The Involvement of the Thalamus in Semantic Retrieval: A Clinical Group Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 872-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio Pergola ◽  
Christian Bellebaum ◽  
Britta Gehlhaar ◽  
Benno Koch ◽  
Michael Schwarz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Semantic Retrieval ◽  
Retrieval Task ◽  
Phonological Representations

There is increasing attention about the role of the thalamus in high cognitive functions, including memory. Although the bulk of the evidence refers to episodic memory, it was recently proposed that the mediodorsal (MD) and the centromedian–parafascicular (CM–Pf) nuclei of the thalamus may process general operations supporting memory performance, not only episodic memory. This perspective agrees with other recent fMRI findings on semantic retrieval in healthy participants. It can therefore be hypothesized that lesions to the MD and the CM–Pf impair semantic retrieval. In this study, 10 patients with focal ischemic lesions in the medial thalamus and 10 healthy controls matched for age, education, and verbal IQ performed a verbal semantic retrieval task. Patients were assigned to a target clinical group and a control clinical group based on lesion localization. Patients did not suffer from aphasia and performed in the range of controls in a categorization and a semantic association task. However, target patients performed poorer than healthy controls on semantic retrieval. The deficit was not because of higher distractibility but of an increased rate of false recall and, in some patients, of a considerably increased rate of misses. The latter deficit yielded a striking difference between the target and the control clinical groups and is consistent with anomia. Follow-up high-resolution structural scanning session in a subsample of patients revealed that lesions in the CM–Pf and MD were primarily associated with semantic retrieval deficits. We conclude that integrity of the MD and the CM–Pf is required for semantic retrieval, possibly because of their role in the activation of phonological representations.

scholarly journals ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND MEMORY: A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF RECIPROCAL IMPACTS ACROSS OLD AGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S651-S651
Author(s):  
Oliver K Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Moderate Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Lagged Effects

Abstract Research on the association of alcohol consumption with cognitive aging revealed mixed evidence: Whereas a u-shaped relationship has been found in many studies, suggesting that low to moderate alcohol consumption predicts more favorable cognitive outcomes than abstinence, other findings suggest that alcohol is a more linearly related risk factor for cognitive decline. These inconsistencies may partly be due to methodological variation in the statistical modeling of intraindividual changes in both, alcohol consumption and cognition across old age. The present study analyzed longitudinal change in and the mutual effects between alcohol consumption habits and verbal episodic memory (word list recall), using vector autoregressive (VAR) mixed models with nonlinear cross-lagged effects. Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing was examined, including N=13388 aged 50+ (M=67.6, SD=9.25; 54.7% female), assessed at up to eight occasions with two-year follow-up intervals (2002/3–2016/17). The self-reported one-year frequency of alcohol drinking days (ADD) served as indicator of alcohol consumption. Basically, ADD predicted follow-up memory performance in a reverse u-shaped fashion, indicating best memory performance after moderate ADD, compared with both ends of the ADD continuum (i.e., drinking never vs. every day). Considering moderators, most notably age did not interact with cross-lagged effects, suggesting that those observed across an older age-range were not more (or less) vulnerable to effects of alcohol consumption on memory performance. Thus, this study adds further support for non-detrimental, if not beneficial, effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive aging – regarding in particular age-related loss of episodic memory.

scholarly journals HIPPOCAMPAL CONNECTIVITY IN ILLITERATE ADULTS FROM BRAZIL

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Resende ◽  
Vivian Lara ◽  
Ana Luisa Santiago ◽  
Clarisse Friedlaender ◽  
Howard Rosen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
High Educational Level ◽  
Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Selective Reminding ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Selective Reminding Test ◽  
Illiterate Adults

Background: The role of hippocampal connectivity for good memory performance is well known in persons with high educational level. However, it is understudied the role of hippocampal connectivity in illiterate populations. Objectives: To determine whether the hippocampal connectivity correlate with episodic memory in illiterate adults. Methods: Thirty-nine illiterate adults underwent resting state functional MRI and an episodic memory test (Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test). We correlated the hippocampal connectivity at rest with the free recall scores. Analyzes were corrected for head motion and physiological BOLD signal. Results: Participants were most female (66%) and black (79%) and the mean age was 49 years-old (±13.9). The mean score on free recall was 27.2 (±10.7) out of 48 points. We found a significant correlation between both hippocampi and the posterior cingulate and ventral medial prefrontal cortex. However, we did not find an association between the hippocampal connectivity and the memory scores. Conclusions: The lack of association with memory scores might be associated with low brain reserve in this group of individuals.

scholarly journals Aberrant prefrontal beta oscillations predict episodic memory encoding deficits in schizophrenia

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Meconi ◽  
Sarah Anderl-Straub ◽  
Heidelore Raum ◽  
Michael Landgrebe ◽  
Berthold Langguth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Brain Oscillations ◽  
Beta Power ◽  
Pattern Similarity

AbstractVerbal episodic memory is one of the core cognitive functions affected in patients suffering from schizophrenia (SZ). Although this verbal memory impairment in SZ is a well-known finding, our understanding about its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms is rather scarce. Here we address this issue by recording brain oscillations during a memory task in a sample of healthy controls and patients suffering from SZ. Brain oscillations represent spectral fingerprints of specific neurocognitive operations and are therefore a promising tool to identify neurocognitive mechanisms that are affected by SZ. Healthy controls showed a prominent suppression of left prefrontal beta oscillatory activity during successful memory formation, which replicates several previous oscillatory memory studies. In contrast, patients failed to exhibit such left prefrontal beta power suppression. Utilizing a new topographical pattern similarity approach, we further demonstrate that the degree of similarity between a patient's beta power decrease to that of the controls reliably predicted memory performance. This relationship between beta power decreases and memory was such that the patients' memory performance improved as they showed a more similar topographical beta desynchronization pattern compared to that of healthy controls. These findings suggest that left prefrontal beta power suppression (or lack thereof) during memory encoding is a possible biomarker for the observed encoding impairments in SZ in verbal memory. This lack of left prefrontal beta power decreases might indicate a specific semantic processing deficit of verbal material in patients with schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide Measurement in Pulmonary Hypertension: A Follow-Up Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilay Orak Akbay ◽  
Zuleyha Bingol ◽  
Esen Kiyan ◽  
Ekrem Bilal Karaayvaz ◽  
Ahmet Kaya Bilge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Pulmonary Hypertension ◽  
Pulmonary Function Tests ◽  
Exhaled Nitric Oxide ◽  
World Health ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a fatal disease although significant improvements in treatment are achieved. Easily implemented and noninvasive prognostic techniques are needed while following-up these patients. The aim was to investigate the role of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in follow-up for patients with PH. In this longitudinal study, patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH) who were seen in PH Outpatient Clinic, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, were enrolled in the study. Echocardiography, 6-minute walking test, brain natriuretic peptide, and FeNO measurements were performed, and World Health Organization functional class was evaluated to all patients at baseline, and third, and sixth months. Right-heart catheterization and pulmonary function tests at the time of diagnosis were recorded. The study comprised 31 patients (23 women, 8 men; mean age: 53.4 ± 17.1 years) with PAH (n = 19) and CTEPH (n = 12) and 80 healthy controls. Patients with PH had lower FeNO values than the control group (16.5 ppb vs 19.8 ppb; P < .05). Fractional exhaled nitric oxide values did not change during follow-up and did not correlate with other follow-up measures except tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion values. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide was higher in the idiopathic PAH subgroup at baseline and at third month than patients with PAH associated with other diseases. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide did not change in patients who had clinical deterioration. As a conclusion; Patients with PH had lower FeNO values than healthy controls, but FeNO did not change significantly during follow-up. Large-scale studies with prolonged follow-up periods are needed to understand the role of FeNO in the follow-up of the patients with PH.

scholarly journals Sleep and Prospective Memory: A Retrospective Study in Different Clinical Populations

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 6113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Tonetti ◽  
Miranda Occhionero ◽  
Michele Boreggiani ◽  
Andreas Conca ◽  
Paola Dondi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Time Activity ◽  
Clinical Populations

Prospective memory (PM) is essential in everyday life because it concerns the ability to remember to perform an intended action in the future. This ability could be influenced by poor sleep quality, the role of which, however, is still being debated. To examine the role of sleep quality in PM in depth, we decided to perform a retrospective naturalistic study examining different clinical populations with a primary sleep disorder or comorbid low sleep quality. If sleep is important for PM function, we could expect poor sleep to affect PM performance tasks both directly and indirectly. We examined a total of 3600 nights, recorded using actigraphy in participants belonging to the following groups: primary insomnia (731 nights); narcolepsy type 1 (1069 nights); attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (152 nights in children and 239 in adults); severe obesity (232 nights); essential hypertension (226 nights); menopause (143 nights); healthy controls (808 nights). In a naturalistic activity-based PM task, each participant originally wore an actigraph around the non-dominant wrist and was requested to push the event-marker button at two specific times of day: bedtime (activity 1) and get-up time (activity 2). Each clinical group showed significantly lower sleep quality in comparison to the control group. However, only narcolepsy type 1 patients presented a significantly impaired PM performance at get-up time, remembering to push the event-marker button around half the time compared not only to healthy controls but also to the other clinical groups. Overall, the present results seem to point to sleep quality having no effect on the efficiency of a naturalistic activity-based PM task. Moreover, the data indicated that narcolepsy type 1 patients may show a disease-specific cognitive deficit of PM.

Low episodic memory performance as a premorbid marker of depression: evidence from a 3-year follow-up

2007 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 458-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Airaksinen ◽  
Å. Wahlin ◽  
Y. Forsell ◽  
M. Larsson
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance

scholarly journals Serum YKL-40 as predictor of outcome in hypersensitivity pneumonitis

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 1501924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoping Long ◽  
Xuan He ◽  
Shinichiro Ohshimo ◽  
Matthias Griese ◽  
Rafael Sarria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis ◽  
Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ◽  
Lavage Fluid ◽  
Hazard Ratio ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Baseline Serum ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mortality Hazard Ratio

YKL-40, a chitinase-like protein mainly secreted by macrophages, neutrophils and epithelial cells, is increased in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and sarcoidosis. We aimed to investigate the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker in hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP).72 HP patients, 100 interstitial lung disease (ILD) controls and 60 healthy controls were studied. YKL-40 was measured by ELISA in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) at baseline and follow-up. The relationship between YKL-40 levels, clinical variables and disease outcome was evaluated.Baseline serum YKL-40 levels were significantly higher in HP patients than in healthy controls (p<0.001), but lower than in patients with other ILDs. Baseline BALF YKL-40 levels in HP patients were the highest among ILD patients. In HP patients, serum YKL-40 correlated with the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide at baseline (p<0.01) and over time (p<0.001). HP patients whose disease progressed or who died had higher baseline YKL-40 levels than those who remained stable and survived (p<0.001). At a cut-off of 119 ng·mL−1, the baseline serum YKL-40 level predicted disease progression (hazard ratio 6.567; p<0.001), and at a cut-off of 150 ng·mL−1 was associated with mortality (hazard ratio 9.989; p<0.001).Serum YKL-40 may be a useful prognostic biomarker in HP patients.

scholarly journals Systemic Oxidative Stress and Conversion to Dementia of Elderly Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Cervellati ◽  
Arianna Romani ◽  
Davide Seripa ◽  
Eleonora Cremonini ◽  
Cristina Bosi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Prodromal Phase ◽  
Systemic Oxidative Stress ◽  
By Products

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is regarded as a prodromal phase of late onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD). It has been proposed that oxidative stress (OxS) might be implicated in the pathogenesis of LOAD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a redox imbalance measured as serum level of hydroperoxides (i.e., by-products of lipid peroxidation) and/or serum antioxidant capacity might be predictive of the clinical progression of MCI to LOAD. The levels of these two markers were measured in 111 patients with MCI (follow-up:2.0 ± 0.6years), 105 patients with LOAD, and 118 nondemented healthy controls. Multivariate analysis adjusted for potential confounding factors, including age, gender, smoking, and comorbidities, showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in baseline levels of OxS in MCI and LOAD as compared to cognitive healthy controls. No differences in either of OxS markers were found by comparing MCI patients who converted (n = 29) or not converted (n = 82) to LOAD. Overall, these results suggest that systemic OxS might be a precocious feature of MCI and LOAD. However, the role of OxS as an early prognostic marker of progression to LOAD needs further investigations.

The Association between Blood-Based Global DNA Methylation and Venous Thromboembolism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Wang ◽  
Ashfaque A. Memon ◽  
Karolina Palmér ◽  
Peter J. Svensson ◽  
Jan Sundquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Venous Thromboembolism ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Global Dna Methylation ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Methylation Patterns

AbstractAlterations in DNA methylation patterns have been associated with many diseases. However, the role of DNA methylation in venous thromboembolism (VTE) is not well established. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between global DNA methylation and VTE. The study participants consisted of 168 individuals including 74 patients with primary VTE from the Malmö Thrombophilia Study (MATS) and 94 healthy controls. Among 74 primary VTE patients, 37 suffered VTE recurrence during the follow-up period; 37 nonrecurrent VTE patients were included for comparison. Blood-based global DNA methylation was assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Global DNA methylation was significantly higher in primary VTE patients compared with the healthy controls (median: 0.17 vs. 0.08%; p < 0.001). After stratification of data from primary VTE patients according to sex, the association between higher global DNA methylation and shorter recurrence-free survival time was of borderline statistical significance in males (β = –0.2; p = 0.052) but not in females (β = 0.02; p = 0.90). Our results show that global DNA methylation is associated with primary VTE and that higher levels of global DNA methylation may be associated with early VTE recurrence in males but not in females. Further investigation on the role of DNA methylation as a diagnostic or preventive biomarker in VTE is warranted.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document