Sparing of spatial mental imagery in patients with hippocampal lesions

In four experiments, we explored the capacity for spatial mental imagery in patients with hippocampal lesions, using tasks that minimized the role of learning and memory. On all four tasks, patients with hippocampal lesions performed as well as controls. Nonetheless, in separate tests, the patients were impaired at remembering the materials that had been used to assess mental imagery. The findings suggest that the hippocampus is not needed for constructing many forms of spatial imagery but is needed for the formation of long-term memory. In future studies of the neural organization of spatial mental imagery, it will be important to separate the contribution of spatial processing from the contribution of learning and memory.