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Abstract:
Abstract: Recent neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies
have demonstrated that bilateral, but predominantly the right
(nondominant)-sided, frontotemporal damages may play a crucial role
for the retrieval failure of personal old memories. In this study,
we present another evidence for the importance of nondominant
temporofrontal regions for the autobiographical memory retrieval in
a non-right-handed patient with functional retrograde amnesia. We
examined a mixed handed 26 year-old female who showed essentially
total loss of her autobiographical incidences and personal semantic
information, while leaving her intelligence, language ability,
generic semantic memory and new learning largely preserved.
Clinical evaluations did not demonstrate any profound change in her
personality. Brain MRI showed no abnormal brain structure, but
SPECT studies revealed hypoperfusion in the left lateral
temporofrontal regions, specifically the frontotemporal junction
area. She had a family history of left-handedness. These findings
suggest that damages occurring to the lateral temporofrontal cortex
led to retrieval impairment of autobiographical memories. Taken
together, this study indicates that retrieval functions for both
episodic old memories and personal semantic knowledge may be
lateralized to the nondominant hemisphere in this mixed-handed
patient.
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