Enhanced brain activity associated with memory access in highly superior autobiographical memory

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 115; no. 30; pp. 7795 - 7800
• Main Authors: Santangelo, Valerio, Cavallina, Clarissa, Colucci, Paola, Santori, Alessia, Macrì, Simone, McGaugh, James L., Campolongo, Patrizia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 24.07.2018
• Subjects: Adult; Biological Sciences; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain mapping; Computer memory; Connectome; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Hippocampus; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Memory; Memory - physiology; Motor ability; Neural networks; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Personal experiences; Social Sciences; fMRI; functional connectivity; hippocampus; long-term memory; prefrontal cortex
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1802730115
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490

Brain systems underlying human memory function have been classically investigated studying patients with selective memory impairments. The discovery of rare individuals who have highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) provides, instead, an opportunity to investigate the brain systems underlying enhanced memory. Here, we carried out an fMRI investigation of a group of subjects identified as having HSAM. During fMRI scanning, eight subjects with HSAM and 21 control subjects were asked to retrieve autobiographical memories (AMs) as well as non-AMs (e.g., examples of animals). Subjects were instructed to signal the “access” to an AM by a key press and to continue “reliving” it immediately after. Compared with controls, individuals with HSAM provided a richer AM recollection and were faster in accessing AMs. The access to AMs was associated with enhanced prefrontal/hippocampal functional connectivity. AM access also induced increased activity in the left temporoparietal junction and enhanced functional coupling with sensory cortices in subjects with HSAM compared with controls. In contrast, subjects with HSAM did not differ from controls in functional activity during the reliving phase. These findings, based on fMRI assessment, provide evidence of interaction of brain systems engaged in memory retrieval and suggest that enhanced activity of these systems is selectively involved in enabling more efficient access to past experiences in HSAM.