The Contribution of the Human Medial Temporal Lobe to Perception: Bridging the Gap between Animal and Human Studies

Abstract

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) has been considered traditionally to subserve declarative memory processes only. Recent studies in nonhuman primates suggest, however, that the MTL may also be critical to higher order perceptual processes, with the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex being involved in scene and object perception, respectively. The current article reviews the human neuropsychological literature to determine whether there is any evidence to suggest that these same views may apply to the human MTL. Although the majority of existing studies report intact perception following MTL damage in human amnesics, there have been recent studies that suggest that when scene and object perception are assessed systematically, significant impairments in perception become apparent. These findings have important implications for current mnemonic theories of human MTL function and our understanding of human amnesia as a result of MTL lesions.