Preserved visual memory and relational cognition performance in monkeys with selective hippocampal lesions

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Benjamin M. Basile, Emory University; Victoria L. Templer, Emory University; Regina Paxton Gazes, Emory University; Robert Hampton, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-07-01
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science: Science Advances
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz0484
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Science Advances
• ISSN: 2375-2548
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 29
• Start Page: eaaz0484
• End Page: eaaz0484
• Grant/Funding Information: This project was supported, in part, by ORIP/OD P51OD011132, the NSF (grants BCS-0745573, IOS-1146316, and BCS-1632477), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (grant R01M H082819), the Intramural Research Program of the NIMH (ZIAMH002887), and the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network for Biomedical Research Excellence from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH (grant P20GM103430).; This article published with support from Emory Libraries' Open Access Publishing Fund.
• Keywords: monkey; visual memory; object-in-context; amnesia; hippocampus; relational cognition; extra-hippocampal damage
• Research Categories: Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

The theory that the hippocampus is critical for visual memory and relational cognition has been challenged by discovery of more spared hippocampal tissue than previously reported in H.M., previously unreported extra-hippocampal damage in developmental amnesiacs, and findings that the hippocampus is unnecessary for object-in-context memory in monkeys. These challenges highlight the need for causal tests of hippocampal function in nonhuman primate models. Here, we tested rhesus monkeys on a battery of cognitive tasks including transitive inference, temporal order memory, shape recall, source memory, and image recognition. Contrary to predictions, we observed no robust impairments in memory or relational cognition either within- or between-groups following hippocampal damage. These results caution against over-generalizing from human correlational studies or rodent experimental studies, compel a new generation of nonhuman primate studies, and indicate that we should reassess the relative contributions of the hippocampus proper compared to other regions in visual memory and relational cognition.