A memory system in the monkey

Abstract

A neural model is presented, based largely on evidence from studies in monkeys, postulating that coded representations of stimuli are stored in the higher-order sensory (i.e. association) areas of the cortex whenever stimulus activation of these areas also triggers a cortico-limbo-thalamo-cortical circuit. This circuit, which could act as either an imprinting or rehearsal mechanism, may actually consist of two parallel circuits, one involving the amygdala and the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus, and the other the hippocampus and the anterior nuclei. The stimulus representation stored in cortex by action of these circuits is seen as mediating three different memory processes: recognition, which occurs when the stored representation is reactivated via the original sensory pathway; recall, when it is reactivated via any other pathway; and association, when it activates other stored representations (sensory, affective, spatial, motor) via the outputs of the higher-order sensory areas to the relevant structures.