a list of odors, because this task has recently been shown to depend on the integrity of the hippocampal formation. After preoperative training, rats with excitotoxic lesions of the AT nuclei showed a severe and selective postoperative impairment when required to remember the order of pseudorandom sequences of six odors. The rats with AT lesions were able instead to learn two new tasks that required recognition memory and the identification of the prior occurrence of events independent of their order. These results strongly matched those described after hippocampal lesions and provide the first unequivocal evidence of a detrimental effect of an AT lesion on a nonspatial hippocampal-dependent memory task.

Key words: anterior thalamic nuclei; memory for temporal order; nonspatial memory; rat; odor; hippocampus

---

Received Dec. 21, 2005; revised Jan. 18, 2006; accepted Jan. 28, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to John C. Dalrymple-Alford, Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson’s and Brain Research and Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private bag 4800, Ilam Road, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand. Email: john.dalrymple-alford{at}canterbury.ac.nz

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Lopez, M. Wolff, L. Lecourtier, B. Cosquer, B. Bontempi, J. Dalrymple-Alford, and J.-C. Cassel The Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei Contribute to Remote Spatial Memory J. Neurosci., March 11, 2009; 29(10): 3302 - 3306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. S. Mitchell and J. C. Dalrymple-Alford Lateral and anterior thalamic lesions impair independent memory systems. Learn. Mem., May 1, 2006; 13(3): 388 - 396. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help