Temporal and spatial dynamics of brain structure changes during extensive learning.

• The current view regarding human long-term memory as an active process of encoding and retrieval includes a highly specific learning-induced functional plasticity in a network of multiple memory systems. Voxel-based morphometry was used to detect possible structural brain changes associated with learning. Magnetic resonance images were obtained at three different time points while medical students learned for their medical examination. During the learning period, the gray matter increased significantly in the posterior and lateral parietal cortex bilaterally. These structural changes did not change significantly toward the third scan during the semester break 3 months after the exam. The posterior hippocampus showed a different pattern over time: the initial increase in gray matter during the learning period was even more pronounced toward the third time point. These results indicate that the acquisition of a great amount of highly abstract information may be related to a particular pattern of structural gray matter changes in particular brain areas.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Adult

Brain

anatomy & histology

physiology

Case-Control Studies

Educational Measurement

Female

Hippocampus

anatomy & histology

physiology

Humans

Learning

physiology

Longitudinal Studies

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Male

Neuronal Plasticity

Periaqueductal Gray

anatomy & histology

physiology

Students

Medical

Time Factors

posterior parietal cortex

voxel-based morphometry

adult neurogenesis

human hippocampus

memory retrieval

term-memory

network

plasticity

musicians

stress

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)