Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
Researchers have suspected for years that the hippocampus complex was involved only in the storing of memories. However, recent studies conducted with PET at McGill University in Montreal have demonstrated that the hippocampus plays a role in the efficiency of memory retrieval as well.
Christine Whatmough, Ph.D., and colleagues used PET to show that an intact hippocampus complex correlates positively with speed and accuracy on memory tasks. They found that patients with a damaged hippocampus could still retain their semantic memory -- memory that isn’t associated to a time or place -- while damage elsewhere to the brain can destroy those memories.
The results of this study will help general understanding of some of the slowdown in reaction times that is seen in cognitive tasks in dementia, such as that exhibited by Alzheimer’s and some Parkinson’s patients. In addition, according to research team member Dr. Howard Chertkow, the study challenges conventional wisdom on memory systems, which says that different brain structures play separate roles.
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