QBI Neuroscience Seminar: White matter connections and human memory: nuances and flexibility in the mapping of structure and function
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- A/Professor Mike O'Sullivan
Reader in Clinical Neuroscience, King's College London and Consultant Neurologist, Strategy Lead for Stroke, King's Health Partners, UK
Title: White matter connections and human memory: nuances and flexibility in the mapping of structure and function
Abstract: Traditionally, much attention in memory research has fallen on the hippocampus. However, a number of regions outside the medial temporal lobe – including the diencephalon, frontal lobe and basal forebrain – have been shown to contribute to memory. These regions are interconnected by white matter tracts; experimental disconnection studies in monkeys have generated multiple insights into the roles of these connections. Diffusion MRI provides a way to investigate similar relationships in humans. The fornix is the key determinant of recall in both young adults and healthy older individuals. Alterations in fornix microstructure explain much of the age-related deterioration, and also inter-individual differences among older adults, in recall performance. In patients with mild cognitive impairment both subtle alterations in temporal connections and a realignment of function, with greater involvement of non-fornical connections, are found. Interestingly, this realignment depends on the structure of the cholinergic basal forebrain, suggesting a role for acetylcholine in cognitive flexibility. The hypothesis that emerges is that injury to the memory system occurs on a background of dynamic and flexible relationships between structure and function
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