fMRI and patient studies of remote spatial and episodic memory

远程空间和情景记忆的功能磁共振成像和患者研究

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-04238
• 负责人: Rosenbaum, RShayna
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: York University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=684722
• 关键词: fMRI; patient; studies; remote; spatial

Remembering past personal experiences (episodic memory) and how to get around in our home or neighbourhood (spatial memory) are both crucial for daily life. Without episodic memory, we are unable to re-experience our most cherished moments or to recall critical information that may be necessary to everyday function; without spatial memory, we literally would be lost. This proposal is concerned with how these types of memories relate to one another and how they are represented in the brain. Our ability to learn and retain new episodic and spatial memories depends on the hippocampus, a structure deep in the temporal lobes: damage to the hippocampus impairs memory for recently experienced events and spatial environments. My trainees and I showed that very old (remote) episodic and spatial memories that are highly detailed and precise continue to depend on the hippocampus, and that its role extends beyond memory to include imagining of detailed future episodes. In contrast, more schematic remote spatial memories (skeletal "maps" of major roads and landmarks) do not seem to depend on the hippocampus and instead rely on other brain structures, such as parietal cortex. ***The goal of the current proposal is to extend these findings by taking a novel approach of scanning experts and patients with selective brain lesions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a technique that allows visualization of on-line brain activity (blood flow) as participants perform the various tasks. Study 1 will involve scanning a unique population of experts, birdwatchers, who keep journals of the time and spatial location of birds that they have encountered in the past. Journals also serve as a record of birds that have not yet been encountered, allowing us to directly compare the role of the hippocampus in temporal vs. spatial aspects of episodic memories and in future imagining of bird sightings. Study 2 involves scanning patients with lesions to the hippocampus or parietal cortex. These two groups have different memory profiles that allow for the study of different components of spatial memory. This study includes an innovative software suite designed around Google Street View that can produce simulations of real-world spatial environments to track moment-by-moment involvement of different brain regions during virtual navigation along routes that are novel or familiar, or when changes to familiar routes are introduced.***Canada has a rich history in the area of cognitive neuroscience and is regarded as an international leader in memory research. It is important to maintain this status through the specialized training of students in developing basic theory and effective applications of innovative technologies such as fMRI for examining brain function and virtual reality. Findings will lead to a greater understanding of the cognitive makeup of different types of memory and how they are represented in the human brain. **

记住过去的个人经历（情景记忆）和如何在家里或邻居周围走动（空间记忆）对日常生活都至关重要。没有情景记忆，我们就无法重新体验我们最珍惜的时刻，也无法回忆起日常生活中可能需要的关键信息;没有空间记忆，我们真的会迷路。这一提议关注的是这些类型的记忆如何相互关联，以及它们如何在大脑中呈现。我们学习和保留新的情景和空间记忆的能力取决于海马体，海马体是颞叶深处的一个结构：海马体的损伤会损害对最近经历的事件和空间环境的记忆。我和我的学员们发现，非常古老的（遥远的）情节记忆和空间记忆仍然依赖于海马体，而且海马体的作用不仅限于记忆，还包括对未来情节的想象。 相比之下，更多的示意性远程空间记忆（主要道路和地标的骨架“地图”）似乎并不依赖于海马体，而是依赖于其他大脑结构，如顶叶皮层。* 当前提案的目标是通过使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）扫描具有选择性脑损伤的专家和患者的新方法来扩展这些发现，该技术允许在参与者执行各种任务时可视化在线脑活动（血流）。研究1将涉及扫描一个独特的专家群体，鸟类观察者，他们记录了他们过去遇到的鸟类的时间和空间位置。日记还可以记录尚未遇到的鸟类，使我们能够直接比较海马体在情景记忆的时间与空间方面的作用，以及在未来想象鸟类时的作用。研究2涉及扫描海马或顶叶皮层损伤的患者。这两个群体有不同的记忆特征，可以研究空间记忆的不同组成部分。 这项研究包括一个围绕谷歌街景设计的创新软件套件，它可以模拟现实世界的空间环境，以跟踪不同大脑区域在虚拟导航过程中的每时每刻的参与，沿着新的或熟悉的路线，或者当熟悉的路线发生变化时。加拿大在认知神经科学领域有着丰富的历史，被认为是记忆研究的国际领导者。重要的是通过对学生进行专门培训，发展基本理论和有效应用创新技术，如检查大脑功能的fMRI和虚拟现实，以保持这一地位。研究结果将有助于更好地理解不同类型记忆的认知构成，以及它们在人脑中的表现方式。