title: Selective deficit of spatial short-term memory: Role of storage and rehearsal mechanisms.
abstract: We report the neuropsychological and MRI investigation of a patient (GP) who developed a selective impairment of spatial short-term memory (STM) following damage to the dorso-mesial areas of the right frontal lobe. We assessed in this patient spatial STM with an experimental procedure that evaluated immediate and 5-20 s delayed recall of verbal, visual and spatial stimuli. The patient scored significantly worse than normal controls on tests that required delayed recall of spatial data. This could not be ascribed to a deficit of spatial episodic long-term memory because amnesic patients performed normally on these tests. Conversely, the patient scored in the normal range on tests of immediate recall of verbal, visual and spatial data and tests of delayed recall of verbal and visual data. Comparison with a previously described patient who had a selective deficit in immediate spatial recall and an ischemic lesion that affected frontal and parietal dorso-mesial areas in the right hemisphere (Carlesimo GA, Perri R, Turriziani P, Tomaiuolo F, Caltagirone C. Remembering what but not where: independence of spatial and visual working memory in the human brain. Cortex. 2001 Sep; 37(4):519-34) suggests that the right parietal areas are involved in the short-term storage of spatial information and that the dorso-mesial regions of the right frontal underlie mechanisms for the delayed maintenance of the same data.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: s.bonni@hsantalucia.it.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonnì
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Clinica Neurologica, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fadda
authors.affiliation: Auxilium Vitae, Volterra, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tomaiuolo
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Clinica Neurologica, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Clinica Neurologica, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Clinica Neurologica, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni Augusto
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Carlesimo
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Rehearsal; Spatial short-term memory; Storage