Abstract
Memory for object-place configurations appears to be a common function of the hippocampus in the human and monkey brain. The nature of the spatial information which enters into these object-configural memories in the primate, and the location of the memories themselves, have remained obscure, however. In the rat, much evidence indicates that the hippocampus processes idiothetic spatial information, an estimate of the animal’s current environmental location derived from path integration. I propose that in primates the hippocampus provides idiothetic information about the environmental location of body parts, and that the main function of this information in the primate brain is to become configured with object-identity information provided by temporal lobe cortex outside the hippocampus.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gaffan, D. Idiothetic input into object-place configuration as the contribution to memory of the monkey and human hippocampus: a review. Exp Brain Res 123, 201–209 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002210050562
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002210050562