Learning Objectives

This book is on the cognitive neuroscience of memory, so why is there a chapter on animal memory? One reason is that the same brain processes associated with memory in animals are often associated with memory in humans. These can be considered core brain processes that mediate memory across species. A second reason is that certain techniques can be used only on animals, such as targeted single-cell recording and brain lesions. The results of such techniques offer a detailed view into the brain mechanisms underlying memory that is not available in humans. This chapter focuses on long-term memory in animals, which relates to the large majority of research conducted with humans. Section 10.1 shows that rats, cats, and monkeys have a medial temporal lobe organization that is the same as humans. The perirhinal cortex is associated with item memory, the parahippocampal cortex is associated with context memory, and the hippocampus is associated with binding item information and context information. In section 10.2, long-term potentiation in the hippocampus is discussed, which is the mechanism by which cortical regions link to the hippocampus. Section 10.3 reviews evidence for memory replay in rats, which refers to reactivation of the same brain regions in the same or the reverse temporal sequence that were activated during a previous event.