Basal Forebrain and Memory

The basal forebrain is a complex of subcortical nuclei with projections to brain areas critical to cognition; consequently, it is poised to play an important role in information processing, and damage to the basal forebrain is associated with cognitive deficits, ranging from amnesia to attentional impairments. Although basal forebrain contributions to memory were once strongly promoted, more recent research has shed light on the attentional contributions from this brain region. The involvement of particular neuroanatomical and neurochemical components of the basal forebrain in discrete aspects of cognitive function can be now dissociated to some extent.