Longer storage of auditory than of visual information in the rabbit brain: evidence from dorsal hippocampal electrophysiology

Whereas sensory memory in humans has been found to store auditory information for a longer time than visual information, it is unclear whether this is the case also in other species. We recorded hippocampal event-related potentials (ERPs) in awake rabbits exposed to occasional changes in a repeated 50-ms acoustic ( 1000 versus 2000 Hz) and visual ( vertical versus horizontal orientation) stimulus. Three intervals ( 500, 1500, or 3000 ms) between stimulus repetitions were applied. Whereas acoustic changes significantly affected ERPs with the repetition intervals of 500 and 1500 ms, visual changes did so only with the repetition interval of 500 ms. Our finding, thus, suggests a similarity in sensory processing abilities between human and non-human mammals.