title: Hippocampal and diencephalic pathology in developmental amnesia.
abstract: Developmental amnesia (DA) is a selective episodic memory disorder associated with hypoxia-induced bilateral hippocampal atrophy of early onset. Despite the systemic impact of hypoxia-ischaemia, the resulting brain damage was previously reported to be largely limited to the hippocampus. However, the thalamus and the mammillary bodies are parts of the hippocampal-diencephalic network and are therefore also at risk of injury following hypoxic-ischaemic events. Here, we report a neuroimaging investigation of diencephalic damage in a group of 18 patients with DA (age range 11-35 years), and an equal number of controls. Importantly, we uncovered a marked degree of atrophy in the mammillary bodies in two thirds of our patients. In addition, as a group, patients had mildly reduced thalamic volumes. The size of the anterior-mid thalamic (AMT) segment was correlated with patients' visual memory performance. Thus, in addition to the hippocampus, the diencephalic structures also appear to play a role in the patients' memory deficit.
authors.affiliation: University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK. Electronic address: anna.dzieciol.10@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dzieciol
authors.affiliation: Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bachevalier
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kadharbatcha S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Saleem
authors.affiliation: University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Gadian
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.
authors.forename: W K Kling
authors.initials: WKK
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banks
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Mortimer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishkin
authors.affiliation: University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
authors.forename: Faraneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vargha-Khadem
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008326:Mammillary Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hippocampus; Hypoxia-ischaemia; Mammillary bodies; Memory; Thalamus