title: Is the right amygdala involved in visuospatial memory? Evidence from MRI volumetric measures.
abstract: Quantitative MRI measurement of hippocampal sclerosis in patients suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have, as yet, failed to evidence any correlation between the right hippocampus and visuospatial memory. In this report, word learning and design learning tasks were carried out as well as MRI volumetric measurements of the hippocampus and amygdala in order to verify possible modality-specific correlations between function and structure. Delayed recall indices in our memory tasks provided significant results. Visuoverbal ratios differed between right and left TLE groups, as did laterality indices of hippocampal and amygdalar volumes. Furthermore, correlations were found between the left hippocampal volume and verbal memory, and between the right amygdala and visuospatial memory. We suggest that the difficulty encountered in establishing a correlation between right temporal structures and visuospatial memory could come both from the type of test employed and the structures considered.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Unit, Neurology Clinic, Geneva, Switzerland. Alan.Pegna@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pegna
authors.forename: Anne-Sarah
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Caldara-Schnetzer
authors.forename: Stephen H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Perrig
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lazeyras
authors.forename: Asaid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khateb
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Theodor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Landis
authors.forename: Margitta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seeck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology