視床性健忘

Thalamic Amnesia

ヒトのエピソード記憶に関与する神経ネットワークとして，海馬-視床前核および周嗅皮質-視床背内側核を中心とした2つが挙げられる。本論では，これら2つの記憶回路の機能的役割を検討した視床梗塞による健忘症例の神経心理学研究や健常者の脳機能画像研究を概観し，視床の各構造とエピソード記憶およびその障害（健忘）の関係について論じる。

Abstract

It has been proposed that there are two distinct neural circuits underlying human episodic memory. A first circuit connects the hippocampus to the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (hippocampal-anterior thalamic memory circuit). A second circuit conveys fibers from the perirhinal cortex to the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus (perirhinal-medial dorsal thalamic memory circuit). In this article, we briefly review research investigating the functional roles of the two circuits in memory, including neuropsychological studies of amnesic patients with thalamic infarcts and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of healthy participants. On the basis of the findings, we discuss the relationship between thalamic structures, episodic memory, and its disorders (thalamic amnesia).