Abstract
A major controversy in the study of memory concerns whether there are distinct medial temporal lobe (MTL) substrates of recollection and familiarity. Studies using receiver operating characteristics analyses of recognition memory indicate that the hippocampus is essential for recollection, but not for familiarity. We found the converse pattern in the amygdala, wherein damage impaired familiarity while sparing recollection. Combined with previous findings, these results dissociate recollection and familiarity by selective MTL damage.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Yonelinas and M. Sauvage for their thoughtful comments on data analysis, and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for valuable inspiration. This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Project Grant MH52090.
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H.E. and A.F. designed the study and wrote the manuscript. A.F. carried out the surgery and analyzed the data. R.J.P., D.R.M. and A.F. performed the experiment, and R.J.P. and A.F. performed the histological analysis.
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Farovik, A., Place, R., Miller, D. et al. Amygdala lesions selectively impair familiarity in recognition memory. Nat Neurosci 14, 1416–1417 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2919
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2919
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