Hippocampal and diencephalic pathology in developmental amnesia. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dzieciol, Anna M.; Bachevalier, Jocelyne; Saleem, Kadharbatcha S.; Gadian, David G.; Saunders, Richard; Chong, W.K. Kling; Banks, Tina; Mishkin, Mortimer; Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh
• Is Part Of: Cortex. Volume 86(2017)
• Page Start: 33
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: Memory -- Hypoxia-ischaemia -- Hippocampus -- Thalamus -- Mammillary bodies; DA developmental amnesia -- IQ intelligence quotient -- MQ memory quotient -- CMS Children's Memory Scale -- WMS-III Wechsler's Memory Scale, 3rd ed. -- AMT anterior-mid thalamus -- PT posterior thalamus -- Th-Auto automatically segmented thalamus -- MBs mammillary bodies; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Nervous system -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; 612.825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.09.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0010-9452

Abstract

Abstract: Developmental amnesia (DA) is a selective episodic memory disorder associated with hypoxia-induced bilateral hippocampal atrophy of early onset. Despite the systemic impact of hypoxia-ischaemia, the resulting brain damage was previously reported to be largely limited to the hippocampus. However, the thalamus and the mammillary bodies are parts of the hippocampal-diencephalic network and are therefore also at risk of injury following hypoxic-ischaemic events. Here, we report a neuroimaging investigation of diencephalic damage in a group of 18 patients with DA (age range 11–35 years), and an equal number of controls. Importantly, we uncovered a marked degree of atrophy in the mammillary bodies in two thirds of our patients. In addition, as a group, patients had mildly reduced thalamic volumes. The size of the anterior-mid thalamic (AMT) segment was correlated with patients' visual memory performance. Thus, in addition to the hippocampus, the diencephalic structures also appear to play a role in the patients' memory deficit.