VERB MEMORY & EMOTION PERCEPTION IN FMRI FOR CUSHING'S DISEASE PATIENTS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 记忆问题和抑郁症状在库欣病中都非常普遍，这种疾病会导致皮质醇水平升高。我们小组和其他小组先前的工作表明，库欣病患者普遍存在记忆问题。此外，库欣病患者的海马体萎缩或萎缩与记忆力低下和皮质醇水平升高有关。库欣病患者在成功降低皮质醇水平的治疗后，记忆能力的改善导致海马体体积增加，这表明皮质醇水平可能是库欣病患者海马体萎缩的原因。之前对库欣患者的研究依赖于海马体的结构磁共振测量，可能无法反映高皮质醇水平对大脑的真实和最早的影响。通过使用功能磁共振成像，我们希望能够“挑战”海马体，将血液氧合的变化与记忆任务中表现的变化直接联系起来。我们还将使用面部情绪感知任务来测量杏仁核的激活，杏仁核是一种紧挨着海马体并与之紧密相连的结构。杏仁核与情感的联系更紧密，而海马体与记忆的联系更紧密。有理由怀疑库欣病对杏仁核功能有不利影响，因为库欣病患者抑郁程度较高，而且抑郁与杏仁核功能之间存在很强的相关性。因此，这项提议是一个机会，通过增加另一种大脑结构杏仁核和另一种研究领域--功能磁共振，来扩展我们之前关于皮质醇、海马体大小和记忆表现之间相互关系的工作。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Both memory problems and depression symptoms are highly prevalent in Cushing's Disease, a condition which results in high cortisol levels. Prior work by our group and that of others indicates that memory problems are prevalent in Cushing's disease. Furthermore, atrophy or shrinkage in the hippocampus in Cushing's disease has been linked to poor memory performance and high cortisol levels. Improvement in memory performance following successful treatment to reduce cortisol levels in Cushing's Disease results in increases in hippocampal volume, suggesting the cortisol levels may underlie hippocampal shrinkage in the Cushing's Disease patients. Previous studies in Cushing's patients have relied on structural MRI measures of the hippocampus and may not reflect the true and earliest effects of high cortisol levels on the brain. By using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, we hope to be able to "challenge" the hippocampus, relating changes in blood oxygenation directly to changes to performance on memory tasks. We also will use a facial emotion perception task to measures activation in the amygdala, a structure that is next to and closely linked to the hippocampus. The amygdala is more closely linked to emotion, while the hippocampus has been more closely linked to memory. There is reason to suspect that Cushing's disease adversely impacts amygdala functioning because of the high level of depression in Cushing's disease and the strong relationship between depression and amygdala functioning. Therefore, this proposal is an opportunity to extend our prior work on the interrelationship of cortisol, hippocampal size, and memory performance by adding both another brain structure of inquiry, the amygdala, and another domain of inquiry, functional MRI.'