title: Extent of hippocampal atrophy predicts degree of deficit in recall.
abstract: Which specific memory functions are dependent on the hippocampus is still debated. The availability of a large cohort of patients who had sustained relatively selective hippocampal damage early in life enabled us to determine which type of mnemonic deficit showed a correlation with extent of hippocampal injury. We assessed our patient cohort on a test that provides measures of recognition and recall that are equated for difficulty and found that the patients' performance on the recall tests correlated significantly with their hippocampal volumes, whereas their performance on the equally difficult recognition tests did not and, indeed, was largely unaffected regardless of extent of hippocampal atrophy. The results provide new evidence in favor of the view that the hippocampus is essential for recall but not for recognition.
authors.affiliation: University College London Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Eva Zita
authors.initials: EZ
authors.lastname: Patai
authors.affiliation: University College London Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Gadian
authors.affiliation: University College London Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Janine M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: University College London Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dzieciol
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; f.vargha-khadem@ucl.ac.uk mishkinm@mail.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Mortimer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishkin
authors.affiliation: University College London Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, London WC1N 3JH, United Kingdom f.vargha-khadem@ucl.ac.uk mishkinm@mail.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Faraneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vargha-Khadem
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001284:Atrophy; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D021641:Recognition, Psychology
keywords: developmental amnesia; hippocampus; recall; recognition