Learning and memory in individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum

Abstract

Damage to long white matter pathways in the cerebral cortex is known to affect memory capacity. However, the specific contribution of interhemispheric connectivity in memory functioning is only beginning to become understood. The present study examined verbal and visual memory processing in individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1997b). Thirty participants with AgCC (FSIQ >78) were compared against 30 healthy age and IQ matched controls on auditory/verbal (Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates) and visual (Visual Reproduction, Faces) memory subtests. Performance was worse in AgCC than controls on immediate and delayed verbal recall for rote word pairs and on delayed recall of faces, as well as on percent recall for these tasks. Immediate recall for thematic information from stories was also worse in AgCC, but groups did not differ on memory for details from narratives or on recall for thematic information following a time delay. Groups also did not differ on memory for abstract figures or immediate recall of faces. On all subtests, individuals with AgCC had greater frequency of clinically significant impairments than predicted by the normal distribution. Results suggest less efficient overall verbal and visual learning and memory with relative weaknesses processing verbal pairs and delayed recall for faces. These findings suggest that the corpus callosum facilitates more efficient learning and recall for both verbal and visual information, that individuals with AgCC may benefit from receiving verbal information within semantic context, and that known deficits in facial processing in individuals with AgCC may contribute to their impairments in recall for faces.

Keywords: Callosal agenesis; Corpus callosum; Interhemispheric; Verbal memory; Visual memory.