Abstract
Theories of prefrontal cortical function in human and primate models include regulation of cognitive processes such as working memory and executive functions, both of which may be implicated in spatial navigation behavior. The role of working memory in path integration navigation is not well understood. Lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex administered to twenty rats assessed whether impairment in working memory associated with the lesions produced navigational deficits similar to those found in humans with neurodegenerative disorders. We hypothesized that medial prefrontal lesions would produce impairment in navigation performance during a Whishaw table top path integration task when compared with sham controls. We found no significant differences between lesioned and sham animals on measures of path integration performance. These results are inconclusive in determining the possibility of functional similarities between the rodent prefrontal cortex and the human manifestation of symptoms found in abnormal aging affecting comparable brain regions.