Memory impairments which follow temporal lobe lesions can also be produced by lesions in the prefrontal cortex. One approach to understanding the memory function of the frontal lobe, therefore, is to ask how it interacts with the temporal lobe. Clinical and experimental evidence indicates that the memory function of the hippocampus in primates is critically dependent on its diencephalic connections via the fornix and anterior thalamus, through which it can interact with the cingulate and prefrontal cortex. Is there a similar arrangement for other specialized memory systems of the temporal lobe?