Prefrontal Cortex and Working Memory for Spatial Response, Spatial Location, and Visual Object Information in the Rat

In the first experiment, rats were trained on a working memory task for a spatial response (right-left turn) information using a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. Following lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPF), which includes anterior cingulate and medial precentral cortex, there was a profound working memory deficit even at the shortest delay. In the second experiment, rats were trained on a working memory task for spatial location information using a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. Following lesions of the MPF, there was only a mild working memory deficit, whereas following dorsal hippocampal lesions there was a profound working memory deficit even at the shortest delay. In the third experiment, rats were trained on a working memory task for visual object information using a delayed nonmatching-to-sample procedure. Following lesions of the MPF, there were no working memory deficits, whereas following lesions of the prelimbic and infralimbic cortex there was a profound working memory deficit even at the shortest delay. The results suggest that different neural subregions of the prefrontal cortex mediate working memory for specific attribute information.