Premium
Amnesia in monkeys after lesions of the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus
Author(s) -
ZolaMorgan Stuart,
Squire Larry R.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410170605
Subject(s) - amnesia , diencephalon , thalamus , anterograde amnesia , neuroscience , lesion , psychology , central nervous system , cognitive psychology , psychiatry
Recent successes in developing an animal model of human amnesia in the monkey have made it feasible to try to identify with certainty the specific structures in the diencephalon and medial temporal region that cause amnesia when damaged. Monkeys with small lesion restricted largely to the posterior portion of the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus were given a test of memory sensitive to human amnesia and a second test that is analogous to the skill‐based tasks performed normally by manesic patients. The monkeys exhibited a marked impairment on the first test and performed normally on the second. The results show that circumscribed lesions of the mediodorsal nucleus can cause substantial amnesia.