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Differential pattern of fMRI signal in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment compared to healthy controls during working memory tasks involving a task‐irrelevant fearful face distracter
Author(s) -
Tichenoff Emily,
McClure Matthew,
Burhan Amer
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.455.9
Subject(s) - working memory , cognition , psychology , dementia , audiology , episodic memory , population , valence (chemistry) , cognitive psychology , disease , neuroscience , medicine , physics , environmental health , quantum mechanics
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents a transitional stage between normal age‐related cognitive changes and mild dementia. Patients with MCI show neurodegenerative changes that lead to modification of many fundamental neural pathways, including those involved in processing emotion and memory. To date, the literature on these networks in this patient population is very limited. A block‐design, delayed match to sample paradigm with task‐irrelevant emotional distracter was used and presented in a 3‐Tesla MRI scanner. Women, ages 55–85, MCI or healthy controls (HC) were presented with “what” and “where” information at low or high‐item loading with task‐irrelevant fearful or neutral faces. The change in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal was analyzed using SPM8 and two‐tailed t‐tests were used to compare different combinations of loading and emotional valence factors between groups. Despite comparable behavioral data between groups, MCI patients showed significant differential patterns of activation during working memory (WM) tasks when compared to HC. This pattern was different across information type, loading and emotional valence. Emotional distracters modified this pattern depending on the type of information presented. This work highlights changes in WM and emotional networks in MCI patients and is promising as an early detection tool for Alzheimer disease. Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON Grant Funding Source : Internal Funding