Brain to Blame When You
Can't Match Face with Name
Excerpt By Amy Norton, Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who have trouble putting a name to a familiar face may now know which part of their brain to blame.

Scientists reported Thursday that they have discovered the brain regions integral in learning, and later recalling, the name of that new acquaintance.

Using sensitive brain-imaging techniques, they were able to "unfold" the spiraling brain structure responsible for learning new memories--called the hippocampus--and identify the subdivisions that jump into action during face/name association.

"The major center for learning new memories is actually divided into smaller sub-regions, each of which appears to play a different role during learning," study author Susan Y. Bookheimer told Reuters Health.

Bookheimer and her colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles used a technique called functional MRI to record the brain activity of volunteers as they learned, and later tried to recall, the names that went with new faces. They then used a technique that unfurls the imaged hippocampus into a "flat map," allowing them to study activity in the structure's subdivisions.

From there, they discovered that certain sub-regions appear vital in learning a new association (a certain name goes with a certain face), while a different area is especially important in "retrieving" the new memory ("I know that face...what's his name?").

The findings, published in the January 24th issue of Science, could also aid in understanding the nature of memory impairment in disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, according to Bookheimer.

The hope, she explained, is to use advanced imaging techniques to spot early brain changes that accompany diseases like Alzheimer's.

"If we can understand how each of these (hippocampus) sub-regions is supposed to operate," Bookheimer said, "we may be able to detect subtle breakdowns in a stage early enough to benefit patients with new treatments and interventions."

SOURCE: Science 2003;299:577-580.

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