Rethinking the neuroanatomical organization of cognition: Recognition memory in visual cortex

重新思考认知的神经解剖学组织：视觉皮层的识别记忆

基本信息

批准号：
10303534
负责人：
Natasha de la Rosa-Rivera
金额：
$ 7.31万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2021-08-15 至 2023-04-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10303534
关键词：
Adult Age Aging Alzheimer&apos s Disease Anatomy Area Behavior Brain Brain region Case Study Cognition Complex Dementia Dependence Deterioration Diagnosis Diagnostic Discrimination Elderly Episodic memory Event Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Genetic Recombination Goals Hippocampus (Brain)Human Impaired cognition Impairment Individual Lateral Medial Mediating Memory Memory Disorders Memory Loss Memory impairment Modeling Occipital lobe Outcome Participant Patients Pattern Perception Performance Population Process Quality of life Rehabilitation therapy Research Sensory Shapes Signal Transduction Site Stimulus Structure Symptoms System Techniques Temporal Lobe Testing Training Vision Visual Visual Cortex aged base cognitive process cognitive task episodic like memory experience falls family burden high dimensionality human old age (65+)improved long term memory memory process memory recognition neuroimaging neuromechanism normal aging novel paired stimuli sensory cortex skills theories tool visual information visual memory visual stimulus young adult

项目摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY By 2035, the number of US residents over 65 years will surpass the number under the age of 35 years, totaling 20% of the US population. Meanwhile, by 2050 the world population is projected to increase by 17%, to include 1.6 billion people aged 65 or older. Progressive deficits in memory are a common fact of aging, in addition to being a primary symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Yet, treatments for memory disorders such as seen in aging and Alzheimer's are limited. One obstacle is that we still have not attained a thorough understanding of how brain systems are functionally organized to produce memory in the healthy brain. Based on case studies like patient H.M., traditional accounts of cognition explain memory and perception in terms of processes computed by separable brain regions (or distinct brain networks). In contrast, the Representational-Hierarchical (R-H) account posits that a brain region can be engaged in any cognitive task, if it contains optimal representations for solving the task. The specific objective of this proposal is to test my overarching hypothesis that brain regions contribute to a cognitive task – be it perceptual or mnemonic – according to the representations they contain. The R-H Theory postulates that the organization of cognition (i.e., memory and perception) in the brain is better understood in terms of a hierarchical continuum of representations, as opposed to anatomical modules (or circumscribed "networks") for distinct cognitive processes like "episodic memory". The central hypothesis of this proposal is that declarative memory may be computed in sensory cortex without involving the medial temporal lobe (MTL). Aim 1 will determine whether recognition memory can be supported by structures outside of canonical memory regions (i.e., MTL), in brain areas known to mediate perception (e.g., visual cortex). In this fMRI study, I will test participants' (long-term, declarative) recognition memory for stimuli they have studied. I hypothesize that if to-be-remembered items are abstract visual objects comprising conjunctions of visual features, and if the task requires recognition of familiar versus novel conjunctions of features, then the brain regions supporting memory will fall outside of MTL, in visual cortical sites such as lateral occipital cortex. Aim 2 will test whether aging (associated with incipient MTL deterioration) leads to greater deficits in recognition memory for high-level associative stimuli than for low-level visual stimuli. I will use the visual stimuli from Aim 1, along with analogously constructed word-pair stimuli. We assume that MTL networks deteriorate in aging. My working hypothesis, derived from the R-H Theory, is that older adults will perform worse for word pairs than visual stimuli, relative to younger adults, because word-pairs (but not visual stimuli) require high-level representations, which are MTL-dependent. This proposal has translational and theoretical significance. The results will determine whether the R-H Theory provides a better explanation of how human brains give rise to cognition. Both aims may lay the groundwork for improved diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders in aging and Alzheimer's, potentially alleviating patient suffering and familial burdens.

项目概要到2035年，美国65岁以上居民人数将超过35岁以下居民人数，总计占美国人口的 20% 同时，到 2050 年，世界人口预计将增加 17%，其中包括 16 亿人年龄在 65 岁或以上，记忆力逐渐丧失也是衰老的一个常见事实。然而，记忆障碍（例如衰老过程中出现的记忆障碍）的治疗方法却是阿尔茨海默氏病的主要症状。和阿尔茨海默氏症的局限性之一是我们还没有彻底了解它是如何发生的。根据案例研究，大脑系统的功能可以在健康的大脑中产生记忆。病人 H.M.，传统的认知解释用计算过程来解释记忆和知觉相比之下，表征层次结构（R-H）由可分离的大脑区域（或不同的大脑网络）组成。说明大脑区域可以参与任何认知任务的位置，如果它包含最佳表示解决这个任务的具体目标是测试我的总体假设：大脑。根据表征，区域有助于认知任务——无论是感知还是记忆 R-H 理论假设认知（即记忆和知觉）的组织是在与解剖学相反，大脑可以通过表征的层次连续体得到更好的理解用于不同认知过程（例如“情景记忆”）的模块（或限制性“网络”）。该提议的假设是陈述性记忆可以在感觉皮层中计算，而不涉及目标1将确定内侧颞叶（MTL）是否可以支持识别记忆。规范记忆区域（即 MTL）之外的结构，位于已知介导感知的大脑区域（例如，视觉皮层）。在这项功能磁共振成像研究中，我将测试参与者的（长期、陈述性）识别记忆。我告诉他们，如果要记住的项目是由抽象视觉对象组成的。视觉特征的连词，如果任务需要识别熟悉的与新颖的连词特征，那么支持记忆的大脑区域将落在 MTL 之外，在视觉皮层部位，例如侧向目标 2 将测试衰老（与早期 MTL 退化相关）是否会导致更大的损伤。我会认为，对高水平联想刺激的识别记忆比对低水平视觉刺激的识别记忆有缺陷。使用目标 1 中的视觉刺激以及类似构建的词对刺激，我们假设 MTL。我的工作假设源自 R-H 理论，即老年人的网络会恶化。相对于年轻人来说，单词对的表现比视觉刺激更差，因为单词对（但不是视觉刺激）刺激）需要高级表示，这些表示依赖于 MTL。理论意义将决定R-H理论是否能提供更好的解释。人类大脑如何产生认知，这两个目标都可能为改进诊断和治疗奠定基础。衰老和阿尔茨海默氏症中的记忆障碍，有可能减轻患者的痛苦和家庭负担。