Individual differences in true and false memory retrieval are related to white matter brain microstructure.
We sometimes vividly remember things that did not happen, a phenomenon with general relevance, not only in the courtroom. It is unclear to what extent individual differences in false memories are driven by anatomical differences in memory-relevant brain regions. Here we show in humans that microstructural properties of different white matter tracts as quantified using diffusion tensor imaging are strongly correlated with true and false memory retrieval. To investigate these hypotheses, we tested a large group of participants in a version of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (recall and recognition) and subsequently obtained diffusion tensor images. A voxel-based whole-brain level linear regression analysis was performed to relate fractional anisotropy to indices of true and false memory recall and recognition. True memory was correlated to diffusion anisotropy in the inferior longitudinal fascicle, the major connective pathway of the medial temporal lobe, whereas a greater proneness to retrieve false items was related to the superior longitudinal fascicle connecting frontoparietal structures. Our results show that individual differences in white matter microstructure underlie true and false memory performance.
Fuentemilla
Lluís
L
Departament de Ciències Fisiològiques II, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
Càmara
Estela
E
Münte
Thomas F
TF
Krämer
Ulrike M
UM
Cunillera
Toni
T
Marco-Pallarés
Josep
J
Tempelmann
Claus
C
Rodriguez-Fornells
Antoni
A
D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult