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Short-term retention of relational memory in amnesia revisited: accurate performance depends on hippocampal integrity.

ABSTRACT: Traditionally, it has been proposed that the hippocampus and adjacent medial temporal lobe cortical structures are selectively critical for long-term declarative memory, which entails memory for inter-item and item-context relationships. Whether the hippocampus might also contribute to short-term retention of relational memory representations has remained controversial. In two experiments, we revisit this question by testing memory for relationships among items embedded in scenes using a standard working memory trial structure in which a sample stimulus is followed by a brief delay and the corresponding test stimulus. In each experimental block, eight trials using different exemplars of the same scene were presented. The exemplars contained the same items but with different spatial relationships among them. By repeating the pictures across trials, any potential contributions of item or scene memory to performance were minimized, and relational memory could be assessed more directly than has been done previously. When test displays were presented, participants indicated whether any of the item-location relationships had changed. Then, regardless of their responses (and whether any item did change its location), participants indicated on a forced-choice test, which item might have moved, guessing if necessary. Amnesic patients were impaired on the change detection test, and were frequently unable to specify the change after having reported correctly that a change had taken place. Comparison participants, by contrast, frequently identified the change even when they failed to report the mismatch, an outcome that speaks to the sensitivity of the change specification measure. These results confirm past reports of hippocampal contributions to short-term retention of relational memory representations, and suggest that the role of the hippocampus in memory has more to do with relational memory requirements than the length of a retention interval.

SUBMITTER: Yee LT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3901041 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Short-term retention of relational memory in amnesia revisited: accurate performance depends on hippocampal integrity.

Yee Lydia T S LT Hannula Deborah E DE Tranel Daniel D Cohen Neal J NJ

Frontiers in human neuroscience 20140124

Traditionally, it has been proposed that the hippocampus and adjacent medial temporal lobe cortical structures are selectively critical for long-term declarative memory, which entails memory for inter-item and item-context relationships. Whether the hippocampus might also contribute to short-term retention of relational memory representations has remained controversial. In two experiments, we revisit this question by testing memory for relationships among items embedded in scenes using a standar ...[more]

PMID: 24478681

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Functional dysconnectivity has been proposed as a major pathophysiological mechanism for cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The hippocampus is a focal point of dysconnectivity in schizophrenia, with decreased hippocampal functional connectivity contributing to the marked memory deficits observed in patients. Normal memory function relies on the interaction of complex corticohippocampal networks. However, only recent technological advances have enabled the large-scale exploration of functional networks with accuracy and precision. METHODS:We investigated the modularity of hippocampal resting-state functional networks in a sample of 45 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 38 healthy control subjects. Modularity was calculated for two distinct functional networks: a core hippocampal-medial temporal lobe cortex network and an extended hippocampal-cortical network. As hippocampal function differs along its longitudinal axis, follow-up analyses examined anterior and posterior networks separately. To explore effects of resting network function on behavior, we tested associations between modularity and relational memory ability. Age, sex, handedness, and parental education were similar between groups. RESULTS:Network modularity was lower in schizophrenia patients, especially in the posterior hippocampal network. Schizophrenia patients also showed markedly lower relational memory ability compared with control subjects. We found a distinct brain-behavior relationship in schizophrenia that differed from control subjects by network and anterior/posterior division-while relational memory in control subjects was associated with anterior hippocampal-cortical modularity, schizophrenia patients showed an association with posterior hippocampal-medial temporal lobe cortex network modularity. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings support a model of abnormal resting-state corticohippocampal network coherence in schizophrenia, which may contribute to relational memory deficits.

Project description:BackgroundStudies in rodents and older humans have shown that the hippocampus-a brain structure critical to relational/associative memory-has remarkable plasticity as a result of lifestyle factors (eg, exercise). However, the effect of dietary intake on hippocampal-dependent memory during childhood has remained unexamined.ObjectiveWe investigated the cross-sectional relation of dietary components characteristic of the Western diet, including saturated fatty acids (SFAs), omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, and refined sugar, with hippocampal-dependent relational memory in prepubescent children.DesignParticipants aged 7-9 y (n = 52) reported their dietary intake by using the Youth-Adolescent Food-Frequency Questionnaire and completed memory tasks designed to assess relational (hippocampal-dependent) and item (hippocampal-independent) memory. Performance on the memory tasks was assessed with both direct (accuracy) and indirect (eye movement) measures.ResultsPartial correlations adjusted for body mass index showed a positive relation between relational memory accuracy and intake of omega-3 fatty acids and a negative relation of both relational and item memory accuracy with intake of SFAs. Potential confounding factors of age, sex, intelligence quotient, socioeconomic status, pubertal timing, and aerobic fitness (maximal oxygen volume) were not significantly related to any of the dietary intake measures. Eye movement measures of relational memory (preferential viewing to the target stimulus) showed a negative relation with intake of added sugar.ConclusionsSFA intake was negatively associated with both forms of memory, whereas omega-3 fatty acid intake was selectively positively associated with hippocampal-dependent relational memory. These findings are among the first to show a link between habitual dietary intake and cognitive health as pertaining to hippocampal function in childhood. The Fitness Improves Thinking Kids (FITKids) and FITKids2 trials were registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01334359 and NCT01619826, respectively.

Dataset Information

Short-term retention of relational memory in amnesia revisited: accurate performance depends on hippocampal integrity.

Publications

Short-term retention of relational memory in amnesia revisited: accurate performance depends on hippocampal integrity.

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