Yeung Lok-Kin, Olsen Rosanna K, Bild-Enkin Hannah E P, D'Angelo Maria C, Kacollja Arber, McQuiggan Douglas A, Keshabyan Anna, Ryan Jennifer D, Barense Morgan D
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada,
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario M6A 2E1, Canada, and.
J Neurosci. 2017 May 31;37(22):5527-5538. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3664-16.2017. Epub 2017 May 4.
Recent functional imaging studies have proposed that the human entorhinal cortex (ERC) is subdivided into functionally distinct anterolateral (alERC) and posteromedial (pmERC) subregions. The alERC overlaps with regions that are affected earliest by Alzheimer's disease pathology, yet its cognitive function remains poorly understood. Previous human fMRI studies have focused on its role in object memory, but rodent studies on the putatively homologous lateral entorhinal cortex suggest that it also plays an important role in representing spatial properties of objects. To investigate the cognitive effects of human alERC volume differences, we developed an eye-tracking-based task to evaluate intra-item configural processing (i.e., processing the arrangement of an object's features) and used manual segmentation based on a recently developed protocol to delineate the alERC/pmERC and other medial temporal lobe (MTL) subregions. In a group of older adult men and women at varying stages of brain atrophy and cognitive decline, we found that intra-item configural processing, regardless of an object's novelty, was strongly predicted by alERC volume, but not by the volume of any other MTL subregion. These results provide the first evidence that the human alERC plays a role in supporting a distinct aspect of object processing, namely attending to the arrangement of an object's component features. Alzheimer's disease pathology appears earliest in brain regions that overlap with the anterolateral entorhinal cortex (alERC). However, the cognitive role of the alERC is poorly understood. Previous human studies treat the alERC as an extension of the neighboring perirhinal cortex, supporting object memory. Animal studies suggest that the alERC may support the spatial properties of objects. In a group of older adult humans at the earliest stages of cognitive decline, we show here that alERC volume selectively predicted configural processing (attention to the spatial arrangement of an object's parts). This is the first study to demonstrate a cognitive role related to alERC volume in humans. This task can be adapted to serve as an early detection method for Alzheimer's disease pathology.
最近的功能成像研究表明，人类内嗅皮层（ERC）可细分为功能不同的前外侧（alERC）和后内侧（pmERC）子区域。alERC与最早受阿尔茨海默病病理影响的区域重叠，但其认知功能仍知之甚少。以往的人类功能磁共振成像研究主要关注其在物体记忆中的作用，但对假定同源的外侧内嗅皮层的啮齿动物研究表明，它在表征物体的空间属性方面也起着重要作用。为了研究人类alERC体积差异的认知影响，我们开发了一项基于眼动追踪的任务，以评估项目内构型加工（即处理物体特征的排列），并使用基于最近开发的方案的手动分割来描绘alERC/pmERC和其他内侧颞叶（MTL）子区域。在一组处于不同脑萎缩和认知衰退阶段的老年男性和女性中，我们发现，无论物体是否新颖，项目内构型加工都能由alERC体积强烈预测，而不是由任何其他MTL子区域的体积预测。这些结果首次证明，人类alERC在支持物体加工的一个独特方面发挥作用，即关注物体组成特征的排列。阿尔茨海默病病理最早出现在与前外侧内嗅皮层（alERC）重叠的脑区。然而，alERC的认知作用仍知之甚少。以往的人类研究将alERC视为邻近嗅周皮层的延伸，支持物体记忆。动物研究表明，alERC可能支持物体的空间属性。在一组处于认知衰退最早阶段的老年人类中，我们在此表明，alERC体积选择性地预测了构型加工（对物体各部分空间排列的关注）。这是第一项证明人类alERC体积相关认知作用
