Abstract
Rats learned, using distal room cues, to run to a goal on an elevated, circular track starting from any position on the track. The goal was one of eight equidistant, recessed cups set around the track, the goal cup being distinguished from the others solely by its position in the room. After learning, electrolytic lesions were made in the medial septal nucleus eliminating hippocampal theta rhythm in some animals but not in others. Rats without theta rhythm were no longer able to perform the spatial task, whereas rats with undisturbed theta rhythm retrained normal performance. Although rats without theta rhythm could not find their way directly to the goal, they recognized its location when they came upon it by chance. This type of spatial deficit appears similar to that shown by hippocampally lesioned patient H.M. Subsequent tests demonstrated that rats deprived of theta rhythm before training could nevertheless learn the task.
Keywords
RhythmHippocampal formationTheta rhythmTask (project management)NeuroscienceEquidistantPsychologyMedicineMathematicsInternal medicineGeometry
MeSH Terms
AnimalsBrain MappingElectroencephalographyHippocampusLearningMemoryRatsSeptal NucleiSpatial BehaviorTheta Rhythm
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
Hippocampus, space, and memory
Abstract We examine two different descriptions of the behavioral functions of the hippocampal system. One emphasizes spatially organized behaviors, especially those using cognit...
A comparison of the contributions of the frontal and parietal association cortex to spatial localization in rats.
Rats with lesions of the medial frontal, orbital frontal, or parietal cortex were compared behaviorally with rats with complete removal of the neocortex and normal control rats ...
Hippocampal connections and spatial discrimination
Rats were tested in a new spatial discrimination procedure which measured working memory. Following preoperative testing, lesions were placed to disrupt each of the major extrin...
Cholinergic receptor blockade impairs spatial localization by use of distal cues in the rat.
Spatial localization was studied in the Morris water maze. The task required rats to escape from cool water (made opaque by milk) by finding a submerged, invisible platform loca...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1978
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 201
- Issue
- 4351
- Pages
- 160-163
- Citations
- 868
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
868
OpenAlex
30
Influential
707
CrossRef
Cite This
Jonathan Winson
(1978).
Loss of Hippocampal Theta Rhythm Results in Spatial Memory Deficit in the Rat.
Science
, 201
(4351)
, 160-163.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.663646
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1126/science.663646
- PMID
- 663646