 |
Previous Article | Next Article 
The Journal of Neuroscience, April 1, 2003, 23(7):2861
Forward Processing of Long-Term Associative Memory in Monkey
Inferotemporal Cortex
Yuji
Naya1, 2,
Masatoshi
Yoshida1, 2, and
Yasushi
Miyashita1, 2
1 Department of Physiology, The University of Tokyo
School of Medicine, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan, and
2 Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Institute
for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan
The macaque inferotemporal (IT) cortex, which serves as the
storehouse of visual long-term memory, consists of two distinct but
mutually interconnected areas: area TE (TE) and area 36 (A36). In the
present study, we tested whether memory encoding is put forward at this
stage, i.e., whether association between the representations of
different but semantically linked objects proceeds forward from TE to
A36. To address this question, we trained monkeys in a pair-association
(PA) memory task, after which single-unit activities were recorded from
TE and A36 during PA trials. Neurons in both areas showed
stimulus-selective cue responses (347 in TE, 76 in A36;
"cue-selective neurons") that provided, at the population level,
mnemonic linkage between the paired associates. The percentage of
neurons in which responses to the paired associates were
significantly (p < 0.01) correlated at the
single-neuron level ("pair-coding neuron") dramatically increased
from TE (4.9% of the cue-selective neurons) to A36 (33%). The
pair-coding neurons in A36 were further separable into Type1
(68%) and Type2 (32%) on the basis of their initial transient
responses after cue stimulus presentation. Type1 neurons, but not Type2
neurons, began to encode association between paired stimuli as soon as
they exhibited stimulus selectivity. Thus, the representation of
long-term memory encoded by Type1 neurons in A36 is likely
substantiated without feedback input from other higher centers.
Therefore, we conclude that association between the representations of
the paired associates proceeds forward at this critical step within IT
cortex, suggesting selective convergence onto a single A36 neuron from
two TE neurons that encode separate visual objects.
Key words:
area TE; area 36; declarative memory; hierarchical
process; memory neurons; macaque monkeys
Copyright © 2003 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/03/2372861-11$05.00/0
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
K.-i. Yamashita, S. Hirose, A. Kunimatsu, S. Aoki, J. Chikazoe, K. Jimura, Y. Masutani, O. Abe, K. Ohtomo, Y. Miyashita, et al.
Formation of Long-Term Memory Representation in Human Temporal Cortex Related to Pictorial Paired Associates
J. Neurosci.,
August 19, 2009;
29(33):
10335 - 10340.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Yanike, S. Wirth, A. C. Smith, E. N. Brown, and W. A. Suzuki
Comparison of Associative Learning-Related Signals in the Macaque Perirhinal Cortex and Hippocampus
Cereb Cortex,
May 1, 2009;
19(5):
1064 - 1078.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
F. Mormann, S. Kornblith, R. Q. Quiroga, A. Kraskov, M. Cerf, I. Fried, and C. Koch
Latency and Selectivity of Single Neurons Indicate Hierarchical Processing in the Human Medial Temporal Lobe
J. Neurosci.,
September 3, 2008;
28(36):
8865 - 8872.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
N. Sigala, M. Kusunoki, I. Nimmo-Smith, D. Gaffan, and J. Duncan
Hierarchical coding for sequential task events in the monkey prefrontal cortex
PNAS,
August 19, 2008;
105(33):
11969 - 11974.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Osada, Y. Adachi, H. M Kimura, and Y. Miyashita
Towards understanding of the cortical network underlying associative memory
Phil Trans R Soc B,
June 27, 2008;
363(1500):
2187 - 2199.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. R. Lehky and K. Tanaka
Enhancement of Object Representations in Primate Perirhinal Cortex During a Visual Working-Memory Task
J Neurophysiol,
February 1, 2007;
97(2):
1298 - 1310.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. T. Crinion, E. A. Warburton, M. A. Lambon-Ralph, D. Howard, and R. J.S. Wise
Listening to Narrative Speech after Aphasic Stroke: the Role of the Left Anterior Temporal Lobe
Cereb Cortex,
August 1, 2006;
16(8):
1116 - 1125.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
G. Spitsyna, J. E. Warren, S. K. Scott, F. E. Turkheimer, and R. J. S. Wise
Converging language streams in the human temporal lobe.
J. Neurosci.,
July 12, 2006;
26(28):
7328 - 7336.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Mogami and K. Tanaka
Reward association affects neuronal responses to visual stimuli in macaque te and perirhinal cortices.
J. Neurosci.,
June 21, 2006;
26(25):
6761 - 6770.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
W. A. Suzuki and E. N. Brown
Behavioral and Neurophysiological Analyses of Dynamic Learning Processes
Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev,
June 1, 2005;
4(2):
67 - 95.
[Abstract]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
Y. Miyashita
Cognitive Memory: Cellular and Network Machineries and Their Top-Down Control
Science,
October 15, 2004;
306(5695):
435 - 440.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. Ranganath, M. X. Cohen, C. Dam, and M. D'Esposito
Inferior Temporal, Prefrontal, and Hippocampal Contributions to Visual Working Memory Maintenance and Associative Memory Retrieval
J. Neurosci.,
April 21, 2004;
24(16):
3917 - 3925.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
E. Duzel, R. Habib, M. Rotte, S. Guderian, E. Tulving, and H.-J. Heinze
Human Hippocampal and Parahippocampal Activity during Visual Associative Recognition Memory for Spatial and Nonspatial Stimulus Configurations
J. Neurosci.,
October 15, 2003;
23(28):
9439 - 9444.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
|

|