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 cortexá (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. Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.