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Neuropsychological Investigations of Human Amnesia: Insights Into the Role of the Medial Temporal Lobes in Cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2017

Mieke Verfaellie  and
Margaret M. Keane
Mieke Verfaellie*
Affiliation:
Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
Margaret M. Keane
Affiliation:
Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Mieke Verfaellie, Memory Disorders Research Center (151A), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 S Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130. E-mail: verf@bu.edu
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Abstract

The past 30 years of research on human amnesia has yielded important changes in our understanding of the role of the medial temporal lobes (MTL) in memory. On the one hand, this body of evidence has highlighted that not all types of memory are impaired in patients with MTL lesions. On the other hand, this research has made apparent that the role of the MTL extends beyond the domain of long-term memory, to include working memory, perception, and future thinking. In this article, we review the discoveries and controversies that have characterized this literature and that set the stage for a new conceptualization of the role of the MTL in cognition. This shift toward a more nuanced understanding of MTL function has direct relevance for a range of clinical disorders in which the MTL is implicated, potentially shaping not only theoretical understanding but also clinical practice. (JINS, 2017, 23, 732–740)

Keywords

Medial temporal lobesHippocampusAmnesiaLearningMemoryEncephalitisHypoxia
Type
Section 1 – Brain Systems and Assessment
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 23 , Special Issue 9-10: Special Issue: Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the International Neuropsychological Society , October 2017 , pp. 732 - 740
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2017 

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