Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T05:55:36.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Visuospatial Associative Memory and Hippocampal Functioning in Congenital Hypothyroidism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2011

Sarah M. Wheeler ,
Mary Pat McAndrews ,
Erin D. Sheard  and
Joanne Rovet
Sarah M. Wheeler
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Mary Pat McAndrews
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
Erin D. Sheard
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
Joanne Rovet*
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Joanne Rovet, The Hospital for Sick Children, Psychology Research, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G1X8. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Congenital hypothyroidism is a pediatric endocrine disorder caused by insufficient endogenous thyroid hormone production. Children with congenital hypothyroidism have difficulties with episodic memory and abnormalities in hippocampal structure, suggesting deficient hippocampal functioning. To assess hippocampal activation in adolescents with congenital hypothyroidism (N = 14; age range, 11.5–14.7 years) compared with controls (N = 15; age range, 11.2–15.5 years), a functional magnetic resonance imaging visuospatial memory task was used. In this task, participants had to decide if object pairings were novel or were previously studied or if object pairs were in the same location as they were at study or had switched locations. Despite no group differences in task performance, adolescents with congenital hypothyroidism showed both increased magnitude of hippocampal activation relative to controls and bilateral hippocampal activation when only the left was observed in controls. Furthermore, the increased activation in the congenital hypothyroidism group was correlated with the severity of the hypothyroidism experienced early in life. These results suggest that perinatal deprivation of thyroid hormone has longstanding effects on hippocampal function and may account for memory problems experienced by adolescents with congenital hypothyroidism. (JINS, 2012, 18, 49–56)

Keywords

Hippocampal formationCongenital hypothyroidismThyroid hormoneEpisodic memoryfMRIAdolescents
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 49 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brett, M., Anton, J., Valabregue, R., Poline, J. (2002). Region of interest analysis using an SPM toolbox [abstract] 8th International Conference on Functional Mapping of the Human Brain, Sendai, Japan. Neuroimage, 16(2), CD–ROM.Google Scholar
Chiu, C.P. (2009). Neural correlates of verbal associative memory and mnemonic strategy use following childhood traumatic brain injury. Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, 2(4), 255–271.Google Scholar
Curtis, W.J., Zhuang, J., Townsend, E.L., Hu, X., Nelson, C.A. (2006). Memory in early adolescents born prematurely: A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29(2), 341–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickerson, B.C., Salat, D.H., Greve, D.N., Chua, E.F., RandGiovannetti, E., Rentz, D.M. Sperling, R.A. (2005). Increased hippocampal activation in mild cognitive impairment compared to normal aging and AD. Neurology, 65(3), 404–411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dugbartey, A.T. (1998). Neurocognitive aspects of hypothyroidism. Archives of Internal Medicine, 158(13), 1413–1419.Google Scholar
Eichenbaum, H. (2001). The hippocampus and declarative memory: Cognitive mechanisms and neural codes. Behavioural Brain Research, 127(1–2), 199–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, M.E. (2004). Alterations in synaptic transmission and plasticity in area CA1 of adult hippocampus following developmental hypothyroidism. Developmental Brain Research, 148(1), 11–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, M.E., Sui, L. (2006). Dose-dependent reductions in spatial learning and synaptic function in the dentate gyrus of adult rats following developmental thyroid hormone insufficiency. Brain Research, 1069(1), 10–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gimenez, M., Junque, C., Vendrell, P., Caldu, X., Narberhaus, A., Bargallo, N. Mercader, J. (2005). Hippocampal functional magnetic resonance imaging during a face-name learning task in adolescents with antecedents of prematurity. Neuroimage, 25(2), 561–569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giovanello, K.S., Schnyer, D.M., Verfaellie, M. (2004). A critical role for the anterior hippocampus in relational memory: Evidence from an fMRI study comparing associative and item recognition. Hippocampus, 14, 5–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hepworth, S.L., Pang, E.W., Rovet, J.F. (2006). Word and face recognition in children with congenital hypothyroidism: An event-related potential study. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 28(4), 509–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holdstock, J.S., Mayes, A.R., Gong, Q.Y., Roberts, N., Kapur, N. (2005). Item recognition is less impaired than recall and associative recognition in a patient with selective hippocampal damage. Hippocampus, 15(2), 203–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohler, S., Danckert, S., Gati, J.S., Menon, R.S. (2005). Novelty responses to relational and non-relational information in the hippocampus and the parahippocampal region: A comparison based on event-related fMRI. Hippocampus, 15, 763–774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumaran, D. (2007). Match mismatch processes underlie human hippocampal responses to associative novelty. The Journal of Neuroscience, 27(32), 8517–8524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaFranchi, S. (1999). Congenital hypothyroidism: Etiologies, diagnosis, and management. Thyroid, 9(7), 735–740.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maguire, E.A., Vargha-Khadem, F., Mishkin, M. (2001). The effects of bilateral hippocampal damage on fMRI regional activations and interactions during memory retrieval. Brain, 124(6), 1156–1170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maheu, F. (2008). Altered amygdala and hippocampus function in adolescents with hypercortisolemia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of Cushing syndrome. Development and Psychopathology, 20(4), 1177–1189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martínez-Galán, J.R., Pedraza, P., Santacana, M., Escobar del Ray, F., Morreale de Escobar, G., Ruiz-Marcos, A. (1997). Early effects of iodine deficiency on radial glial cells of the hippocampus of the rat fetus. A model of neurological cretinism. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 99, 2701–2709.Google Scholar
Mayes, A.R., Holdstock, J.S., Isaac, C.L., Montaldi, D., Grigor, J., Gummer, A. Norman, K.A. (2004). Associative recognition in a patient with selective hippocampal lesions and relatively normal item recognition. Hippocampus, 14(6), 763–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayes, A., Montaldi, D., Migo, E. (2007). Associative memory and the medial temporal lobes. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(3), 126–135.Google Scholar
Milner, B., Corkin, S., Teuber, H. (1968). Further analysis of the hippocampal amnesic syndrome: 14-year follow-up study of H.M. Neuropsychologia, 6(3), 215–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oerbeck, B., Sundet, K., Kase, B.F., Heyerdahl, S. (2005). Congenital hypothyroidism: No adverse effects of high dose thyroxine treatment on adult memory, attention, and behaviour. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 90(2), 132–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rami, A., Patel, A.J., Rabié, A. (1986). Thyroid hormone and development of the rat hippocampus: Morphological alterations in granule and pyramidal cells. Neuroscience, 19(4), 1217–1226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rami, A., Rabie, A., Patel, A. (1986). Thyroid hormone and development of the rat hippocampus: Cell acquisition in the dentate gyrus. Neuroscience, 19, 1207–1216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, S.R., Brown, R.S. (2006). Update of newborn screening and therapy for congenital hypothyroidism. Pediatrics, 117(6), 2290–2303.Google ScholarPubMed
Rossion, B., Pourtois, G. (2004). Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object set: The role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition. Perception, 33, 217–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rovet, J.F. (1999). Long-term neuropsychological sequelae of early-treated congenital hypothyroidism: Effects in adolescence. Acta Paediatrica, 88(Suppl. 432), 88–95.Google Scholar
Rovet, J.F. (2002). Congenital hypothyroidism: An analysis of persisting deficits and associated factors. Child Neuropsychology, 8(3), 150–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rovet, J., Daneman, D. (2003). Congenital hypothyroidism: A review of current diagnostic and treatment practices in relation to neuropsychologic outcome. Pediatric Drugs, 5(3), 141–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rovet, J.F., Ehrlich, R.M., Sorbara, D.L. (1992). Neurodevelopment in infants and preschool children with congenital hypothyroidism: Etiological and treatment factors affecting outcome. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 17(2), 187–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Song, S., Daneman, D., Rovet, J. (2001). The influence of etiology and treatment factors on intellectual outcome in congenital hypothyroidism. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 22(6), 376–384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sowell, E.R., Lu, L.H., O'Hare, E.D., McCourt, S.T., Mattson, S.N., O'Connor, M.J., Bookheimer, S.Y. (2007). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of verbal learning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Neuroreport, 18(7), 635–639.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vargha-Khadem, F., Gadian, D.G., Watkins, K.E. (1997). Differential effects of early hippocampal pathology on episodic and semantic memory. Science, 277, 376–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walter, B., Blecker, C., Kirsch, P., Sammer, G., Schienle, A., Stark, R., Vaitl, D. (2003). MARINA: An easy to use tool for the creation of MAsks for Region of INterest Analyses [abstract]. 9th International Conference on Functional Mapping of the Human Brain, New York, NY. Neuroimage, 19(2) CD-ROM.Google Scholar
Wheeler, S., Rovet, J. (2007). Reduced hippocampal volumes in adolescents with congenital hypothyroidism reflect early loss of thyroid hormone and predict subsequent memory performance. Neuroimage, 36(Suppl. 1), 119.Google Scholar
Wheeler, S.M., Willoughby, K.A., McAndrews, M.P., Rovet, J.F. (2011). Hippocampal size and memory functioning in children and adolescents with congenital hypothyroidism. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 96(9), E1427–E1434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed