Selective verbal memory impairment due to left fornical crus injury in a patient with intraventricular hemorrhage

The fornix, a part of the Papez circuit, transfers information of episodic memory between the medial temporal lobe and the medial diencephalon （Aggleton and Brown, 1999）. The right medial temporal lobe is known to be specialized for visual memory and the left medial temporal lobe for verbal memory （Tucker et al., 1988; Aegleton and Brown, 1999）.

Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children

Although plasticity in the neural system underlies working memory, and working memory can be improved by training, there is thus far no evidence that children with developmental dyslexia can benefit from working-memory training. In the present study, thirty dyslexic children aged 8-11 years were recruited from an elementary school in Wuhan, China. They received working-memory training including training in visuospatial memory, verbal memory, and central executive tasks. The difficulty of the tasks was adjusted based on the performance of each subject, and the training sessions lasted 40 minutes per day, for 5 weeks. The results showed that working-memory training significantly enhanced performance on the nontrained working memory tasks such as the visuospatial, the verbal domains, and central executive tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. More importantly, the visual rhyming task and reading fluency task were also significantly improved by training. Progress on working memory measures was related to changes in reading skills. These experimental findings indicate that working memory is a pivotal factor in reading development among children with developmental dyslexia, and interventions to improve working memory may help dyslexic children to become more proficient in reading.

Relationship between Cognitive Function and Employment in Japanese Schizophrenia Patients

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between cognitive function and employment in Japanese schizophrenia patients. Subjects were 61 outpatients. Cognitive function was assessed using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Clinical symptoms were also evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. Verbal memory (F(1, 58) = 5.50, p = 0.02) and attention and speed of information processing scores (F(1, 58) = 4.92, p = 0.03) showed significant differences between employment and unemployment groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that employment was significantly predicted by verbal memory (x2 = 16.09, df = 2, p = 0.01) and depression scores (x2 = 16.09, df = 2, p = 0.02). The results suggest that improving verbal memory and depression may lead to employment in Japanese schizophrenia patients.

A Longitudinal Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Working Memory in Patients Following a Transient Ischemic Attack: A Preliminary Study

In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) to investigate longitudinal changes in brain activation during a verbal working memory(VWM) task performed by patients who had experienced a transient ischemic attack(TIA). Twenty-five first-ever TIA patients without visible lesions in conventional MRI and 25 healthy volunteers were enrolled. VWM task-related fMRI was conducted 1 week and 3 months post-TIA. The brain activity evoked by the task and changes over time were assessed. We found that, compared with controls, patients exhibited an increased activation in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus(IFG), right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC), insula, inferior parietal lobe(IPL), and cerebellum during the task performed 1 week post-TIA. But only the right IFG still exhibited an increased activation at 3 months post-TIA. A direct comparison of fMRI data between 1 week and 3 months post-TIA showed greater activation in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, right DLPFC, IPL, cerebellum, and left IFG in patients at 1 week post-TIA. We conclude that brain activity patterns induced by a VWM task remain dynamic for a period of time after a TIA, despite the cessation of clinical symptoms. Normalization of the VWM activation pattern may be progressively achieved after transient episodes of ischemia in TIA patients.