title: Neural correlates of autobiographical memory in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.
abstract: Episodic memory dysfunction, commonly assessed with word list recall, is the main characteristic of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI). While brain pathology underlying this kind of memory impairment is well established in aMCI, little is known about the effect of neurodegeneration on autobiographical memory. The present study investigated neuronal correlates of autobiographical memory in aMCI patients (n=12) and healthy elderly controls (n=13) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Additionally, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was employed to reveal brain pathology in aMCI patients. Neuropsychological assessment showed significant impairment in episodic memory tasks (immediate and delayed word list recall) in aMCI patients. Moreover, VBM revealed significantly reduced gray matter concentration, which was most pronounced in the temporal lobes of aMCI patients. Despite episodic memory impairment and atrophy in areas that are associated with encoding and recall of episodic memories, aMCI patients showed no alterations in brain activation associated with autobiographical memory retrieval. These findings could suggest that autobiographical memory is subserved by a different neuronal network than episodic memory and that the two memory systems are differently affected by aMCI.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Psychiatry, University Hospital Frankfurt/Main, Heinrich-Hoffmann Str. 10, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Silke.Matura@kgu.de
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matura
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muth
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Magerkurth
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haenschel
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pantel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen