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Barry Horwitz

Publications and source records attributed to Barry Horwitz.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

fMRI study comparing names versus pictures of objects.

We performed an fMRI one-back recognition study aimed at distinguishing the semantic versus perceptual aspects of how objects and their written forms are processed. There were three types of visually presented items: pictures (schematic drawings of objects); words identifying these objects; and a mixed condition in which pictures were interleaved with words. A semantic decision about object identity was required when pictures were interleaved with words. This condition, contrasted with the other two, invoked a larger signal in multiple areas, including frontal cortex, bilateral occipitotemporal cortex, and the right middle temporal gyrus. We propose that the left occipitotemporal and right temporal activations are indicative of the neural substrate mediating picture-word conversions, whereas the frontal activations reflect the coordinating functions of the central executive.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Effect of attention on central auditory processing: an fMRI study.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate preattentive and attentional processing of auditory stimuli in 18 right-handed normal volunteers. Responses to trains of 1000-Hz pure tones and infrequent (15%) deviant 1300-Hz tones were characterized while subjects ignored all tones; listened for deviants in the left ear; or listened for deviants in the right ear. Preattentive detection of deviants, associated with the mismatch negativity in electrophysiology, was associated with bilateral temporal lobe activation, with a rightward predominance. Processing of deviant stimuli while attending to either ear produced a more robust and widespread activation of these temporal regions, again with a rightward predominance. Thus, preattentive tone processing appears to be linked to asymmetric activation of a core set of temporal regions in which activity is significantly amplified by selective attention. Extratemporal regions activated by attending to targets in either ear included the anterior cingulate cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2002

Relation of medial temporal lobe volumes to age and memory function in nondemented adults with Down's syndrome: implications for the prodromal phase of Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: In Down's syndrome (trisomy 21), a dementia syndrome occurs that is phenotypically similar to Alzheimer's disease; the initial phase is characterized by memory loss. The authors used an in vivo structural technique in the predementia stage of Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down's syndrome to investigate whether atrophy of medial temporal lobe structures occurs in these subjects and whether volumes of these structures correlate specifically with performance on memory tests. METHOD: The subjects were 34 nondemented Down's syndrome adults (mean age=41.6 years, 17 women and 17 men) and 33 healthy comparison subjects (mean age=41.3, 15 women and 18 men). By using T(1)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging slices taken perpendicular to the Sylvian fissure, volumes of the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior and posterior parahippocampal gyrus, and temporal pole CSF were measured in both hemispheres. These data were normalized to the total intracranial volume. RESULTS: For Down's syndrome, smaller volumes of the right and left amygdala, hippocampus, and posterior parahippocampal gyrus were significantly associated with greater age; this association was not seen in the anterior parahippocampal gyrus. The amygdala and hippocampus volumes were positively correlated with memory measures. For the comparison group, there was no relationship between volume and age in any region. CONCLUSIONS: In the predementia phase of Down's syndrome, significant volume changes in medial temporal lobe structures occur with age and are related to memory. These structures are affected early in Alzheimer's disease in Down's syndrome, and their evaluation may help identify people in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Effect of Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis Ablation on Local Brain Glucose Utilization in the Rat: Functional Brain Reorganization.

After unilateral destruction of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) in 3-month-old rats, which reduces cholinergic inputs to the ipsilateral frontoparietal neocortex, regional cerebral metabolic rates for glucose (rCMRglc) of denervated cortex are initially reduced, but nearly normalize by 2 weeks. To examine functional reorganization of the brain after unilateral destruction of the NBM, a correlation analysis of rCMRglc was performed on two groups of 16 young rats 2 weeks after stereotaxic ablation of the right NBM with ibotenate or sham surgery. rCMRglc was measured in 117 brain regions of awake rats with the [14C]deoxyglucose method. For each region pair, a partial correlation coefficient was calculated for rCMRglc across animals. Most correlations between cholinergic nuclei of both left and right forebrain (medial septum and diagonal band) and right (66/72, mean increase 0.44) but not left (39/72) frontoparietal cortical regions were larger (P < 0.001) in lesioned rats, as were those between most frontoparietal region pairs (516/630, P < 0.001). These results suggest that, after unilateral NBM ablation, (1) functional interactions are established between the remaining cholinergic forebrain and the deafferented cortex, (2) the neocortex becomes more integrated, and (3) functional reorganization involves both cortical hemispheres. These changes do not correspond to those reported to occur in Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Article↗