Vascular thalamic amnesia
Vascular thalamic amnesia occurs when the thalamus is affected by Korsakoff's syndrome or damaged by lacunar infarcts or hemorrhages.[1] Another common cause for damage to the thalamus that may contribute to the development of amnesia is a stroke.[2] It involves a loss of memory and a shift in behaviors and attitudes that are associated with various behavioral disorders.[3]
Characteristics
[edit]In several cases, the patients who are experiencing vascular thalamic amnesia will experience declarative anterograde amnesia and cognitive and behavioral disorders. These include, but are not limited to, a disruption of verbal fluency, a lack of apathy, and dysphoria.[1]
Some patients may also show a difficulty with constructional apraxia. This is apparent in the loss of verbal skills, particularly involving semantic and syntactic language. When this is severe it can be connected with an impairment of visual attention.
Much of the associated memory loss is dependent on the portion of the thalamus that was affected by the damage. The memory loss associated with damage to the vascular thalamus tends to maintain high variability from patient to patient. Some patients will maintain their memory while developing the behavioral disorders while others will show signs of declarative anterograde amnesia with no signs of behavioral disorders.[4] This seems to be related to the location of the hemorrhages for each individual patient. Particularly, whether the infarct is anterior or bilateral.[5]
Localization of function of the thalamus can be illustrated through vascular thalamic amnesia. The damage to the tuberothalmic territory appears to have the most extensive effects in relation to this form of amnesia by affecting functions of arousal and orientation, learning and memory, personality, and executive function.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Carlesimo, Giovanni Augusto; Lombardi, Maria Giovanna; Caltagirone, Carlo (April 2011). "Vascular thalamic amnesia: A reappraisal". Neuropsychologia. 49 (5): 777–789. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.026. ISSN 0028-3932. PMID 21255590. S2CID 22002872.
- ^ Markowitsch, Hans J; Staniloiu, Angelica (October 2012). "Amnesic disorders". The Lancet. 380 (9851): 1429–1440. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61304-4. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 22503117. S2CID 10643855.
- ^ De Witte, Lieve; Brouns, Raf; Kavadias, Dimokritos; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan; De Deyn, Peter P.; Mariën, Peter (March 2011). "Cognitive, affective and behavioural disturbances following vascular thalamic lesions: A review". Cortex. 47 (3): 273–319. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2010.09.002. ISSN 0010-9452. PMID 21111408. S2CID 29760006.
- ^ NICHELLI, PAOLO; BAHMANIAN-BEHBAHANI, GIAMILEH; GENTILINI, MASSIMO; VECCHI, ALESSANDRO (1988). "Preserved Memory Abilities in Thalamic Amnesia". Brain. 111 (6): 1337–1353. doi:10.1093/brain/111.6.1337. ISSN 0006-8950. PMID 3208061.
- ^ Szirmai, Imre; Vastagh, Ildikó; Szombathelyi, Éva; Kamondi, Anita (November 2002). "Strategic infarcts of the thalamus in vascular dementia". Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 203–204: 91–97. doi:10.1016/s0022-510x(02)00273-3. ISSN 0022-510X. PMID 12417364. S2CID 26825651.
- ^ Schmahmann, Jeremy D. (September 2003). "Vascular Syndromes of the Thalamus". Stroke. 34 (9): 2264–2278. doi:10.1161/01.str.0000087786.38997.9e. ISSN 0039-2499. PMID 12933968.