Language and the medial temporal lobe : Evidence from H.M.'s spontaneous discourse

Abstract Previous researchers have found it challenging to disentangle the memory and language capabilities of the famous amnesic patient H.M. Here, we present an original linguistic analysis of H.M. based on empirical data drawing upon novel spoken discourse with him. The results did not uncover the language deficits noted previously. Instead, H.M.’s level of oral usage was remarkably competent: he performed well within the normal range for his age and educational cohort. Thus, we found no support for the view that medial temporal lobe structures are critical for the maintenance of language comprehension and production.