Segmentation of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus in the human brain: A white matter dissection and diffusion tensor tractography study

The inferior longitudinal fascicle (ILF) is one of the major occipital-temporal association pathways. Several studies have mapped its hierarchical segmentation to specific functions. There is, however, no consensus regarding a detailed description of ILF fibre organisation. The aim of this study was to establish whether the ILF has a constant number of subcomponents. A secondary aim was to determine the quantitative diffusion proprieties of each subcomponent and assess their anatomical trajectories and connectivity patterns. A white matter dissection of 14 post-mortem normal human hemispheres was conducted to define the course of the ILF and its subcomponents. These anatomical results were then investigated in 24 right-handed, healthy volunteers using in vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and streamline tractography. Fractional anisotropy (FA), volume, fibre length and the symmetry coefficient of each fibre group were analysed. In order to show the connectivity pattern of the ILF, we also conducted an analysis of the cortical terminations of each segment. We confirmed that the main structure of the ILF is composed of three constant components reflecting the occipital terminations: the fusiform, the lingual and the dorsolateral-occipital. ILF volume was significantly lateralised to the right. The examined indices of ILF subcomponents did not show any significant difference in lateralisation. The connectivity pattern and the quantitative distribution of ILF subcomponents suggest a pivotal role for this bundle in integrating information from highly specialised modular visual areas with activity in anterior temporal territory, which has been previously shown to be important for memory and emotions.

Learning and memory in individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum

Damage to long white matter pathways in the cerebral cortex is known to affect memory capacity. However, the specific contribution of interhemispheric connectivity in memory functioning is only beginning to become understood. The present study examined verbal and visual memory processing in individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1997b). Thirty participants with AgCC (FSIQ >78) were compared against 30 healthy age and IQ matched controls on auditory/verbal (Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates) and visual (Visual Reproduction, Faces) memory subtests. Performance was worse in AgCC than controls on immediate and delayed verbal recall for rote word pairs and on delayed recall of faces, as well as on percent recall for these tasks. Immediate recall for thematic information from stories was also worse in AgCC, but groups did not differ on memory for details from narratives or on recall for thematic information following a time delay. Groups also did not differ on memory for abstract figures or immediate recall of faces. On all subtests, individuals with AgCC had greater frequency of clinically significant impairments than predicted by the normal distribution. Results suggest less efficient overall verbal and visual learning and memory with relative weaknesses processing verbal pairs and delayed recall for faces. These findings suggest that the corpus callosum facilitates more efficient learning and recall for both verbal and visual information, that individuals with AgCC may benefit from receiving verbal information within semantic context, and that known deficits in facial processing in individuals with AgCC may contribute to their impairments in recall for faces.

Memory performance is related to the cortisol awakening response in older people, but not to the diurnal cortisol slope

There are large individual differences in age-related cognitive decline. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) functioning has been suggested as one of the mechanisms underlying these differences. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between the diurnal cortisol cycle, measured as the cortisol awakening response (CAR), and the diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) and the memory performance of healthy older people. To do so, we assessed the verbal, visual, and working memory performance of 64 participants (32 men) from 57 to 76 years old who also provided 14 saliva samples on two consecutive weekdays to determine their diurnal cortisol cycle. The CAR was linearly and negatively associated with verbal (significantly) and visual (marginally) memory domains, but not with working memory. Sex did not moderate these relationships. Furthermore, no associations were found between the DCS and any of the three memory domains assessed. Our results indicate that the two components of the diurnal cortisol cycle have different relationships with memory performance, with the CAR being more relevant than DCS in understanding the link from HPA-axis activity and regulation to different types of memory. These results suggest that the CAR is related to memory domains dependent on hippocampal functioning (i.e., declarative memory), but not to those that are more dependent on prefrontal cortex functioning (i.e., working memory).

Six-minute walking distance correlated with memory and brain volume in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a voxel-based morphometry study

Background/Aims

High fitness levels play an important role in maintaining memory function and delaying the progression of structural brain changes in older people at risk of developing dementia. However, it is unclear which specific regions of the brain volume are associated with exercise capacity. We investigated whether exercise capacity, determined by a 6-min walking distance (6MWD), is associated with measures of logical and visual memory and where gray matter regions correlate with exercise capacity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods

Ninety-one community-dwelling older adults with MCI completed a 6-min walking test, structural magnetic resonance imaging scanning, and memory tests. The Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Logical Memory and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Tests were used to assess logical and visual memory, respectively.

Results

The logical and visual memory tests were positively correlated with the 6MWD (p < 0.01). Poor performance in the 6MWD was correlated with a reduced cerebral gray matter volume in the left middle temporal gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, and hippocampus in older adults with MCI.

Conclusions

These results suggest that a better 6MWD performance may be related to better memory function and the maintenance of gray matter volume in older adults with MCI.

5-HT3 receptor influences the washing phenotype and visual organization in obsessive-compulsive disorder supporting 5-HT3 receptor antagonists as novel treatment option

A role of the HTR3A-E genes in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be expected based on promising effects of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists as adjunctive treatment of OCD. We therefore genotyped six common coding or promoter variants within the HTR3A-E genes in a case-control-sample consisting of N=236 OCD patients and N=310 control subjects and in N=58 parent-child-trios. Given the heterogeneous OCD phenotype, we also investigated OCD symptom dimensions and cognitive endophenotypes in subsamples. OCD patients scoring high for the washing subtype were significantly more likely to carry the c.256G-allele of the HTR3E variant rs7627615 (p=0.0001) as compared to OCD patients low for this symptom dimension. Visual organization was impaired in OCD patients and unaffected relatives as compared to healthy control subjects and carriers of the HTR3E c.256G/c.256G-genotype performed significantly worse (p=0.007). The case-control analyses revealed a nominal significant association of the HTR3D variant rs1000592 (p.H52R) with OCD (p=0.029) which was also evident after combination of the case-control and the trio-results (p=0.024). In male subjects, the variant rs6766410 (p.N163K) located in the HTR3C was significantly associated with OCD (p=0.007). The association findings of the HTR3C and the HTR3E remained significant after correction for the number of variants investigated. These findings indicate a role of common variants of the HTR3A-E genes in OCD and OCD-related phenotypes and further support the use of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists as novel treatment options. The HTR3E gene is a novel candidate gene impacting on the individual expression of OC symptoms and OCD-related cognitive dysfunction.

Effects of manganese exposure on visuoperception and visual memory in schoolchildren

BACKGROUND

Manganese (Mn) is an essential metal involved in multiple physiological functions. Environmental exposure to airborne Mn is associated with neurocognitive deficits in humans. Children, whose nervous system is in development, are particularly susceptible to Mn neurotoxicity.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to assess the association between Mn environmental exposure, and effects on visuoperception and visual memory in schoolchildren.

METHODS

We assessed schoolchildren between 7 and 11 years old, with similar socioeconomic status, from the mining district of Molango (n=148) and Agua Blanca (n=119, non-mining area) in Hidalgo state, Mexico. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test was used to assess visuoperception and short-term visual memory. Hair manganese (MnH) concentrations were determined. Linear regression models were constructed to estimate the associations between MnH and ROCF scores, adjusted for potential confounders.

RESULTS

The geometric mean MnH was nine times higher in schoolchildren from the Mn mining area (5.25μg/g) than in schoolchildren from the non-mining area (0.55μg/g). For the ROCF Copy trial, MnH was significantly associated with an increase in distortion errors (tangency, closure), angle errors, overtracing (partial overtracing). In the Immediate Recall trial, MnH was significantly associated with increased overtracing (partial overtracing) and omissions, and negatively associated with the number of perceptual drawn units, total score and percentage immediate recall.

CONCLUSIONS

MnH is associated with alterations in visuoperception and short-term visual memory in schoolchildren exposed to airborne Mn.

A critical evaluation of the lateralizing significance of material-specific memory deficits in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis

To critically assess the value of material-specific memory deficits in lateralizing temporal lobe dysfunction preoperatively, we compared the neuropsychological data of 50 consecutive patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS; right: 31, left: 19) with those of 50 age- and education-matched healthy control subjects. On case-control comparison, both the subcohorts with left and right MTLE-HS performed poorly on intelligence tests, in addition to individual memory tests. However, comparison of the verbal and visual memory functions between subcohorts with right and left MTLE-HS revealed that learning trials and delayed word list recall were the only tests that hypothesized left temporal lobe dysfunction. We conclude that material-specific memory deficits are largely test driven, but there is a lateralizing role for task-specific deficits in left MTLE-HS. Although neuropsychological data help to define baseline neuropsychological impairment, caution should be exercised in interpreting the lateralizing value of material-specific memory deficits prior to surgery.

Impact of hippocampal subfield histopathology in episodic memory impairment in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to analyze preoperative visual and verbal episodic memories in a homogeneous series of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (HS) submitted to corticoamygdalohippocampectomy and its association with neuronal cell density of each hippocampal subfield.

METHODS

The hippocampi of 72 right-handed patients were collected and prepared for histopathological examination. Hippocampal sclerosis patterns were determined, and neuronal cell density was calculated. Preoperatively, two verbal and two visual memory tests (immediate and delayed recalls) were applied, and patients were divided into two groups, left and right MTLE (36/36).

RESULTS

There were no statistical differences between groups regarding demographic and clinical data. Cornu Ammonis 4 (CA4) neuronal density was significantly lower in the right hippocampus compared with the left (p=0.048). The groups with HS presented different memory performance - the right HS were worse in visual memory test [Complex Rey Figure, immediate (p=0.001) and delayed (p=0.009)], but better in one verbal task [RAVLT delayed (p=0.005)]. Multiple regression analysis suggested that the verbal memory performance of the group with left HS was explained by CA1 neuronal density since both tasks were significantly influenced by CA1 [Logical Memory immediate recall (p=0.050) and Logical Memory and RAVLT delayed recalls (p=0.004 and p=0.001, respectively)]. For patients with right HS, both CA1 subfield integrity (p=0.006) and epilepsy duration (p=0.012) explained Complex Rey Figure immediate recall performance. Ultimately, epilepsy duration also explained the performance in the Complex Rey Figure delayed recall (p<0.001).

SIGNIFICANCE

Cornu Ammonis 1 (CA1) hippocampal subfield was related to immediate and delayed recalls of verbal memory tests in left HS, while CA1 and epilepsy duration were associated with visual memory performance in patients with right HS.

Visual information about object size and object position are retained differently in the visual brain: Evidence from grasping studies

Many experiments have examined how the visual information used for action control is represented in our brain, and whether or not visually-guided and memory-guided hand movements rely on dissociable visual representations that are processed in different brain areas (dorsal vs. ventral). However, little is known about how these representations decay over longer time periods and whether or not different visual properties are retained in a similar fashion. In three experiments we investigated how information about object size and object position affect grasping as visual memory demands increase. We found that position information decayed rapidly with increasing delays between viewing the object and initiating subsequent actions - impacting both the accuracy of the transport component (lower end-point accuracy) and the grasp component (larger grip apertures) of the movement. In contrast, grip apertures and fingertip forces remained well-adjusted to target size in conditions in which positional information was either irrelevant or provided, regardless of delay, indicating that object size is encoded in a more stable manner than object position. The findings provide evidence that different grasp-relevant properties are encoded differently by the visual system. Furthermore, we argue that caution is required when making inferences about object size representations based on alterations in the grip component as these variations are confounded with the accuracy with which object position is represented. Instead fingertip forces seem to provide a reliable and confound-free measure to assess internal size estimations in conditions of increased visual uncertainty.

Visual memory profile in 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome: are there differences in performance and neurobiological substrates between tasks linked to ventral and dorsal visual brain structures? A cross-sectional and longitudinal study

Background

Children affected by the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) have a specific neuropsychological profile with strengths and weaknesses in several cognitive domains. Specifically, previous evidence has shown that patients with 22q11.2DS have more difficulties memorizing faces and visual-object characteristics of stimuli. In contrast, they have better performance in visuo-spatial memory tasks. The first focus of this study was to replicate these results in a larger sample of patients affected with 22q11.2DS and using a range of memory tasks. Moreover, we analyzed if the deficits were related to brain morphology in the structures typically underlying these abilities (ventral and dorsal visual streams). Finally, since the longitudinal development of visual memory is not clearly characterized in 22q11.2DS, we investigated its evolution from childhood to adolescence.

Methods

Seventy-one patients with 22q11.2DS and 49 control individuals aged between 9 and 16 years completed the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and specific subtests assessing visual memory from the Children’s Memory Scale (CMS). The BVRT was used to compute spatial and object memory errors. For the CMS, specific subtests were classified into ventral, dorsal, and mixed subtests. Longitudinal data were obtained from a subset of 26 patients and 22 control individuals.

Results

Cross-sectional results showed that patients with 22q11.2DS were impaired in all visual memory measures, with stronger deficits in visual-object memory and memory of faces, compared to visuo-spatial memory. No correlations between morphological brain impairments and visual memory were found in patients with 22q11.2DS. Longitudinal findings revealed that participants with 22q11.2DS made more object memory errors than spatial memory errors at baseline. This difference was no longer significant at follow-up.

Conclusions

Individuals with 22q11.2DS have impairments in visual memory abilities, with more pronounced difficulties in memorizing faces and visual-object characteristics. From childhood to adolescence, the visual cognitive profile of patients with 22q11.2DS seems globally stable even though some processes show an evolution with time. We hope that our results will help clinicians and caregivers to better understand the memory difficulties of young individuals with 22q11.2DS. This has a particular importance at school to facilitate recommendations concerning intervention strategies for these young patients.

The role of executive functioning in memory performance in pediatric focal epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

Learning and memory are essential for academic success and everyday functioning, but the pattern of memory skills and its relationship to executive functioning in children with focal epilepsy is not fully delineated. We address a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between memory and executive functioning in a pediatric focal epilepsy population.

METHODS

Seventy children with focal epilepsy and 70 typically developing children matched on age, intellectual functioning, and gender underwent neuropsychological assessment, including measures of intelligence (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence [WASI]/Differential Ability Scales [DAS]), as well as visual Children's Memory Scale (CMS Dot Locations) and verbal episodic memory (Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning [WRAML] Story Memory and California Verbal Learning Test for Children [CVLT-C]). Executive functioning was measured directly (WISC-IV Digit Span Backward; Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition (CELF-IV) Recalling Sentences) and by parent report (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function [BRIEF]).

RESULTS

Children with focal epilepsy had lower delayed free-recall scores than controls across visual and verbal memory tasks (p = 0.02; partial η² = 0.12). In contrast, recognition memory performance was similar for patients and controls (p = 0.36; partial η² = 0.03). Children with focal epilepsy demonstrated difficulties in working memory (p = 0.02; partial η² = 0.08) and planning/organization (p = 0.02) compared to controls. Working memory predicted 9-19% of the variance in delayed free recall for verbal and visual memory; organization predicted 9-10% of the variance in verbal memory. Patients with both left and right focal epilepsy demonstrated more difficulty on verbal versus visual tasks (p = 0.002). Memory performance did not differ by location of seizure foci (temporal vs. extratemporal, frontal vs. extrafrontal).

SIGNIFICANCE

Children with focal epilepsy demonstrated memory ability within age-level expectations, but delayed free recall was inefficient compared to typically developing controls. Memory difficulties were not related to general cognitive impairment or seizure localization. Executive functioning accounted for significant variance in memory performance, suggesting that poor executive control negatively influences memory retrieval.

How to learn places without spatial concepts: Does the what-and-where reaction time system in children regulate learning during stimulus repetition?

We investigated the role of repetition for place learning in children although the acquisition of organizing spatial concepts is often seen as more essential. In a reaction-time accuracy task, 7- and 9-year-old children were presented with a randomized sequence of objects-in-places. In a novelty condition (NC), memory sets in different colors were presented, while in a repetition condition (RC), the identical memory set was tested several times. Shape memory deteriorated more than place memory in the NC, but also stayed superior to place memory when both improved in the RC. False alarms occurred for objects and places in the same way in 7-year-olds in the NC, but were negligible for 9-year-olds. In contrast, false alarms in the RC occurred in both age groups mainly for place memory. The Common Region Test (CRT) predicted reaction times only in the novelty condition, indicating use of spatial concepts. Importantly, reaction times for shapes were faster than for places at the beginning of the experiment but slowed down thereafter, while reaction times for places were slow at the beginning of the experiment but accelerated considerably thereafter. False alarms and regulation of reaction times indicated that repetition facilitated true abstraction of information leading to place learning without spatial concepts.

Working memory limits severely constrain long-term retention

There has been considerable controversy in recent years as to whether information held in working memory (WM) is rapidly forgotten or automatically transferred to long-term memory (LTM). Although visual WM capacity is very limited, we appear able to store a virtually infinite amount of information in visual LTM. Still, LTM retrieval often fails. Some view visual WM as a mental sketchpad that is wiped clean when new information enters, but not a consistent precursor of LTM. Others view the WM and LTM systems as inherently linked. Distinguishing between these possibilities has been difficult, as attempts to directly manipulate the active holding of information in visual WM has typically introduced various confounds. Here, we capitalized on the WM system's capacity limitation to control the likelihood that visual information was actively held in WM. Our young-adult participants (N = 103) performed a WM task with unique everyday items, presented in groups of two, four, six, or eight items. Presentation time was adjusted according to the number of items. Subsequently, we tested participants' LTM for items from the WM task. LTM was better for items presented originally within smaller WM set sizes, indicating that WM limitations contribute to subsequent LTM failures, and that holding items in WM enhances LTM encoding. Our results suggest that a limit in WM capacity contributes to an LTM encoding bottleneck for trial-unique familiar objects, with a relatively large effect size.

The Apple of the mind's eye: Everyday attention, metamemory, and reconstructive memory for the Apple logo

People are regularly bombarded with logos in an attempt to improve brand recognition, and logos are often designed with the central purpose of memorability. The ubiquitous Apple logo is a simple design and is often referred to as one of the most recognizable logos in the world. The present study examined recall and recognition for this simple and pervasive logo and to what degree metamemory (confidence judgements) match memory performance. Participants showed surprisingly poor memory for the details of the logo as measured through recall (drawings) and forced-choice recognition. Only 1 participant out of 85 correctly recalled the Apple logo, and fewer than half of all participants correctly identified the logo. Importantly, participants indicated higher levels of confidence for both recall and recognition, and this overconfidence was reduced if participants made the judgements after, rather than before, drawing the logo. The general findings did not differ between Apple and PC users. The results provide novel support for theories of attentional saturation, inattentional amnesia, and reconstructive memory; additionally they show how an availability heuristic can lead to overconfidence in memory for logos.

Orally Administered Cinnamon Extract Attenuates Cognitive and Neuronal Deficits Following Traumatic Brain Injury

The present paper shows how cinnamon extract (CE) consumption mitigates neuronal loss and memory impairment following traumatic brain injury (TBI), one of the world's most common neurodegenerative diseases. TBI patients suffer short- and long-term behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impairments, including difficulties in concentration, memory loss, and depression. Research shows that CE application can mitigate cognitive and behavioral impairments in animal models for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, whose pathophysiology is similar to that of TBI. This study builds on prior research by showing similar results in TBI mice models. After drinking CE for a week, mice were injured using our 70-g weight drop TBI device. For 2 weeks thereafter, the mice continued drinking CE alongside standard lab nutrition. Subsequently, the mice underwent behavioral tests to assess their memory, motor activity, and anxiety. The mice brains were harvested for immunohistochemistry staining to evaluate overall neuronal survival. Our results show that CE consumption almost completely mitigates memory impairment and decreases neuronal loss after TBI. Mice that did not consume CE demonstrated impaired memory. Our results also show that CE consumption attenuated neuronal loss in the temporal cortex and the dentate gyrus. Mice that did not consume CE suffered a significant neuronal loss. There were no significant differences in anxiety levels and motor activity between all groups. These findings show a new therapeutic approach to improve cognitive function and decrease memory loss after TBI.

Neuropsychological performance and affective temperaments in Euthymic patients with bipolar disorder type II

Affective temperament has been suggested as a potential mediator of the effect between genetic predisposition and neurocognitive functioning. As such, this report seeks to assess the extent of the correlation between affective temperament and cognitive function in a group of bipolar II subjects. 46 bipolar II outpatients [mean age 41.4 years (SD 18.2); female 58.9%] and 46 healthy controls [mean age 35.1 years (SD 18); female 56.5%] were evaluated with regard to their demographic and clinical characteristics, affective temperament, and neurocognitive performance. Crude bivariate correlation analyses and multiple linear regression models were constructed between five affective temperament subscales and eight neurocognitive domains. Significant correlations were identified in bipolar patients between hyperthymic temperament and verbal memory and premorbid IQ; cyclothymic temperament and attention; and irritable temperament, attention, and verbal fluency. In adjusting for potential confounders of the relationship between temperament and cognitive function, the strongest mediating factors among the euthymic bipolar patients were found to be residual manic and depressive symptoms. It is therefore concluded that affective temperaments may partially influence the neurocognitive performance of both healthy controls and euthymic patients with bipolar disorder type II in several specific domains.

Depressive symptoms as predictors of visual memory deficits in middle-age

BACKGROUND

Depression has been known to affect memory and other cognitive domains. The objective of this longitudinal cohort study was to investigate longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms at age 31 years and visual memory and new learning at the age of 46 years. We investigated whether depressive symptoms at age 31 predicted visual memory deficits at age 46 years, and whether changes in depressive symptoms between 31 and 46 years predicted visual memory at age 46.

METHODS

Participants were members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Symptom Checklist-25 (SCL-25) on both occasions. Visual memory and new learning were assessed using Paired Associative Learning (PAL) test at the age 46 follow-up. PAL total errors adjusted and first trial memory score were used as outcomes and basic educational level, relationship status, physical activity and diet at baseline were considered as confounding factors in linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 5029 (57% female) participants were included in the main analysis. No associations were found between depressive symptoms or change in depressive symptoms and visual memory and new learning scores. The result did not change following cut-offs 1.55 and 1.75 for depression.

LIMITATIONS

SCL-25 only measures symptoms during the past week. Only one cognitive domain was assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to our hypothesis, neither baseline depressive symptoms nor change in depressive symptoms predicted visual memory scores 15 years later. It appears that sub-clinical depressive symptoms do not effect this cognitive domain in the middle-aged population.

Differential associations of visual memory with hippocampal subfields in subjective cognitive decline and amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Background

Although previous studies have demonstrated that the hippocampus plays a role in verbal memory, the role of hippocampal subfields in visual memory is uncertain, especially in those with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to examine relationships between hippocampal subfield volumes and visual memory in SCD (subjective cognitive decline) and aMCI (amnestic mild cognitive impairment).

Methods

The study sample included 47 SCD patients, 62 aMCI patients, and 51 normal controls (NCs) and was recruited from Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital. Visual memory was measured by the subtests of BVMT-R (Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised), PLT (Pictorial Learning Test), DMS (Delayed Matching to Sample), and PAL (Paired Associates Learning). Hippocampal subfield volumes were estimated using FreeSurfer software (version 6.0). We modeled the association between visual memory and relative hippocampal subfield volumes (dividing by estimated total intracranial volume) using Pearson's correlation and linear regression.

Results

Compared with the NC group, patients with SCD did not find any relative hippocampal subregion atrophy, and the aMCI group found atrophy in CA1, molecular layer, subiculum, GC-ML-DG, CA4, and CA3. After adjusting for covariates (age, sex, and APOE ε4 status) and FDR (false discovery rate) correction of p (q values) < 0.05, in NC group, DMS delay matching scores were significant and negatively associated with presubiculum (r = -0.399, FDR q = 0.024); in SCD group, DMS delay matching scores were negatively associated with CA3 (r = -0.378, FDR q = 0.048); in the aMCI group, BVMT-R immediate recall scores were positively associated with CA1, molecular layer, subiculum, and GC-ML-DG (r = 0.360–0.374, FDR q < 0.036). Stepwise linear regression analysis confirmed the association.

Conclusions

Our results indicate a different and specific correction of visual memory with relative hippocampal subfield volumes between SCD and aMCI. The correlations involved different and more subfields as cognitive decline. Whether these associations predict future disease progression needs dynamic longitudinal studies.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-02853-7.

Visual memory dysfunction as a neurocognitive endophenotype in bipolar disorder patients and their unaffected relatives. Evidence from a 5-year follow-up Valencia study

BACKGROUND

Scarce research has focused on Visual Memory (VM) deficits as a possible neurocognitive endophenotype of bipolar disorder (BD). The main aim of this longitudinal, family study with healthy controls was to explore whether VM dysfunction represents a neurocognitive endophenotype of BD.

METHODS

Assessment of VM by Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF) was carried out on a sample of 317 subjects, including 140 patients with BD, 60 unaffected first-degree relatives (BD-Rel), and 117 genetically-unrelated healthy controls (HC), on three occasions over a 5-year period (T1, T2, and T3). BD-Rel group scores were analyzed only at T1 and T2.

RESULTS

Performance of BD patients was significantly worse than the HC group (p < 0.01). Performance of BD-Rel was also significantly different from HC scores at T1 (p < 0.01) and T2 (p = 0.05), and showed an intermediate profile between the BD and HC groups. Only among BD patients, there were significant differences according to sex, with females performing worse than males (p = 0.03). Regarding other variables, education represented significant differences only in average scores of BD-Rel group (p = 0.01).

LIMITATIONS

Important attrition in BD-Rel group over time was detected, which precluded analysis at T3.

CONCLUSIONS

BD patients show significant deficits in VM that remain stable over time, even after controlling sociodemographic and clinical variables. Unaffected relatives also show stable deficits in VM. Accordingly, the deficit in VM could be considered a potential endophenotype of BD, which in turn may be useful as a predictor of the evolution of the disease. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Visual perception, visual-spatial cognition and mathematics: Associations and predictions in children with cerebral palsy

BACKGROUND

Previous research suggests that children with cerebral palsy (CP) have impairments in visual-spatial and mathematics abilities, although we know very little about the association between these two domains.

AIMS

To investigate the extent of visual-spatial and mathematical impairments in children with CP and the associations between these two domains.

METHOD AND PROCEDURE

Thirty-two children with predominantly quadriplegic spastic and/or athetoid (dyskinetic) CP (13 years 7 months) and a group of typically developing (TD) children (8 years 6 months) matched by receptive vocabulary were given a battery of visual-spatial and mathematics tasks. Visual-spatial assessments ranged from simple tests of perception to complex reasoning about these stimuli. A standardised test of mathematics ability was administered to both groups.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

The children with CP had significantly poorer mathematical and visual-spatial abilities than the TD group. For the TD group age was the best predictor of mathematical ability, in the CP group receptive vocabulary and visual perception abilities were the best predictors of mathematical ability.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The CP group had extensive difficulties with visual perception; visual short-term memory; visual reasoning; and mental rotation all of which were associated with their mathematical abilities. These findings have implications for the teaching of visual perception and visual memory skills in young children with CP as these may help the development of mathematical abilities.

The fidelity of visual and auditory memory

Recent studies show that recognition memory for pictures is consistently better than recognition memory for sounds. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the fidelity of auditory and visual memory to better understand the reported differences in the two memory systems. Participants received a study phase with pictures/sounds, followed by a same-day memory test or a delayed recognition memory test. During the memory test, participants were presented with pictures/sounds that were old (presented during study), novel foils not presented during study, or exemplar foils that were variants of objects presented during study. Participants were instructed to classify each picture/sound as "old" or "new" by pressing a corresponding key. The same-day memory task revealed fundamental differences in visual and auditory memory: auditory representations are coarse and gist-based, while visual representations are highly detailed. However, auditory and visual memory performance was similar after a delay of 2 and 7 days and both types of memory representations were more coarse and gist-based. The results make an important contribution to our understanding of how the world is represented in auditory and visual memory.

Influence of anxiety on memory performance in temporal lobe epilepsy

This study examined the degree to which anxiety contributed to inconsistent material-specific memory difficulties among 243 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy from the Multisite Epilepsy Study. Visual memory performance on the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) was poorer for those with high versus low levels of anxiety but was not found to be related to the TLE side. The verbal memory score on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was significantly lower for patients with left-sided TLE than for patients with right-sided TLE with low anxiety levels but equally impaired for those with high anxiety levels. These results suggest that we can place more confidence in the ability of verbal memory tests like the CVLT to lateralize to left-sided TLE for those with low anxiety levels, but that verbal memory will be less likely to produce lateralizing information for those with high anxiety levels. This suggests that more caution is needed when interpreting verbal memory tests for those with high anxiety levels. These results indicated that RCFT performance was significantly affected by anxiety and did not lateralize to either side, regardless of anxiety levels. This study adds to the existing literature which suggests that drawing-based visual memory tests do not lateralize among patients with TLE, regardless of anxiety levels.

Altered neural correlates of episodic memory in adolescents with severe obesity

Negative effects of obesity on memory and associated medial temporal circuitry have been noted in animal models, but the status in humans, particularly children, is not well established. Our study is the first to examine neural correlates of successful memory encoding of visual scenes and their associated context in adolescents with severe obesity (age 14-18 years, 43% male). Despite similar subsequent memory as adolescents without obesity (BMI for age and sex <95th percentile), those with severe obesity (BMI for age and sex 120% above the 95th percentile) showed reduced hippocampal, parahippocampal, frontal, and parietal engagement during encoding of remembered visual scenes and greater lateral temporal engagement during encoding of their associated context. Standardized testing revealed a trend level group difference in memory performance, with a larger magnitude of obesity-related difference in recollection-related memory that was mediated by individual differences in lateral temporal activation during contextual encoding. The observed widespread functional alterations are concerning in light of the importance of mnemonic processing for academic achievement and feeding behavior and underscore the need for prevention and intervention initiatives for pediatric obesity.

Binge-eating disorder may be distinguished by visuospatial memory deficits

OBJECTIVE

Binge eating disorder (BED), characterized by recurrent episodes of loss of control overeating, is highly comorbid with overweight and obesity. Both loss of control eating and higher body mass index have been associated with poor memory. The current study sought to clarify the relationships between BED, weight and memory. Specifically, visual memory was examined, given evidence of impaired visuospatial abilities in overweight individuals and little research on visual memory in BED.

METHOD

Overweight and normal-weight women with BED and matched healthy controls were administered the Rey Complex Figure Test.

RESULTS

Planned contrasts revealed that normal-weight healthy controls performed better than all other groups on the immediate and delayed recall portions of the task. Performance on the immediate recall portion was better among normal-weight individuals than overweight individuals, and performance on both the immediate and delayed recall portions was better among individuals without BED than those with BED. No differences between groups were seen on the copy or recognition trials.

CONCLUSIONS

Visual memory appears to be impaired among overweight participants and both normal and overweight participants with BED. This finding was specific to retrieval. Replication of this finding in BED using different measures of memory is needed.

False memories and memory confidence in borderline patients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Mixed results have been obtained regarding memory in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Prior reports and anecdotal evidence suggests that patients with BPD are prone to false memories but this assumption has to been put to firm empirical test, yet.

METHODS

Memory accuracy and confidence was assessed in 20 BPD patients and 22 healthy controls using a visual variant of the false memory (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) paradigm which involved a negative and a positive-valenced picture.

RESULTS

Groups did not differ regarding veridical item recognition. Importantly, patients did not display more false memories than controls. At trend level, borderline patients rated more items as new with high confidence compared to healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The results tentatively suggest that borderline patients show uncompromised visual memory functions and display no increased susceptibility for distorted memories.