Spets Dylan S, Slotnick Scott D
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
Brain Sci. 2020 Nov 24;10(12):898. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10120898.
The thalamus has been implicated in many cognitive processes, including long-term memory. More specifically, the anterior (AT) and mediodorsal (MD) thalamic nuclei have been associated with long-term memory. Despite extensive mapping of the anatomical connections between these nuclei and other brain regions, little is known regarding their functional connectivity during long-term memory. The current study sought to determine which brain regions are functionally connected to AT and MD during spatial long-term memory and whether sex differences exist in the patterns of connectivity. During encoding, abstract shapes were presented to the left and right of fixation. During retrieval, shapes were presented at fixation, and participants made an "old-left" or "old-right" judgment. Activations functionally connected to AT and MD existed in regions with known anatomical connections to each nucleus as well as in a broader network of long-term memory regions. Sex differences were identified in a subset of these regions. A targeted region-of-interest analysis identified anti-correlated activity between MD and the hippocampus that was specific to females, which is consistent with findings in rodents. The current results suggest that AT and MD play key roles during spatial long-term memory and suggest that these functions may be sex specific.
丘脑与许多认知过程有关，包括长期记忆。更具体地说，丘脑前核（AT）和背内侧核（MD）与长期记忆有关。尽管对这些核与其他脑区之间的解剖学联系进行了广泛的映射，但对于它们在长期记忆过程中的功能连接却知之甚少。当前的研究旨在确定在空间长期记忆过程中哪些脑区与AT和MD存在功能连接，以及连接模式是否存在性别差异。在编码过程中，抽象形状呈现在注视点的左侧和右侧。在检索过程中，形状呈现在注视点处，参与者做出“旧-左”或“旧-右”的判断。与AT和MD功能连接的激活存在于与每个核有已知解剖学联系的区域以及更广泛的长期记忆区域网络中。在这些区域的一个子集中发现了性别差异。一项有针对性的感兴趣区域分析确定了MD与海马体之间的反相关活动，这是女性特有的，这与啮齿动物的研究结果一致。当前的结果表明，AT和MD在空间长期记忆过程中起关键作用，并表明这些功能可能具有性别特异性。
