Comparison of perirhinal cortex ablation and crossed unilateral lesions of the medial forebrain bundle from the inferior temporal cortex in the rhesus monkey: Effects on learning and retrieval

Seven monkeys learned new object-reward associations and scene problems and were overtrained on 100 problems of each type. Four monkeys received crossed lesions of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) and inferior temporal cortex, with the later addition of a fornix section ipsilateral to the MFB lesion. The remaining 3 monkeys received bilateral perirhinal cortex ablation. Disconnection of the MFB from the inferior temporal cortex impaired postoperative new learning, but the retrieval of problems overtrained preoperatively was relatively preserved. Subjects with perirhinal cortex ablation were severely impaired in new learning and at the retrieval of scene problems, but retention of object-reward associations was relatively well preserved. The results support the hypothesis that isolation of the inferior temporal cortex from basal forebrain and midbrain afferents results in dense anterograde amnesia, whereas the role of the perirhinal cortex in learning is dependent on the perceptual difficulty of the task.