The contribution of the study of neurodegenerative disorders to the understanding of human memory

Abstract

Memory impairment is one of the most common complaints affecting patients with neurodegenerative disorders, and its investigation has provided insights into the function and properties of human memory. The study of Alzheimer's disease has indicated the importance of mesial temporal structures and the hippocampus in episodic memory. In progressive supranuclear palsy, frontotemporal dementias, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease fronto-striatal networks are involved in working memory and higher level cognition. The study of semantic dementia, where there is lobar atrophy of the temporal lobe, has shown that the temporal neocortex has an important function in semantic memory. The investigation of human memory in neurodegenerative disorders suggests that the interaction of networks subserving episodic memory, semantic memory, and working memory contributes to higher level cognition and results in the fundamental homeostatic processes of recall and learning.