Temporally Graded Activation of Neocortical Regions in Response to Memories of Different Ages

The temporally graded memory impairment seen in many neurobehavioral disorders implies different neuroanatomical pathways and/or cognitive mechanisms involved in storage and retrieval of memories of different ages. A dynamic interaction between medial-temporal and neocortical brain regions has been proposed to account for memory\u27s greater permanence with time. Despite considerable debate concerning its time-dependent role in memory retrieval, medial-temporal lobe activity has been well studied. However, the relative participation of neocortical regions in recent and remote memory retrieval has received much less attention. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrate robust, temporally graded signal differences in posterior cingulate, right middle frontal, right fusiform, and left middle temporal regions in healthy older adults during famous name identification from two disparate time epochs. Importantly, no neocortical regions demonstrated greater response to older than to recent stimuli. Our results suggest a possible role of these neocortical regions in temporally dating items in memory and in establishing and maintaining memory traces throughout the lifespan. Theoretical implications of these findings for the two dominant models of remote memory functioning (Consolidation Theory and Multiple Trace Theory) are discussed

2008 Progress Report on Brain Research

Highlights new research on various disorders, nervous system injuries, neuroethics, neuroimmunology, pain, sense and body function, stem cells and neurogenesis, and thought and memory. Includes essays on arts and cognition and on deep brain stimulation

Subjective experience of episodic memory and metacognition: a neurodevelopmental approach.

Episodic retrieval is characterized by the subjective experience of remembering. This experience enables the co-ordination of memory retrieval processes and can be acted on metacognitively. In successful retrieval, the feeling of remembering may be accompanied by recall of important contextual information. On the other hand, when people fail (or struggle) to retrieve information, other feelings, thoughts, and information may come to mind. In this review, we examine the subjective and metacognitive basis of episodic memory function from a neurodevelopmental perspective, looking at recollection paradigms (such as source memory, and the report of recollective experience) and metacognitive paradigms such as the feeling of knowing). We start by considering healthy development, and provide a brief review of the development of episodic memory, with a particular focus on the ability of children to report first-person experiences of remembering. We then consider neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as amnesia acquired in infancy, autism, Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, or 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. This review shows that different episodic processes develop at different rates, and that across a broad set of different NDDs there are various types of episodic memory impairment, each with possibly a different character. This literature is in agreement with the idea that episodic memory is a multifaceted process

Prospective memory impairments in Alzheimer's Disease and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia: Clinical and neural correlates

BACKGROUND: Prospective memory (PM) refers to a future-oriented form of memory in which the individual must remember to execute an intended action either at a future point in time (Time-based) or in response to a specific event (Event-based). Lapses in PM are commonly exhibited in neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), however, the neurocognitive mechanisms driving these deficits remain unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical and neural correlates of Time- and Event-based PM disruption in AD and the behavioral-variant FTD (bvFTD). METHODS: Twelve AD, 12 bvFTD, and 12 healthy older Control participants completed a modified version of the Cambridge Prospective Memory test, which examines Time- and Event-based aspects of PM. All participants completed a standard neuropsychological assessment and underwent whole-brain structural MRI. RESULTS: AD and bvFTD patients displayed striking impairments across Time- and Event-based PM relative to Controls, however, Time-based PM was disproportionately affected in the AD group. Episodic memory dysfunction and hippocampal atrophy was found to correlate strongly with PM integrity in both patient groups, however, dissociable neural substrates were also evident for PM performance across dementia syndromes. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals the multifaceted nature of PM dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders, and suggests common and dissociable neurocognitive mechanisms, which subtend these deficits in each patient group. Future studies of PM disturbance in dementia syndromes will be crucial for the development of successful interventions to improve functional independence in the patient's daily life

Informed consent decision-making in deep brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proved useful for several movement disorders (Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, dystonia), in which first and/or second line pharmacological treatments were inefficacious. Initial evidence of DBS efficacy exists for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, and impulse control disorders. Ethical concerns have been raised about the use of an invasive surgical approach involving the central nervous system in patients with possible impairment in cognitive functioning and decision-making capacity. Most of the disorders in which DBS has been used might present with alterations in memory, attention, and executive functioning, which may have an impact on the mental capacity to give informed consent to neurosurgery. Depression, anxiety, and compulsivity are also common in DBS candidate disorders, and could also be associated with an impaired capacity to consent to treatment or clinical research. Despite these issues, there is limited empirical knowledge on the decision-making levels of these patients. The possible informed consent issues of DBS will be discussed by focusing on the specific treatable diseases

Grey and white matter correlates of recent and remote autobiographical memory retrieval:Insights from the dementias

The capacity to remember self-referential past events relies on the integrity of a distributed neural network. Controversy exists, however, regarding the involvement of specific brain structures for the retrieval of recently experienced versus more distant events. Here, we explored how characteristic patterns of atrophy in neurodegenerative disorders differentially disrupt remote versus recent autobiographical memory. Eleven behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia, 10 semantic dementia, 15 Alzheimer's disease patients and 14 healthy older Controls completed the Autobiographical Interview. All patient groups displayed significant remote memory impairments relative to Controls. Similarly, recent period retrieval was significantly compromised in behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease, yet semantic dementia patients scored in line with Controls. Voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging analyses, for all participants combined, were conducted to investigate grey and white matter correlates of remote and recent autobiographical memory retrieval. Neural correlates common to both recent and remote time periods were identified, including the hippocampus, medial prefrontal, and frontopolar cortices, and the forceps minor and left hippocampal portion of the cingulum bundle. Regions exclusively implicated in each time period were also identified. The integrity of the anterior temporal cortices was related to the retrieval of remote memories, whereas the posterior cingulate cortex emerged as a structure significantly associated with recent autobiographical memory retrieval. This study represents the first investigation of the grey and white matter correlates of remote and recent autobiographical memory retrieval in neurodegenerative disorders. Our findings demonstrate the importance of core brain structures, including the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, irrespective of time period, and point towards the contribution of discrete regions in mediating successful retrieval of distant versus recently experienced events

Norepinephrine Involvement in the Intermittent Swim Stress-Induced Deficit in Spatial Learning and Memory

Learning and memory impairments are often caused by stress disorders including depression. The present study investigated the involvement of norepinephrine in the swim stress-induced deficits of spatial learning and memory. Exposure to intermittent swim stress (ISS) followed by learning and memory tests in the Morris water maze (MWM) were used to investigate this relationship. The ISS paradigm consists of intermittent exposure to cold water, producing stress responses in rats. Reboxetine, a norepinephrine selective reuptake inhibitor (NSRI), was employed to investigate whether this compound reverses the ISS-induced deficit. In other words, rats exposed to the ISS, were hypothesized to experience impaired learning and subsequent deficits in memory while rats treated with reboxetine that are also exposed to stress will not experience these deficits. In order to provide further evidence that reboxetine reverses the affect of the ISS on spatial learning and memory, a 24-hour post-stress assessment in the MWM in one single massed session of 18 trials (9 blocks of 2 trials each) on the day following the ISS was performed. This provided verification that ISS-induced deficits in spatial learning and memory are sensitive to the effects of reboxetine thereby implicating that norepinephrine is a crucial contributor to this phenomenon. It was hypothesized that if norepinephrine is involved in depressive behaviors caused by stress, then reboxetine will attenuate any deficits produced by the ISS paradigm in the learning and memory trials performed in the MWM

Musiikki muistisairaan vanhuksen hyvinvoinnin edistäjänä : Hoitonetti

Iäkkäämpien ikäryhmien osuuden kasvaessa myös muistisairauksia sairastavien määrä moninkertaistuu. Muistisairaudet ovat isoin riskitekijä, joka johtaa iäkkään ihmisen pois kodistaan ympärivuorokautiseen hoitopaikkaan. Muistisairauksiin liittyvät käytösoireet heikentävät elämänlaatua ja lisäävät palvelujen tarvetta. Ne ovat myös merkittävin pitkäaikaishoidon alkamisen syy. Muistisairauksien aiheuttamia käytösoireita voidaan lievittää lääkehoidolla. Toisin kuin muistisairaan lääkehoitoon, musiikki-interventioiden käyttöön ei liity haitallisia sivuvaikutuksia. Musiikin vaikutuksia muistisairaisiin on tutkittu laaja-alaisesti. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää aikaisempien tutkimuksien pohjalta, miten musiikki vaikuttaa muistisairaan vanhuksen hyvinvointiin. Tavoitteena on lisätä hoitohenkilöstön tietämystä musiikin vaikutuksesta muistisairaan vanhuksen hyvinvointiin. Opinnäytetyön tuloksista on tehty tiivistelmä hoitoalan ammattilaisten käyttöön Hoitonetti-sivustolle. Sivut löytyvät osoitteesta www.hoitonetti.turkuamk.fi. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin systemaattisena katsauksena. Systemaattisen kirjallisuuskatsauksen keinoin seulottiin esiin aihepiiristä tehtyjä tutkimuksia. Lopulliseen analyysiin valikoitui 9 tutkimusta. Tutkimustulokset analysoitiin sisällönanalyysillä. Tulosten mukaan musiikki vähentää muistisairaan vanhuksen käytösoireita. Sillä on myös vaikutuksia muistisairaan vanhuksen kognitiivisiin, fysiologisiin sosiaalisiin ja emotionaalisiin toimintoihin. Musiikki-intervention toteutustavalla on merkitystä musiikin vaikuttavuuteen. Musiikki-interventiot ovat tehokas ja potentiaalinen tapa vaikuttaa muistisairaan vanhuksen hyvinvointiin. Opinnäytetyö on osa Hoitonetti-hanketta. Toimeksiantajana on Salon terveyskeskus. Tulevaisuudessa tutkimusten tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää muistisairaiden vanhusten hyvinvoinnin tukemisessa. Jatkossa voisi tutkia musiikin hyötyjä kotona asuvan muistisairaan toimintakyvyn tukemisessa.As the proportion of the older age groups grows the number of people suffering from memory disorders grows. Memory disorders are the greatest risk factor in taking elderly persons away from their homes and into 24-hour care facilities. Behavioural symptoms associated with memory disorders lessen quality of life and increase the need for services. They are also the biggest reason for starting long-term treatment. The behavioral symptoms caused by memory disorders can be alleviated by medical treatment. Unlike the medical treatment of person with memory disorder the use of musical interventions is not associated with detrimental side effects. The effects of music on people with memory disorders have been researched broadly. The purpose of this study was, based on earlier research, to determine the effect of music on elderly people with memory disorders. The aim was also to increase the nurses’ knowledge of the effect of music on the well-being of elderly people with memory disorders. A summary of the results for the use of health care professional has been provided for the Hoitonetti web paiges. The pages can be reached at www.hoitonetti.turkuamk.fi. The research was carried out as a systematic review. The research carried out in the field was screened out by means of systematic literature review. Nine studies were selected for the final analysis. The research results were analysed by means of content analysis. The results showed that music decreases the behavioral symptoms of elderly persons with memory disorders. It also affects cognitive, physiological, social and emotional functions of such persons. The way a musical intervention is carried out has relevance to the effect it has. Musical interventions are an effective and potential way to influence well-being of elderly persons with memory disorders. This study is part of the Hoitonetti project. It was commissioned by Salo Health Center. In the future the results of this study can be used in supporting the well-being of elderly people with memory disorders. Future researches could be directed to studying the benefits of music in supporting the functionality of persons with memory disorders and living at home

Potential health effects of Champagne wine consumption

Epidemiological studies have suggested an inverse correlation between red wine consumption and the incidence of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Although white wines are generally low in polyphenol content as compared to red wines, champagne has been shown to contain relatively high amounts of phenolic acids that may exert protective cellular actions in vivo. In this study, we have investigated the potential cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects of champagne. Our data suggest that a daily moderate consumption of champagne may improve vascular performance via the delivery of phenolic constituents capable of improving NO bioavailability and the modulation of metalloproteinase. Moreover, champagne intervention significantly increased spatial working memory in aged animals, whilst no improvement was observed in the presence of alcohol. Together, these data indicate that polyphenols present in champagne may induce cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects, delaying the onset of degenerative disorders