Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 4, 2026

A Video Demonstration of Preserved Piloting by Scent Tracking but Impaired Dead Reckoning After Fimbria-Fornix Lesions in the Rat
Published on: April 24, 2009
The conjoint importance of the hippocampus and anterior thalamic nuclei for allocentric spatial learning: evidence
E C Warburton1, A Baird, A Morgan
1School of Psychology, University of Cardiff, Wales CF10 3YG, United Kingdom. e.c.warburton@bristol.ac.uk
Abstract:
A disconnection procedure was used to test whether the hippocampus and anterior thalamic nuclei form functional components of the same spatial memory system. Unilateral excitotoxic lesions were placed in the anterior thalamic (AT) nuclei and hippocampus (HPC) in either the same (AT-HPC Ipsi group) or contralateral (AT-HPC Contra group) hemispheres of rats. The behavioral effects of these combined lesions were compared in several spatial memory tasks sensitive to bilateral hippocampal lesions. In all of the tasks tested, T-maze alternation, radial arm maze, and Morris water maze, those animals with lesions placed in the contralateral hemispheres were more impaired than those animals with lesions in the same hemisphere. These results provide direct support for the notion that the performance of tasks that require spatial memory rely on the operation of the anterior thalamus and hippocampus within an integrated neural network.
More Related Videos
10:45Preparation of Acute Slices from Dorsal Hippocampus for Whole-Cell Recording and Neuronal Reconstruction in the Dentate Gyrus of Adult Mice
Published on: April 3, 2021
08:59An Open-Source Virtual Reality System for the Measurement of Spatial Learning in Head-Restrained Mice
Published on: March 3, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Role of Hippocampus in Memory
Diencephalon: Anatomical Regions
Functional Brain Systems: Limbic System
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory