The role of medial temporal lobe structures in implicit learning: an event-related FMRI study.

Full Abstract

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) has been associated with declarative learning of flexible relational rules and the basal ganglia with implicit learning of stimulus-response mappings. It remains an open question of whether MTL or basal ganglia are involved when learning flexible relational contingencies without awareness. We studied learning of an explicit stimulus-response association with fMRI. Embedded in this explicit task was a hidden structure that was learnt implicitly. Implicit learning of the sequential regularities of the "hidden rule" activated the ventral perirhinal cortex, within the MTL, whereas learning the fixed stimulus-response associations activated the basal ganglia, indicating that the function of the MTL and the basal ganglia depends on the learned material and not necessarily on the participants' awareness.

Author information

Author/s: Rose, Michael (M); Haider, Hilde (H); Weiller, Cornelius (C); Büchel, Christian (C);

Affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Hamburg Medical School, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany. rose(-atsign-)uke.uni-hamburg.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuron (Neuron), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Dec; vol 36 (issue 6) : pp 1221-31

Dates: Created 2002/12/23; Completed 2003/01/23; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12495634, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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