Towards a Functional Organization of the Medial Temporal Lobe Memory System: Role of the Parahippocampal and Medial Entorhinal Cortical Areas

Whereas substantial recent evidence has suggested to some that the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) plays a specialized role in spatial navigation, here we present evidence consistent with a broader role of the MEC in memory. A consideration of evidence on the anatomy and functional roles of medial temporal cortical areas and the hippocampus, and evidence from recordings from MEC neurons in rats performing a spatial memory task, suggest that the MEC may process information about both spatial and temporal context in support of episodic memory. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.