Anterograde and retrograde amnesia after lesions to frontal cortex in rats

A socially acquired food-preference test was used to assess effects of lesi ons to the frontal cortex on anterograde and retrograde memory in rats. In Experiment 1, there was no effect of lesion when rats were administered a t wo-choice test in which the target food was to be selected in the presence of a single distractor. In Experiment 2, a three-choice memory test was adm inistered in which the target food was presented along with two equally pal atable alternatives. In the latter test, lesioned groups displayed anterogr ade amnesia that increased with the length of the interval between postoper ative acquisition and test, and a severe retrograde amnesia that extended e qually over the entire range of intervals between preoperative acquisition and test. This outcome, which contrasted with the pattern of memory loss pr eviously observed in rats with hippocampal lesions on this test, was interp reted as evidence for the strategic role of the frontal lobes in directing response selection and retrieval processes in memory.