Reduced Hippocampal Functional Connectivity During Episodic Memory Retrieval in Autism
Journal Title
Cerebral Cortex
ISSN
1047-3211
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Language
English
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Cooper, R., Richter, F., Bays, P., Plaisted, K., Baron-Cohen, S., & Simons, J. (2017). Reduced Hippocampal Functional Connectivity During Episodic Memory Retrieval in Autism. Cerebral Cortex https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhw417
Abstract
Increasing recent research has sought to understand the recollection impairments experienced by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we tested whether these memory deficits reflect a reduction in the probability of retrieval success or in the precision of memory representations. We also used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural mechanisms underlying memory encoding and retrieval in ASD, focusing particularly on the functional connectivity of core episodic memory networks. Adults with ASD and typical control participants completed a memory task that involved studying visual displays and subsequently using a continuous dial to recreate their appearance. The ASD group exhibited reduced retrieval success, but there was no evidence of a difference in retrieval precision. fMRI data revealed similar patterns of brain activity and functional connectivity during memory encoding in the 2 groups, though encoding-related lateral frontal activity predicted subsequent retrieval success only in the control group. During memory retrieval, the ASD group exhibited attenuated lateral frontal activity and substantially reduced hippocampal connectivity, particularly between hippocampus and regions of the fronto-parietal control network. These findings demonstrate notable differences in brain function during episodic memory retrieval in ASD and highlight the importance of functional connectivity to understanding recollection-related retrieval deficits in this population.
Keywords
autism, fronto-parietal control network, connectivity, hippocampus, memory retrieval
Sponsorship
This work was supported by a James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award to J.S.S. and was carried out within the University of Cambridge Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, funded by a joint award from the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. R.A.C. was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and P.M.B. by the Wellcome Trust.
Embargo Lift Date
2100-01-01
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhw417
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/263047
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International, Attribution 4.0 International, Attribution 4.0 International