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. 2013 Jan;34(1):186-99.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.21432. Epub 2011 Oct 31.

Brain plasticity for verbal and visual memories in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis: an fMRI study

Andréa Alessio  1 , Fabricio R S Pereira, Maurício S Sercheli, Jane M Rondina, Helka B Ozelo, Elisabeth Bilevicius, Tatiane Pedro, Roberto J M Covolan, Benito P Damasceno, Fernando Cendes
Affiliations

Brain plasticity for verbal and visual memories in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis: an fMRI study

Andréa Alessio et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2013 Jan.

Abstract

We aimed to identify the brain areas involved in verbal and visual memory processing in normal controls and patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) associated with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (HS) by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The sample comprised nine normal controls, eight patients with right MTLE, and nine patients with left MTLE. All subjects underwent fMRI with verbal and visual memory paradigms, consisting of encoding and immediate recall of 17 abstract words and 17 abstract drawings. A complex network including parietal, temporal, and frontal cortices seems to be involved in verbal memory encoding and retrieval in normal controls. Although similar areas of activation were identified in both patient groups, the extension of such activations was larger in the left-HS group. Patients with left HS also tended to exhibit more bilateral or right lateralized encoding related activations. This finding suggests a functional reorganization of verbal memory processing areas in these patients due to the failure of left MTL system. As regards visual memory encoding and retrieval, our findings support the hypothesis of a more diffuse and bilateral representation of this cognitive function in the brain. Compared to normal controls, encoding in the left-HS group recruited more widespread cortical areas, which were even more widespread in the right-HS group probably to compensate for their right mesial temporal dysfunction. In contrast, the right-HS group exhibited fewer activated areas during immediate recall than the other two groups, probably related to their greater difficulty in dealing with visual memory content.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The cross and the 17 abstract drawings.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Verbal and visual memory paradigms. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Encoding activations of bilateral middle frontal cortices in control and Left‐HS groups, and left middle frontal cortex in Right‐HS group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Encoding activations of bilateral > left ventro‐lateral frontal cortices in Right‐HS group and bilateral > right ventro‐lateral frontal cortices in Left‐HS group.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Immediate recall activations of bilateral > right infero‐medial temporal cortices in control group and right infero‐medial temporal cortex in Right HS group.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Immediate recall activations of right ventro lateral frontal cortex in Right HS and left HS groups.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Encoding activations of right frontal cortex in control group, and bilateral superior and inferior frontal and prefrontal cortices in Right HS and left HS groups.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Encoding activations of bilateral inferior temporal cortices in Right HS group.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Immediate recall activations of right prefrontal cortex in control group and bilateral prefrontal cortices left HS group.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Immediate recall activations of bilateral hippocampal cortices in control group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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