PERIRHINAL CORTEX LESIONS IN RATS DISRUPT PERFORMANCE IN A SPATIAL DNMS TASK

RATS with bilateral electrolytic lesions of the perirhinal cortex and sham operated control rats were tested in a spatially guided, delayed non match to sample task. Although perirhinal lesioned animals showed no deficit in acquisition of the task, a performance deficit was obser ved across longer delay intervals. These results indicate that the per irhinal cortex is a critical component of the network subserving worki ng or declarative memory in the rat.