PSYC 311 Chapter Notes - Chapter 23: Retrograde Amnesia, Dentate Gyrus, Inferior Temporal Gyrus

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 311
• Professor: Michalakis Petrides

Document Summary

The medial temporal lobe contains the hippocampus and adjacent, anatomically related cortex, including the entorhinal, perirhinal, and parahippocampal cortices. These structures, by virtue of their widespread and reciprocal connections with the neocortex, are essential for establishing long-term memory for facts and events (declarative memory). In other words, the medial temporal lobe system is necessary for binding together the distributed storage sites in the neocortex which represent whole memory. The role of this system is only temporary as time passes after learning, memory tired in neocortex gradually becomes independent of medial temporal structures. In 1957, patient h. m allowed clinicians to establish the fundamental principle that the ability to acquire new memories is a distinct cerebral function, separable from other perceptual and cognitive abilities. This view was consistent with the fact that all human surgical cases with postoperative amnesia had damage to both the hippocampus and amygdala. Patient r. b was a man who suffered from global ischemia and consequently become amnesic.