Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar Series: Impact of Technology on Spatial Memory, the Hippocampus and Implications for Healthy Cognition
La s茅rie Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar s鈥檌nscrit dans la ligne de pens茅e du Dr鈥疻illiam Feindel (1918-2014), directeur du Neuro de 1972 脿 1984, qui consiste 脿 maintenir un lien constant entre pratique clinique et recherche. Les pr茅sentations porteront sur les derni猫res avanc茅es et d茅couvertes en neuropsychologie, en neurosciences cognitives et en neuro-imagerie.听
Les scientifiques du Neuro, ainsi que des coll猫gues et collaborateurs venus du milieu ou du monde entier, se chargeront des conf茅rences. Cette s茅rie se veut un forum virtuel pour les chercheurs et les stagiaires en vue de favoriser les 茅changes interdisciplinaires sur les m茅canismes des troubles c茅r茅braux et cognitifs, leur diagnostic et leur traitement.听
Pour assister en personne,听
Pour regarder via Vimeo,听
V茅ronique Bohbot
Professeure, D茅partement de psychiatrie, H么pital Douglas, Universit茅 McGill
础产蝉迟谤补肠迟:听Different memory systems, dependent on separate parts of the brain, can sustain successful navigation. The hippocampus is implicated in spatial memory strategies used when finding one鈥檚 way in the environment, i.e. it is allocentric and involves remembering the relationship between landmarks. On the other hand, another strategy dependent on the caudate nucleus can also be used, i.e. the response strategy, which relies on making a series of stimulus-response associations (e.g. right and left turns from given positions that act as stimuli, such as turn right at the white building). Adults who use spatial memory strategies showed increased fMRI activity in the hippocampus, increased grey matter in the hippocampus, and better overall cognition compared to adults who use response strategies. Decades of research in my laboratory has shown that specific navigation strategies are associated with several genes, such as BDNF and ApoE, as well as hormones, such as cortisol and progesterone. Experiences dependent modulators such as age, habit, stress and rewards also modulate strategies dependent on the hippocampus and caudate nucleus. Moreover, certain technologies such as Global Position Systems (GPS) or video games inhibit the use of the hippocampus and are associated to poor spatial memory. These results have important implications on mental health because a larger hippocampus has been associated with healthy cognition in normal aging and with a reduced risk of numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, Schizophrenia, Post-Traumatic Stress disorder and Depression.
