Right hippocampal impairment in the recall of spatial location: encoding deficit or rapid forgetting?

Neuropsychologia. 1989;27(1):71-81. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(89)90091-2.

Abstract

The recall of spatial location in patients with left or right temporal-lobe lesions was studied in two experiments, in which recall was tested either immediately after presentation of an array of objects, or after an intervening verbal task, a spatial task or an unfilled interval. Deficits were found only in patients with right temporal-lobe lesions that included extensive removal of the hippocampal region, and only when recall was tested after a delay. The presence of an intervening task in the delay interval did not accentuate the deficit. The results show that, despite a normal ability to encode location, patients with large right hippocampal lesions demonstrate an abnormally rapid forgetting of such information.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Attention / physiology
  • Brain Damage, Chronic / physiopathology
  • Discrimination Learning / physiology*
  • Epilepsies, Partial / surgery*
  • Female
  • Form Perception
  • Hippocampus / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory / physiology*
  • Mental Recall / physiology*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Orientation / physiology*
  • Postoperative Complications / physiopathology*
  • Psychosurgery*
  • Retention, Psychology / physiology
  • Temporal Lobe / surgery*