A REEXAMINATION OF THE CONCURRENT DISCRIMINATION-LEARNING TASK - THE IMPORTANCE OF ANTERIOR INFEROTEMPORAL CORTEX, AREA TE

For 30 years, the concurrent discrimination learning task has figured prominently in studies used to determine the effects of medial tempora l lobe damage in monkeys. However, the findings from these studies hav e been contradictory. We explored the contribution to concurrent discr imination performance of inadvertent damage to area TE by reexamining the behavioral data and histological material from monkeys with medial temporal lobe lesions previously tested in our laboratory. The amount of inadvertent damage to area TE was more predictive of impaired perf ormance on the concurrent discrimination learning task than was the am ount of damage to any medial temporal lobe structure, including the pe rirhinal cortex. These findings resolve earlier inconsistent findings regarding the concurrent discrimination learning task by demonstrating that performance on this task depends on area TE and not on perirhina l cortex or other medial temporal lobe structures.