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Previous Article
The Journal of Neuroscience, January 15, 1998, 18(2):804-810
Memory for Spatial Location: Role of the Hippocampus in Mediating
Spatial Pattern Separation
Paul E.
Gilbert,
Raymond P.
Kesner, and
William E.
DeCoteau
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
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ABSTRACT |
A paradigm based on measuring short-term memory for spatial
location information as a function of spatial similarity between distal
cues was developed to examine the role of pattern separation in the
modulation of short-term memory for spatial information. A
delayed-match-to-sample for spatial location task using a dryland version of the Morris water maze was used to assess spatial pattern separation in male Long-Evans rats. In the sample phase, animals were
trained to displace an object that covered a baited food well in one of
15 spatial locations along a row of food wells perpendicular to a start
box. In the ensuing choice phase, the animal was allowed to choose
between two objects identical to the sample phase object. One covered
the same baited food well as did the object in the study phase (correct
choice), and another foil object (incorrect choice) covered a different
unbaited food well along the row of wells. Five spatial separations
were randomly used to separate the correct object from the foil object.
After reaching a criterion before the operation, animals were given either hippocampal or cortical control lesions. In trials after the
operation, control animals matched their performance before the
operation across all spatial separations. In contrast,
hippocampal-lesioned animals displayed impairments across all spatial
separations with the exception of the longest (105 cm) spatial
separation. The results suggest that the hippocampus may serve to
separate incoming spatial information by temporarily storing one place
separate from another. It is proposed that hippocampal lesions decrease efficiency in pattern separation, resulting in impairments in trials
with increased spatial similarity among working-memory representations.
Key words:
hippocampus; pattern separation; spatial memory; spatial
location; working memory; dentate gyrus
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INTRODUCTION |
The hippocampus has been assumed to
subserve a number of processes including (1) spatial and temporal
separation of events associated with temporary memory representations
of new spatial information (Shapiro and Olton, 1994 ), (2) short-term
memory or working-memory representations of new information (Olton et
al., 1979 ; Kesner, 1990 ), (3) consolidation or elaborative rehearsal of
new information (Milner, 1966 ; Squire, 1992 ; Schacter et al., 1996 ),
(4) retrieval of new information based on flexibility and action
(Eichenbaum, 1994 ; Johnson and Chalfonte, 1994 ), and (5) the formation
of cognitive maps (O'Keefe and Nadel, 1979 ). There is ample evidence
indicating an important role for the hippocampus in mediating
consolidation, working-memory, retrieval, and cognitive map processes,
but its role in the separation of patterns of incoming spatial
information is in need of a more-detailed behavioral analysis (Milner,
1966 ; Olton et al., 1979 ; Kesner, 1990 ; Squire, 1992 ; Eichenbaum, 1994 ;
Johnson and Chalfonte, 1994 ; Schacter et al., 1996 ).
Several computational models of hippocampal function suggest that the
hippocampus is involved in pattern separation or orthogonalization of
sensory input information (McNaughton, 1989 ; McNaughton and Nadel,
1990 ; Rolls, 1990 ; O'Reilly and McClelland, 1994 ; Shapiro and Olton,
1994 ). Based on sparse connections and strong inhibitory interactions
within the hippocampus, these models posit that relevant sensory
information is processed by hippocampal neurons perhaps by providing
spatial and temporal markers for the coding of sensory information.
This would ensure that new highly processed sensory information is
organized within the hippocampus in such a way that remembering and
temporarily storing one place separate from another place in time and
space is enhanced. Similarly, Nadel (1994) suggested that one process
function of the hippocampus is to separate and organize spatial
representations within memory.
Enhanced spatial similarity between distal cues and decreased
efficiency in pattern separation could represent a key process deficiency in hippocampal-lesioned rats. One of the most popular means
for testing hippocampal function is the water maze. In this task,
enhanced spatial similarity between distal cues, because of different
start locations, could account for impairments in the acquisition of
the task. Support for this idea comes from the observations of
Eichenbaum et al. (1990) who demonstrated that when
fimbria-fornix-lesioned rats were trained on the water maze task from
only a single starting position (a condition in which there is less
spatial similarity among spatial cues), there were minimal learning
deficits, whereas training from many different starting points resulted
in learning difficulties. It is also interesting to note that the
deficits observed in the fornix-lesioned group occurred only in trials
requiring the flexible use of novel working-memory information as in
the variable-start condition. In a somewhat similar study, it was shown
that when only one spatial location was correct on an eight-arm maze,
total hippocampal-lesioned rats learned the task rather readily.
However, they were impaired when the correct arm varied from trial to
trial (Hunt et al., 1994 ). Thus, pattern separation may play a role in
working memory as well as in acquisition of new spatial
information.
To instantiate the role of the hippocampus in separating spatial
events based on the overlapping similarity of distal cues, we developed
a paradigm in which rats are required to remember a spatial location
dependent on spatial cues and to differentiate between the
to-be-remembered location and a different location with different
degrees of similarity or overlap among spatial cues.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Subjects
Ten male, Long-Evans rats, each weighing ~350 gm at the
beginning of the study, were used as subjects. Each rat was initially food-deprived to 80% of its free-feeding weight and allowed access to
water ad libitum. The animals were housed individually in
standard rodent cages and were maintained on a 12 hr light/dark cycle. All testing was performed during the light phase of the cycle.
Apparatus
The test apparatus was a dryland version of the Morris water
maze. The apparatus was painted white, stood 65 cm above the floor, and
was kept in a well-lighted room with no windows, one door, a chair, a
long shelf, and four pictures of various sizes placed on the walls of
the room.
The surface of the apparatus was 119 cm in diameter and 3.5 cm in
thickness. One-hundred seventy-seven food wells (2.5 cm in diameter and
1.5 cm in depth) were drilled into the surface of the maze in evenly
spaced parallel rows and columns 2 cm apart. A black start box (24 cm
long, 15 cm wide, and 17 cm high) was placed on top of the maze surface
centered perpendicular to the rows of food wells with the posterior
edge of the box placed along the edge of the apparatus. The box was
equipped with a hinged top for transferring animals into and out of the
box, and the front of the box was equipped with a guillotine door that
could be raised and lowered manually by the experimenter.
Procedure
Shaping. During the first week of training, each
animal was handled for ~0.25 hr daily and was then allowed to explore
individually the test apparatus for 0.25 hr. During this exploration
period, ~10 pieces of Froot Loops cereal (Kellogg, Battle Creek, MI)
were spread out on the surface of the maze, and the guillotine door to
the start box remained open. Beginning the second week of training, a
single object was introduced into the testing environment. The object
consisted of a hollow cylindrical metal pipe 3 cm in diameter and 4 cm
tall welded onto a round, thin metal plate 5 cm in diameter. The object
was placed over the food well directly in the center of the maze. In
each trial, a piece of cereal was placed in front of the object on the
maze surface. The animal was placed in the closed start box, and then
the door was opened. The animal was allowed to exit the box, retrieve
the reward, and then return to the box to consume the food reward with
the door closed. This procedure was followed 16 times daily. Once the
animal was eating the reward consistently, the food reward was placed
in the food well with the object adjacent to the well. In each ensuing
trial, the object was positioned to cover a larger portion of the food well until the base of the object covered the baited well completely. Once the animal consistently displaced the object in any position along
the center row of food wells, the animal began the spatial task.
Spatial task training before the operation. A
delayed-match-to-sample for spatial location task was used to assess
spatial pattern separation in the animals. Each animal received 16 trials per day. Each trial consisted of a sample phase followed by a choice phase. During the sample phase, a randomly positioned object covered a baited food well in one of fifteen spatial locations along
the center-most row of food wells perpendicular to the start box. The
rat was placed in the start box with the guillotine door in the closed
position. The door was then opened; the animal exited the box,
displaced the object to receive a food reward, and returned to the box.
The same food well was then quickly rebaited, the object was replaced,
and a second identical object was placed in a different location along
the row of food wells covering a different unbaited food well. The
object used in the sample phase was randomly assigned to cover either
the correct food well or the incorrect food well on the choice phase,
thus eliminating the possibility of using object odor cues to choose
the correct object. The interval separating the sample phase from the
choice phase was ~5-7 sec, or the time required to rebait the
correct food well and to position the two objects. In the ensuing
choice phase, the animal was allowed to choose between the two objects. Both objects were identical to the object described in the previous "shaping" section. The object that covered the same food well as
did the object in the sample phase was the correct choice, and the
second foil object was the incorrect choice. Five spatial distances
(15, 37.5, 60, 82.5, and 105 cm) were randomly used to separate the
correct object from the foil object. For each spatial separation, the
distance between the two objects was held constant; however, the two
objects were in different positions along the row of wells in different
trials. The position of the correct object relative to the foil object
was counterbalanced with regard to left versus right and closer versus
farther with respect the animal across all separations. If an animal
made an incorrect choice, it was immediately returned to the start box for a 20 sec intertrial interval. Once an animal established a criterion of 75% correct choices based on 80 trials across all spatial
separations, the training period before the operation was ended.
Surgery. Each animal was randomly assigned to receive either
a hippocampal lesion (n = 5) or a cortical control
lesion (n = 5). The animal was given atropine sulfate
(0.2 mg/kg, i.p.) and anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital (Nembutal;
50 mg/kg, i.p.). The animal was then placed in a stereotaxic
instrument, and an incision was made along the midline in the skin
covering the skull. The periosteal fascia covering the skull was
scraped away to expose the skull, and the instrument was adjusted to
level the head. Both the hippocampal lesion group (HIP) and the
cortical control lesion group (CON) had the bone overlying the dorsal
hippocampus removed with a dental burr; the HIP animals also had the
bone removed above the ventral hippocampus. The HIP group then received bilateral electrolytic lesions, produced by passing a 1.2 mA anodal current for 10 sec through a stainless steel electrode (0.35 mm in
diameter) insulated with Epoxylite except for ~0.50-0.75 mm at the
tip of the electrode. The lesion coordinates for the HIP group were 3.5 mm posterior to bregma; 1.0, 2.2, and 3.4 mm lateral to midline; and
2.8 mm below dura for the dorsal hippocampus. For the ventral
hippocampus, the coordinates were 4.6 mm posterior to bregma, 5.2 mm
lateral to midline, and 5.6 and 8.1 mm ventral to dura. The CON group
was lesioned at the same coordinates used for the dorsal hippocampus
lesion, except the electrode tip was only lowered to 1 mm below
dura.
Spatial task testing after the operation. After a 7-10 d
recovery period from surgery, each animal was again tested on the task
following the same procedure used in the training trials before the
operation. Each animal was tested on two blocks of 80 trials each over
a 2 week period. The performance after the operation of a subset of
animals was video recorded using a video camera that was mounted to the
ceiling above the apparatus.
Transfer task. A transfer task was implemented to assess the
ability of each animal to solve the task, while removing the possibility of using an alternate response strategy based on making the
same turn in the choice phase that was made in the sample phase. During
the third week of testing after the operation, HIP and CON animals were
tested on a transfer task for one block of 80 trials. The procedure on
the transfer task was identical to the procedure used on the spatial
task; however, after the sample phase, the start box was picked up by
the experimenter, carried around the maze 180°, and placed facing the
row of food wells in a position opposite that of the box in the sample
phase. The choice phase of the task was then performed as described for
the initial task. Each animal was tested using the transfer procedure for 5 consecutive days consisting of 16 trials each day.
Strategy probe tasks. Three probe tasks were designed to
characterize the strategies that control animals used to solve the task. The tests were conducted on control animals (n = 4) that were added to the original group of subjects. These animals
were pretrained on the spatial task to the criterion used before the operation and were then tested on the probe trials. The first two probe
tasks were designed to assess the ability of the animals to solve the
task using ideothetic cues while removing external allothetic cues. On
the first probe task, the procedure was the same as the original task
procedure; however, all testing was conducted in the dark. On the
second probe task, the procedure was again the same; however, the
sample phase was conducted in the light, and the choice phase was
conducted in the dark. A third probe task was designed to characterize
the use of environmental cues by the animals. On this task, after the
sample phase, the entire maze was shifted either to the right or to the
left the distance of the separation. Thus, on the choice phase, the
foil object was in the same position relative to the environmental cues
as was the object in the sample phase, whereas the correct object was
in the same position as was the sample phase object relative to the
maze but in a different position relative to the environmental cues.
The distances used to separate the correct object from the foil object
were 15, 30.5, and 38.5 cm. The correct object was randomly positioned
with respect to the incorrect object and to the approach position of
the animals as described in the original task to eliminate
position-biased strategies.
Histology. At the conclusion of all testing, each animal was
deeply anesthetized with 1.5 ml of sodium pentobarbital (50 mg/kg, i.p.) and perfused intracardially with normal saline followed by a 10%
formalin solution. Each rat was then decapitated; the brain was removed
from the skull and stored in a 10% formalin and 30% sucrose solution.
Each brain was then frozen and cut at 24 µm sections starting at
bregma and extending through the region of the ventral hippocampus.
Every third section was mounted on a glass slide, stained with cresyl
violet, and examined for histological verification of the lesion
placement.
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RESULTS |
Histology
A representative cortical control lesion is shown in Figure
1A. Cortical control
lesions did not invade the hippocampus in any of the animals but caused
fairly extensive damage to the cortex above the dorsal hippocampus. A
representative dorsal hippocampal lesion is shown in Figure
1B. In four of the HIP animals, lesions of the dorsal
hippocampus were complete, and there was fairly extensive damage to the
cortex dorsal to the dorsal hippocampus. However, in one of the HIP
animals, there were minimal savings in the dorsal hippocampus region.
With the exception of one animal, all lesions of the ventral
hippocampus (Fig. 1C) were complete with minimal savings and
limited damage to surrounding tissue.

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Figure 1.
A schematic drawing of the largest
(stippled) and the smallest (black)
cortical control lesion (A), dorsal hippocampal
lesion (B), and ventral hippocampal lesion
(C).
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Strategy probe tasks
The results of the first probe task, in which animals were tested
in the dark, revealed that the mean performance of the animals across
separations was 54% or approximately chance based on 32 trials.
Similarly, on the second probe task, in which the sample phase was
conducted in the light and the choice phase in the dark, the
performance of the animals was at chance based on 16 trials. These
findings indicate that the animals were not able to solve the task
using only ideothetic cues, thus indicating that the animals relied on
environmental cues to accurately solve the task.
If the animals were not using environmental cues to solve the third
probe task, in which the maze was shifted the distance of the
separation, then it would be predicted that shifting the maze relative
to the cues would have had no effect on the performance of the animals.
However, a binomial test (one-tailed) indicated that the performance of
the animals on this task (29% correct) was significantly below chance
(p < 0.05) based on 24 trials. These data
indicate that the animals tended to choose the object that was in the
same position, relative to the environmental cues, as the sample phase
object (foil) but not the object in the same position, relative to the
maze, as the sample phase object (correct). The results from this task
indicate not only that the animals used environmental cues to solve
this task but that the animals were likely to use relationships among
cues to identify the correct location. Because hippocampal-lesioned
animals perform poorly on close separations, we were unable to test
these animals on this probe test.
Spatial task
All animals reached a 75% correct criterion before the operation
across all spatial distances and maintained this performance for 80 trials. The mean number of trials needed to learn this task to a 75%
correct criterion was 300 for the CON group and 394 for the HIP group.
A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant difference between the groups
with regard to the number of trials to reach criterion.
The data were grouped into blocks of 80 trials for analysis. These
included the criterion trials before the operation (PRE) and two sets
of trials after the operation (POST 1 and POST 2). The data are shown
in Figure 2A and
indicate that the performance of the CON group after the operation
(POST 1 and POST 2) matched their performance before the operation
(PRE) across all spatial separations. In contrast, the data in Figure
2B indicate that the HIP group was significantly
impaired in trials after the operation (POST 1 and POST 2) across all
spatial separations with the exception of the largest (105 cm)
separation. The errors committed by the HIP group tended to be quite
random with no particular pattern such as always choosing the object on
the left, the nearest object, or a particular object, thus indicating
that the deficit did not seem to be a result of perseverative-type
behavior. Behaviorally, control and lesioned animals tended to quickly
exit the start box, scan the row of food wells and objects, and then
make a direct trajectory toward one of the objects. Based on the video
recordings made after the operation, the CON animals tended to make a
direct trajectory toward the chosen object on >90% of the trials.
Hippocampal-lesioned animals also tended to make a direct trajectory on
~90% of the trials. We believe that the reason for the straight
trajectory is because the objects provide intramaze landmarks in
conjunction with the extramaze cues to facilitate the cue-guided
component of a navigational strategy, whereas in a task such as the
water maze, these intramaze landmarks are not likely to be present.

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Figure 2.
Mean percent correct performance of the cortical
control lesion group (A) and the hippocampal
lesion group (B) on trials before the operation
(PRE) and two blocks of trials after the operation (POST 1 and POST 2).
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A repeated-measures three-way ANOVA with lesion group (cortical control
or hippocampus) as the between factor and block (PRE, POST 1, or POST
2) and distance (15, 37.5, 60, 82.5, or 105 cm) as the within factors
revealed that there was a significant lesion effect
[F(1,8) = 40.38; p < 0.001],
a significant block effect [F(2,16) = 22.74;
p < 0.001], and a significant distance effect [F(4,32) = 9.25; p < 0.001].
Furthermore, the analysis revealed a significant block × lesion
interaction effect [F(2,16) = 13.40; p < 0.001], a significant distance × lesion
interaction effect [F(4,32) = 3.11;
p < 0.05], and a significant block × distance interaction effect [F(8,64) = 2.70;
p < 0.05]. In addition, the analysis revealed a
three-way block × distance × lesion interaction effect
[F(8,64) = 4.36; p < 0.001].
A Newman-Keuls comparison test of the three-way block × distance × lesion interaction effect revealed that the PRE
performance of the CON group did not differ significantly from the PRE
performance of the HIP group. Furthermore, no significant differences
were found between the PRE, POST 1, or POST 2 performances of the CON group with regard to block or distance. For the HIP group, the POST 1 and POST 2 performance across all distances, with the exception of 105 cm, was significantly different (p < 0.05) from
the PRE performance of the HIP group on corresponding spatial
distances. In contrast, the POST 1 and POST 2 performance of the HIP
group on the 105 cm separation was not significantly different from the
105-cm-separation PRE performance of the HIP group or from the POST 1 and POST 2 performance of the CON group on the 105 cm separation. A
Newman-Keuls comparison of the performance of the HIP group on POST 1 revealed that the performance on the 15 cm separation was significantly
different (p < 0.05) from the performance on
all other spatial separations for this group. The analysis also
revealed that the performance of this group on the 105 cm separation
was significantly different (p < 0.05) from all
separations with the exception of the 82.5 cm separation. A
Newman-Keuls analysis of POST 2 of the HIP group revealed that the
performance on the 15 and the 105 cm separations was significantly different (p < 0.05) from the performance of
this group on all other separations.
A linear trend analysis of the average performance of the HIP group
after the operation across separations revealed a significant linear
increase in performance as a function of spatial separation [F(1,4) = 10.03; p < 0.05].
Furthermore, of the five animals in the HIP group, four displayed a
significant linear increase (p < 0.05) in
performance as a function of increased spatial separation. The
performance of the fifth animal was not statistically significant; however, it approached significance. It is critical to note that the
performance of this particular animal was at chance across all
separations with the exception of the 105 cm separation and, therefore,
did not yield a significant linear trend. These data do not support the
assumption that the deficits in the HIP group may be caused by an
inability to form internal representations of the environment nor do
they suggest that the animals may be solving the task based on a
cue-approach strategy. Thus, the most parsimonious interpretation of
the data is that hippocampal lesions are likely to decrease the
efficiency of hippocampal pattern separation.
Transfer task
If an animal was indeed using a response strategy correctly,
it is predicted that their performance would be lower than 50%, because making a turn during the test phase identical to the turn made
during the sample phase would result in errors. However, the
performance of the HIP and CON groups on the transfer task was above
chance across all spatial separations. Figure
3 shows that the HIP group matched the
performance of the CON group on transfer and nontransfer
105-cm-separation trials. Furthermore, the performance of the HIP group
on transfer task 105-cm-separation trials matched the performance of
the group on nontransfer 105-cm-separation trials. A repeated-measures
two-way ANOVA with lesion group (cortical control or hippocampus) as
the between factor and task type (transfer or nontransfer) as the
within factor revealed no significant main effects or interaction
effects for the largest spatial separation (105 cm). The analysis
revealed no significant difference between transfer and nontransfer
105-cm-separation trials for either group. Furthermore, the performance
of the HIP group was not significantly different from the performance
of the CON group on the 105 cm separation on either transfer or
nontransfer trials. The results showed that the HIP group did not seem
to be using a response strategy to solve the task at large spatial
separations.

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Figure 3.
Mean percent correct performance of the cortical
control and hippocampal lesion groups on transfer (solid
bars) and nontransfer (hatched bars) task
105-cm-separation trials.
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DISCUSSION |
The results of the present study indicate that a function of the
hippocampus may be to separate patterns of incoming spatial information
and thus preserve the uniqueness of a memory representation. The
results demonstrate that on short and medium separation trials (15-82.5 cm), with an increased overlap of distal cues and presumably increased spatial similarity among distal cues, hippocampal-lesioned animals were impaired. However, on trials with increased spatial separation (105 cm), less overlap of distal cues resulted in less similarity, and as a consequence the hippocampal-lesioned animals performed the task as well as the controls. The fact that the HIP group
was able to perform the task well at large separations indicates that
the deficits observed on 15-82.5 cm separations were not the result of
an inability to remember the rule of the task and eliminates
nonspecific sensory and motor deficits. Furthermore, this finding also
indicates that the deficit was not simply caused by a deficit in
working memory. The results suggest that the hippocampus may serve to
separate patterns of incoming spatial information by temporarily
storing one place separate from another place. It is proposed that
hippocampal lesions result in a decrease in efficiency in pattern
separation that may result in an impairment on trials with increased
spatial similarity or interference among spatial working-memory
representations. Similar spatial pattern separation deficits have been
observed for new geographical information in patients with hippocampal
damage caused by a hypoxic episode (Hopkins and Kesner, 1993 ).
Because it was not a certainty that the HIP group would perform the
task poorly regardless of separation, the ability of this group to
solve the task at the 105 cm separation raised the question of whether
the group may have used an alternate strategy, such as an egocentric
response strategy based on a right or left turn, to solve the task at
large spatial separations. The results of the transfer task
demonstrated that the HIP group did not seem to be using a response
strategy to solve the task at large separations. The HIP group
performed well on transfer task 105-cm-separation trials initially and
maintained this performance throughout testing. There was no indication
that the group simply altered their initial response strategy on
transfer trials by making a turn in the choice phase opposite of the
turn made in the sample phase to choose the correct object.
The ability of the HIP group to solve the task at large
separations may be because of the reliance of the animals on one
environmental cue, based on a single cue or an array of distal cues, to
locate the correct place on the apparatus. On a 105-cm-separation
trial, minimal overlap would exist among the distal cues, and it would be possible for an animal to identify the correct location based on a
single distal cue. Thus, at large spatial separations, a hippocampal-lesioned animal could simply select a single environmental cue for the sample phase location and base its choice only on this cue.
In contrast, on close separation trials, this strategy may not be
available to hippocampal-lesioned animals because a single
environmental cue may be common to both the correct and incorrect
locations on the choice phase. The significant linear increase in
performance as a function of increased spatial separation clearly
demonstrates that the deficits observed in the HIP group on close
separation trials were the result of decreased efficiency in pattern
separation and not a cue-approach strategy deficit. If the animals were
using a cue-approach strategy, a linear function would not be
expected.
The results of the strategy probe tasks illustrate more clearly how
animals use environmental cues to solve this task. Based on the probe
tasks either completely conducted in the dark or with the choice phase
conducted in the dark, it is clear that the animals rely on
environmental cues to solve the task. Furthermore, even though spatial
cues and ideothetic cues may be used when solving this task in the
light, it is clear that ideothetic cues alone are not sufficient to
accurately solve this task. The results of the third probe task, in
which the maze was shifted to the left or to the right the distance of
the separation, also demonstrate that the animals are relying on
environmental cues to solve the task. In addition, the results also
suggest that the animals may be using relationships among cues to solve
the task.
It is also essential to demonstrate that the deficits observed in
the HIP group were the result of a working-memory deficit and not
simply a perceptual deficit. The finding of Long and Kesner (1996) that
animals with hippocampal lesions could discriminate between
simultaneously presented objects, separated by short spatial distances
(2 or 7 cm), as well as controls demonstrated that hippocampal lesions
do not impair the ability to perceive short distances. Therefore, it
does not seem that the deficits observed in the HIP group were the
result of a perceptual deficit. Because hippocampal-lesioned rats can
clearly discriminate spatial distances, the inefficiency in the pattern
separation problem manifests itself primarily in working memory.
Deficits in memory for proximal spatial locations, similar to those of
the present study, were also found by McDonald and White (1995) who
used a place preference procedure in an eight-arm maze. In this
procedure, food is place at the end of one arm, and no food is placed
at the end of another arm. In a subsequent preference task, normal rats
prefer the arm that contains the food. In this study,
fimbria-fornix-lesioned rats acquired the place preference task as
quickly as did controls if the arm locations were opposite each other,
but the fornix-lesioned rats were markedly impaired if the locations
were adjacent to each other. It is likely that there would be greater
overlap among distal cues when the locations were adjacent to each
other rather than when separate; thus, inefficiency in spatial pattern
separation may result in impairments on adjacent trials of this task.
As mentioned previously, the results of Eichenbaum et al. (1990) may
also indicate that decreased efficiency in pattern separation may be a
key process deficiency in hippocampal-lesioned rats on the acquisition
of spatial tasks.
The results of the present experiment offer evidence that
complete lesions of the hippocampus may decrease efficiency in pattern separation, resulting in working-memory deficits on a spatial task. It
has been suggested that specific subregions of the hippocampal system
may actually serve as the mechanism for pattern separation (Marr, 1971 ;
McNaughton and Nadel, 1990 ; Rolls, 1989 , 1996 ; O'Reilly and
McClelland, 1994 ; Shapiro and Olton, 1994 ). Rolls (1989) and Marr
(1971) have suggested that pattern separation and vector orthogonalization may be a function of the dentate gyrus. Rolls's (1989) model suggests that pattern separation takes place in the mossy
fiber system that connects the granular cells of the dentate gyrus to
CA3 pyramidal neurons. The separation of patterns is attributable to
the low probability that any two CA3 neurons will receive mossy fiber
synapses from a similar subset of dentate granular cells. The low
probability of contact between dentate gyrus granular cells and
pyramidal cells of CA3 facilitates pattern separation.
Based on the computational models, it is assumed that similar input
patterns may activate similar subsets of neurons and dissimilar input
patterns may activate dissimilar subsets of neurons. Furthermore, the
input patterns, in the spatial task described in this paper, are
assumed to be based on arrays of distal cues. If these two assumptions
are true, then proximal spatial locations, based on similar cues,
should result in similar input patterns, whereas distal locations
should result in dissimilar input patterns. Rolls (1989) suggests that
a function of the hippocampus may be to ensure that even though these
similar, overlapping input patterns may activate similar populations of
neurons within the dentate gyrus, they activate very dissimilar
populations within CA3, hence preserving the uniqueness of each
representation. A functional hippocampus may enable an animal to
distinguish, in memory, between two proximal locations even though they
share many common cues. However, when the hippocampus is damaged, the
animal may no longer be able to distinguish, in memory, between the
correct location and the foil when the two are proximal. Therefore,
based on the assumptions of the models, there may be a firm parallel
between spatial separation based on distal cues and pattern separation
within layers of the hippocampus.
In support of Rolls's (1989) model, preliminary results in our
laboratory indicate that deficits were observed in animals with
colchicine lesions to the dorsal dentate gyrus that completely mimicked
the deficits observed in animals with large hippocampal lesions.
Therefore, subregional specificity may exist within the hippocampus,
and the mechanism for pattern separation may reside in the mossy fiber
system connections between the dentate gyrus and CA3. The results of
the present study are, however, essential to the examination of
hippocampal pattern separation, because the results demonstrate that
animals are able to solve the task when the separation is large, even
though the entire hippocampus, including the dentate gyrus, is
destroyed.
In conclusion, the present study represents the development of a
paradigm to instantiate the role of the hippocampus in efficiently separating patterns of spatial information to decrease similarity between spatial cues, preserve the uniqueness of a memory
representation, and thereby facilitate recall.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
Received July 14, 1997; revised Oct. 13, 1997; accepted Nov. 4, 1997.
This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BNS
892-1532. We thank Robert Jones for his histological work and Jason
Knight for assistance in conducting the experiment. We also thank
Charles Shimp, Sheri Mizumori, Jeffrey Long, Thane Fremouw, and Michael
Ragozzino for their helpful comments on this manuscript.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Raymond P. Kesner, Department
of Psychology, 502 SBS, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
 |
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