Individual Differences in True and False Memory Retrieval Are Related to White Matter Brain Microstructure

We sometimes vividly remember things that did not happen, a phenomenon with general relevance, not only in the courtroom. It is unclear to what extent individual differences in false memories are driven by anatomical differences in memory-relevant brain regions. Here we show in humans that microstru...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of neuroscience 2009-07, Vol.29 (27), p.8698-8703
Main Authors: Fuentemilla, Lluis, Camara, Estela, Munte, Thomas F, Kramer, Ulrike M, Cunillera, Toni, Marco-Pallares, Josep, Tempelmann, Claus, Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain - anatomy & histology
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping - methods
Brief Communications
Female
Humans
Individuality
Male
Memoirs
Memory
Memory - physiology
Memòria
Memòries
Mental Recall - physiology
Microestructura
Microstructure
Nerve Fibers, Myelinated - physiology
Young Adult
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We sometimes vividly remember things that did not happen, a phenomenon with general relevance, not only in the courtroom. It is unclear to what extent individual differences in false memories are driven by anatomical differences in memory-relevant brain regions. Here we show in humans that microstructural properties of different white matter tracts as quantified using diffusion tensor imaging are strongly correlated with true and false memory retrieval. To investigate these hypotheses, we tested a large group of participants in a version of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (recall and recognition) and subsequently obtained diffusion tensor images. A voxel-based whole-brain level linear regression analysis was performed to relate fractional anisotropy to indices of true and false memory recall and recognition. True memory was correlated to diffusion anisotropy in the inferior longitudinal fascicle, the major connective pathway of the medial temporal lobe, whereas a greater proneness to retrieve false items was related to the superior longitudinal fascicle connecting frontoparietal structures. Our results show that individual differences in white matter microstructure underlie true and false memory performance.
ISSN:0270-6474
1529-2401
DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5270-08.2009