The possible contribution of the septal region to memory

Editorial: Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory

“…It was, however, a considerable way from Papez's (1937) 'proposed circuit of emotion' -constituted by limbic system structures -to their implication in memory, and an even longer way to recognize the interdependence of emotion and memory processing (Markowitsch, 1994) which became particularly obvious in patients with damage to limbic structures such as the amygdala (Markowitsch er al., 1994;Cahill er al., 1995) and the septum (von Cramon et al, 1993) and manifested grossly impaired memories due to their emotional disorganization.…”

Basal Forebrain Amnesia

“…49 In the past decades, the contribution of the septal region to memory processing has been stressed. 10 The role of the septum is suggested by its direct and reciprocal connections with hippocampal formation. Positron emission tomography studies of amnesia after rupture and repair of aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery 50 have shown a secondary remote effect on the mid-temporal area suggesting that this amnesia may be owing to an indirect effect on the hippocampus.…”

“…[4][5][6] There are reports describing a distinct amnesic syndrome caused by basal forebrain damage, [7][8][9] in particular with lesions of the septal region 10 and ruptured ACoA aneurysms. 11,12 However, literature on this form of amnesia is still scarce and controversial and the neuropsychologic findings are heterogeneous.…”

Impairment of semantic memory after basal forebrain and fornix lesion

“…The diagonal band of Broca and the medial septum are the two structures of the basal forebrain frequently associated with amnesic syndrome providing cholinergic innervations to critical memory structures (Morris, Bowers, Chatterjee, & Heilman, 1992;von Cramon, Markowitsch, & Schuri, 1993). To our knowledge, such lesions have never been associated with semantic memory impairment.…”

“…The diagonal band of Broca and the medial septal nucleus are two basal forebrain regions that contribute to memory function by providing cholinergic input to distributed cortical areas, including the temporal lobe (von Cramon et al, 1993). A cholinergic deficit has also been held accountable for the manifestations of Alzheimer's disease (Bartus and Dean, 2009), which include semantic memory impairments (Chertkow & Bub, 1990;Hodges, Salmon, & Butters, 1992;Patterson et al, 2007).…”