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Dorsal thalamic lesion in a noted case of human memory dysfunction
Author(s) -
Squire Larry R.,
Moore Robert Y.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410060607
Subject(s) - thalamus , amnesia , diencephalon , lesion , neuroscience , neuropathology , dorsum , psychology , medicine , stab wound , cortex (anatomy) , anatomy , central nervous system , pathology , surgery , cognitive psychology , disease
The extensively studies patient N. A. has had a severe verbal memory deficit since 1960, when he sustained a stab wound to the brain with a miniature fencing foil. His amnesia occurs in the absence of any other know cognitive defect. Recent CT scans have localized a lesion in the left dorsal thalamus of this patient in a position corresponding to the dorsomedial nucleus; there is no radiographic evidence of other damage in the diencephalon or cerebral cortex. The dorsomedial thalamus may be critical in the neuropathology of diencephalic amnesia and, in humans, may be required for normal functions.