TEMPORAL LOBE SINGLE UNIT ACTIVITY AND MEMORY

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The board goal of this work is to understand and describe the neural mechanisms underlying visual memory. To do this the activity of single neurons in the cortex of the inferior temporal lobe will be monitored while a monkey is performing a visual memory task. A particular opportunity is provided by recording from the cells which form the anterior commissure. It is presently known - and important details are being actively pursued - that the anterior commissure can (by itself) transfer visual/mnemonic information between the hemispheres. Thus, the opportunity is available to sample the visual/mnemonic information as it is inescapably confined at the interhemispheric junction. The power in this arrangement is that at this stage, the entire message which allows recognition of a particular image by the other hemisphere is there. Further advantage will be taken of interhemispheric interaction to help separate storage and retrieval functions. The clinical relevance of this work is not immediate but may be no less profound for that. The contribution of this project is aimed directly at the cellular mechanisms of memory, and it would be rather surprising if a full understanding of those mechanisms did not have a major impact on the important - and increasing - health problems involving memory.