Nm. Hunkin et al., ETIOLOGIC VARIATION IN THE AMNESIC SYNDROME - COMPARISONS USING THE LIST DISCRIMINATION TASK, Neuropsychologia, 32(7), 1994, pp. 819-825
In this study, the performance of amnesic patients with presumed tempo
ral lobe damage was compared with that of patients with presumed dienc
ephalic damage using the temporal list discrimination task. The two pa
tient groups performed similarly on a measure of recognition, but the
diencephalic group was impaired relative to the temporal lobe group on
a measure of temporal discrimination. Discrimination performance in t
he temporal lobe group was significantly correlated with recognition m
emory. The data are interpreted as showing a qualitative difference in
the form of amnesia arising from damage centred on the medial tempora
l lobes compared with that centred on the midline diencephalon.