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The eye of the self: precuneus volume and visual perspective during autobiographical memory retrieval

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Abstract

Visual perspective (i.e. first-person versus third-person perspective) during autobiographical memory (AM) retrieval plays a role in both emotional regulation and self-related processes. However, its neural underpinnings remain mostly unexplored. Visual perspective during AM retrieval was assessed in two independent datasets of 45 and 20 healthy young adults with two different AM retrieval tasks. Diffeomorphic anatomical registration using exponentiated lie algebra and voxel-based morphometry were used to assess individual differences in the precuneus grey matter volume. The spontaneous tendency to recall memories from a first-person perspective was positively correlated with the right precuneus volume among the two independent datasets. Whole-brain analyses revealed that these results were relatively specific to the anterior part of the right precuneus. Our results provide first evidence for the role of the precuneus in egocentric spatial processing in the context of AM retrieval among healthy subjects.

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Abbreviations

AM:

Autobiographical memory

BDI-13:

13-item Beck depression inventory

DARTEL:

Diffeomorphic anatomical registration using exponentiated lie algebra

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

FWE:

Family-wise error

GM:

Grey matter

ROI:

Region of interest

TIV:

Total intracranial volume

VBM:

Voxel-based morphometry

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Acknowledgments

M. Freton was supported by fundings from the Foundation pour la Recherche Médicale. C. Lemogne was supported by fundings from the Fonds d’Etude et de Recherche du Corps Médical de l’Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris and the Lilly Institute. P. Fossati was supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award 2003.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté de Médecine, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris, France

    Maxime Freton, Pauline Delaveau, Stéphane Lehéricy & Philippe Fossati

  2. Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Service de psychiatrie adulte, Bâtiment La Force, Department of Psychiatry, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Maxime Freton & Philippe Fossati

  3. CNRS USR 3246, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France

    Maxime Freton, Pauline Delaveau & Philippe Fossati

  4. Faculté de Médecine, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

    Cédric Lemogne

  5. Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l’adulte et du sujet âgé, Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris Ouest, Paris, France

    Cédric Lemogne

  6. INSERM U894, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris, France

    Cédric Lemogne

  7. Brain, Body and Self Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Loretxu Bergouignan

  8. CR-ICM, UPMC, INSERM UMRS 975, CNRS 7225, Centre de NeuroImagerie de Recherche (CENIR), Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France

    Stéphane Lehéricy

  9. Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Department of Neuroradiology, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 boulevard de l’hôpital, 75013, Paris, France

    Stéphane Lehéricy

Authors
  1. Maxime Freton
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  2. Cédric Lemogne
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  3. Loretxu Bergouignan
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  4. Pauline Delaveau
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  5. Stéphane Lehéricy
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  6. Philippe Fossati
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Correspondence to Maxime Freton.

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Freton, M., Lemogne, C., Bergouignan, L. et al. The eye of the self: precuneus volume and visual perspective during autobiographical memory retrieval. Brain Struct Funct 219, 959–968 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-013-0546-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-013-0546-2

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