CA1 inactivation impairs episodic-like memory in rats

Episodic memory was initially believed to be unique to humans. However, studies demonstrate that nonhuman species discriminate items based on the triad what, where and when. Here we addressed the role of the dorsal hippocampal subfield CA1 in an integrative what-where-when task in Wistar rats. We performed bilateral inactivation of dorsal CA1 with the GABA_A agonist muscimol previously to the task. As expected, sham-operated animals recollected an integrative memory for objects (what), their places (where) and temporal order (when). However, the inactivation of CA1 impaired the performance of the three components of episodic-like memory. In addition, total time of objects exploration and distance traveled were not different between groups, indicating that rats had similar levels of motivation, thus, alterations in exploration does not account for impaired locomotor performance. Altogether, our data provides evidence that CA1 plays an important role in episodic-like memory.