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Individual variation in fornix microstructure and macrostructure is related to visual discrimination accuracy for scenes but not faces

Postans, Mark, Hodgetts, Carl J.

, Mundy, Matthew E., Jones, Derek K.

, Lawrence, Andrew D.

and Graham, Kim S.

2014. Individual variation in fornix microstructure and macrostructure is related to visual discrimination accuracy for scenes but not faces. Journal of Neuroscience 34 (36) , pp. 12121-12126. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0026-14.2014

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0026-14.2014

Abstract

Transection of the nonhuman primate fornix has been shown to impair learning of configurations of spatial features and object-in-scene memory. Although damage to the human fornix also results in memory impairment, it is not known whether there is a preferential involvement of this white-matter tract in spatial learning, as implied by animal studies. Diffusion-weighted MR images were obtained from healthy participants who had completed versions of a task in which they made rapid same/different discriminations to two categories of highly visually similar stimuli: (1) virtual reality scene pairs; and (2) face pairs. Diffusion-MRI measures of white-matter microstructure [fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)] and macrostructure (tissue volume fraction, f) were then extracted from the fornix of each participant, which had been reconstructed using a deterministic tractography protocol. Fornix MD and f measures correlated with scene, but not face, discrimination accuracy in both discrimination tasks. A complementary voxelwise analysis using tract-based spatial statistics suggested the crus of the fornix as a focus for this relationship. These findings extend previous reports of spatial learning impairments after fornix transection in nonhuman primates, critically highlighting the fornix as a source of interindividual variation in scene discrimination in humans.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine Psychology Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI) Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Systems Immunity Research Institute (SIURI)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Additional Information:	This article is freely available online through the J Neurosci Author Open Choice option.
Publisher:	Society for Neuroscience
ISSN:	1529-2401
Funders:	BBRSC, MRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	11 July 2014
Last Modified:	05 Jan 2024 02:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/64129