scholarly journals The spatiotemporal organization of episodic memory and its disruption in a neurodevelopmental disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilina Mastrogiuseppe ◽  
Natasha Bertelsen ◽  
Maria Francesca Bedeschi ◽  
Sang Ah Lee
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Hippocampal Function ◽  
Spatiotemporal Organization ◽  
Visuospatial Deficits ◽  
Spatial Locations

AbstractRecent theories of episodic memory (EM) posit that the hippocampus provides a spatiotemporal framework necessary for representing events. If such theories hold true, then does the development of EM in children depend on the ability to first bind spatial and temporal information? And does this ability rely, at least in part, on normal hippocampal function? We investigated the development of EM in children 2–8 years of age (Study 1) and its impairment in Williams Syndrome, a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by visuospatial deficits and irregular hippocampal function, (Study 2) by implementing a nonverbal object-placement task that dissociates the what, where, and when components of EM. Consistent with the spatiotemporal-framework view of hippocampal EM, our results indicate that the binding of where and when in memory emerges earliest in development, around the age of 3, and is specifically impaired in WS. Space-time binding both preceded and was critical to full EM (what + where + when), and the successful association of objects to spatial locations seemed to mediate this developmental process.

scholarly journals The development of spatiotemporal organization of episodic memory in children and its disruption in Williams Syndrome

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilina Mastrogiuseppe ◽  
Natasha Bertelsen ◽  
Maria Francesca Bedeschi ◽  
Sang Ah Lee
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Hippocampal Function ◽  
Spatiotemporal Organization ◽  
Location Memory ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Episodic Memories

AbstractRecent theories of episodic memory propose that the hippocampus provides the spatiotemporal framework for episodic memories. If this is true, does the development of episodic memory depend on the binding of space and time? And does this rely, at least partly, on normal hippocampal function? We investigated the development of episodic memory in children 2–8 years of age (Study 1) and its impairment in Williams Syndrome (Study 2) by implementing a nonverbal object-placement task that dissociates the what, where, and when components of episodic memory. Our results indicate that the binding of space and time in memory emerges first in development around the age of 3 and is impaired in Williams Syndrome. Space-time binding both preceded and predicted success in full episodic memory (what+where+when), and associating objects to spatial location seemed to mediate this developmental process. Importantly, these effects were not explained by improvements in object or location memory.

Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Representations in Williams Syndrome

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inês Bernardino ◽  
Susana Mouga ◽  
Miguel Castelo-Branco ◽  
Marieke van Asselen
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Matched Control ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Spatial Representations ◽  
Matched Control Group ◽  
Visuospatial Deficits ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
Spatial Judgment

AbstractWilliams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe visuospatial deficits, particularly affecting spatial navigation and wayfinding. Creating egocentric (viewer-dependent) and allocentric (viewer-independent) representations of space is essential for the development of these abilities. However, it remains unclear whether egocentric and allocentric representations are impaired in WS. In this study, we investigate egocentric and allocentric frames of reference in this disorder. A WS group (n = 18), as well as a chronological age-matched control group (n = 20), a non-verbal mental age-matched control group (n = 20) and a control group with intellectual disability (n = 17), was tested with a computerized and a 3D spatial judgment task. The results showed that WS participants are impaired when performing both egocentric and allocentric spatial judgments even when compared with mental age-matched control participants. This indicates that a substantial deficit affecting both spatial representations is present in WS. The egocentric impairment is in line with the dorsal visual pathway deficit previously reported in WS. Interestingly, the difficulties found in performing allocentric spatial judgments give important cues to better understand the ventral visual functioning in WS. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–9)

scholarly journals Space, Time and Episodic Memory: the Hippocampus is all over the Cognitive Map

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne D. Ekstrom ◽  
Charan Ranganath
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Cognitive Map ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Hippocampal Function ◽  
The Core ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Core Function ◽  
Break Up

AbstractIn recent years, the field has reached an impasse between models suggesting that the hippocampus is fundamentally involved in spatial processing and models suggesting that the hippocampus automatically encodes all dimensions of experience in the service of memory. Here, we consider key conceptual issues that have impeded progress in our understanding of hippocampal function, and we review findings that establish the scope and limits of hippocampal involvement in navigation and memory. We argue that space and time serve as a primary scaffold to break up experiences into specific contexts, and to organize multimodal input that is to be associated within a context. However, the hippocampus is clearly capable of incorporating additional dimensions into the scaffold if they are determined to be relevant in the event-defined context. Conceiving of the hippocampal representation as constrained by immediate task demands—yet preferring axes that involve space and time—helps to reconcile an otherwise disparate set of findings on the core function of the hippocampus.

scholarly journals Author Correction: The spatiotemporal organization of episodic memory and its disruption in a neurodevelopmental disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilina Mastrogiuseppe ◽  
Natasha Bertelsen ◽  
Maria Francesca Bedeschi ◽  
Sang Ah Lee
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Spatiotemporal Organization

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Word learning in a special population: do individuals with Williams syndrome obey lexical constraints?

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
TASSOS STEVENS ◽  
ANNETTE KARMILOFF-SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
Mutual Exclusivity ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
New Words ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
Lexical Constraints

Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, is of special interest to developmental psycholinguists because of its uneven linguistico-cognitive profile of abilities and deficits. One proficiency manifest in WS adolescents and adults is an unusually large vocabulary despite serious deficits in other domains. In this paper, rather than focus on vocabulary size, we explore the processes underlying vocabulary acquisition, i.e. how new words are learned. A WS group was compared to groups of normal MA-matched controls in the range 3–9 years in four different experiments testing for constraints on word learning. We show that in construing the meaning of new words, normal children at all ages display fast mapping and abide by the constraints tested: mutual exclusivity, whole object and taxonomic. By contrast, while the WS group showed fast mapping and the mutual exclusivity constraint, they did not abide by the whole object or taxonomic constraints. This suggests that measuring only the size of WS vocabulary can distort conclusions about the normalcy of WS language. Our study shows that despite equivalent behaviour (i.e. vocabulary test age), the processes underlying how vocabulary is acquired in WS follow a somewhat different path from that of normal children and that the atypically developing brain is not necessarily a window on normal development.

Travelling in Time: How to Wholly Exist in Two Places at the Same Time

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristie Miller
Keyword(s):  
Time Travel ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Additional Advantage ◽  
Spatial Locations ◽  
Time Point

It is possible to wholly exist at multiple spatial locations at the same time. At least, if time travel is possible and objects endure, then such must be the case. To accommodate this possibility requires the introduction of a spatial analog of either relativising properties to times — relativising properties to spatial locations — or of relativising the manner of instantiation to times — relativising the manner of instantiation to spatial locations. It has been suggested, however, that introducing irreducibly spatially relativised or spatially adverbialised properties presents some difficulties for the endurantist. I will consider an objection according to which embracing such spatially relativised properties could lead us to reject mereology altogether in favour of a metaphysics according to which objects are wholly present at every space-time point at which they exist. I argue that although such a view is coherent, there are some good reasons to reject it. Moreover, I argue that the endurantist can introduce spatially relativised or adverbialised properties without conceding that objects lack spatial parts. Such a strategy has the additional advantage that it allows the endurantist not only to explain time travel, but also to reconcile our competing intuitions about cases of fission.

Effects of virtual reality-based spatial cognitive training on hippocampal function of older adults with mild cognitive impairment

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Jin-Hyuck Park
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Spatial Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Cognitive Intervention ◽  
Hippocampal Function

ABSTRACT Background: To date, there is a controversy on effects of cognitive intervention to maintain or improve hippocampal function for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Objective: The main objective of this study was to exam effects of virtual reality-based spatial cognitive training (VR-SCT) using VR on hippocampal function of older adults with MCI. Method: Fifty-six older adults with MCI were randomly allocated to the experimental group (EG) that received the VR-SCT or the waitlist control group (CG) for a total of 24 sessions. To investigate effects of the VR-SCT on spatial cognition and episodic memory, the Weschsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Block Design Test (WAIS-BDT) and the Seoul Verbal Learning Test (SVLT) were used. Results: During the sessions, the training performances gradually increased (p < .001). After the intervention, the EG showed significant greater improvements in the WAIS-BDT (p < .001, η2 = .667) and recall of the SVLT (p < .05, η2 =.094) compared to the CG but in recognition of the SVLT (p > .05, η2 =.001). Conclusion: These results suggest that the VR-SCT might be clinically beneficial to enhance spatial cognition and episodic memory of older adults with MCI.

scholarly journals Space, time, and episodic memory: The hippocampus is all over the cognitive map

Hippocampus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 680-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne D. Ekstrom ◽  
Charan Ranganath
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Cognitive Map

Once more with feeling: Affect and language in atypical populations

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Reilly ◽  
Edward S. Klima ◽  
Ursula Bellugi
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Affective Prosody ◽  
The Social ◽  
Atypical Development ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThe study of clearly identifiable patterns of atypical development can inform normal development in significant ways. Delayed or deviant development puts in high relief not only the sequence of development but also the individual components. This article presents the results of studies that compare adolescents with Williams syndrome, a rare metabolic neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in mental retardation, with cognitively matched adolescents with Down syndrome. We investigate the interaction between affect and language through storytelling. In contrast to the adolescents with Down syndrome, the Williams syndrome subjects tell coherent and complex narratives that make extensive use of affective prosody. Furthermore, stories from the Williams but not the Down subjects are infused with lexically encoded narrative evaluative devices that enrich the referential content of the stories. This contrast in expressivity between two matched atypical groups provides an unusual perspective on the underlying structure of the social cognitive domain.

Is There a Social Module? Language, Face Processing, and Theory of Mind in Individuals with Williams Syndrome

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Karmiloff-Smith ◽  
Edward Klima ◽  
Ursula Bellugi ◽  
Julia Grant ◽  
Simon Baron-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Current Thinking ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
The Brain

Many species can respond to the behavior of their conspecifics. Human children, and perhaps some nonhuman primates, also have the capacity to respond to the mental states of their conspecifics, i.e., they have a “theory of mind.” On the basis of previous research on the theory-of-mind impairment in people with autism, together with animal models of intentionality, Brothers and Ring (1992) postulated a broad cognitive module whose function is to build representations of other individuals. We evaluate the details of this hypothesis through a series of experiments on language, face processing, and theory of mind carried out with subjects with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in an uneven lin-guisticocognitive profile. The results are discussed in terms of how the comparison of different phenotypes (e.g., Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, autism, and hydrocephaly with associated myelomeningocele) can contribute both to understanding the neuropsychology of social cognition and to current thinking about the purported modularity of the brain.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document