Remote memory for public figures in Alzheimer's disease: relationships to regional cortical and limbic brain volumes.
This study examined the relationships between regional cortical and hippocampal brain volumes and components of remote memory (recall, recognition, sequencing, and photo naming of presidential candidates) in 13 individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recognition and sequencing of remote memory for public figures were associated with regional cortical volumes. Specifically, lower recognition and sequencing scores were associated with smaller parietal-occipital cortical volumes; poorer sequencing was also associated with smaller prefrontal cortical volumes. By contrast, poorer anterograde but not remote memory scores were correlated with smaller hippocampal volumes. Within the constraints of the brain regions measured, these findings highlight the importance of the posterior cortical areas for selective remote memory processes and provide support for the dissociation between cortically mediated remote memory and hippocampally mediated anterograde memory.
Fama
R
R
Neuropsychiatry Program, SRI International, Menlo Park, California, USA.
Shear
P K
PK
Marsh
L
L
Yesavage
J A
JA
Tinklenberg
J R
JR
Lim
K O
KO
Pfefferbaum
A
A
Sullivan
E V
EV
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged