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Diencephalic integrity explains aspects of hippocampal amnesia.

Overview

  1. Memory Research Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, OX3 9DU, Oxford, United Kingdom
  2. School of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Cottrell Building, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, United Kingdom
  3. School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 70 Park Pl, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, United Kingdom
  4. The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, 58 Wood Ln, London W12 7RZ, United Kingdom
  5. Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Rd, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom
  6. Departamento de Neurología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Marcoleta 367, 8320165 Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile
Institutions: University of Stirling (United Kingdom); John Radcliffe Hospital (United Kingdom); University of Oxford (United Kingdom); Cardiff University (United Kingdom); Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile); The George Institute for Global Health (United Kingdom); Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
Journal: Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), volume 36, issue 6, article bhag069
Dates: received 20 January 2026; accepted 8 May 2026; published online 19 June 2026; in print June 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhag069 · PMID 42319228 · PMCID PMC13280952 · OpenAlex W7165376294
Open access: hybrid, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: data only
Categories: structural MRI / diffusion (modality), human (organism), other condition (population), cognitive (subfield)
Methods: Statistics, Machine learning, fMRI & imaging, Preprocessing
Keywords: amnesia, hippocampus, mammillary bodies, thalamus, white matter
MeSH: Amnesia*, Diencephalon*, Hippocampus*, Adult, Aged, Atrophy, Autoimmune Diseases, Female, Humans, Limbic Encephalitis, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mammillary Bodies, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, White Matter (* major topic)
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms (Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Medical Research Council Clinician Scientist Fellowship (MR/K010395/1)
Citations: cited by 2 papers (Europe PMC); 206 references in the paper

Abstract

Research on amnesia has been fundamental in establishing the role of the human hippocampus in memory. Even though other structures within the hippocampal-diencephalic-cingulate network also play a role in episodic memory, studies of hippocampal amnesia often ignore the importance of changes in this broader network. In a large cohort of patients (n = 38) with hippocampal damage due to autoimmune limbic encephalitis, we previously found that amnesia was predominantly explained by resting-state functional abnormalities across this network. Here, we examined the integrity of individual diencephalic nuclei and white matter pathways, and its relationship with memory function. We found atrophy in the mammillary bodies, and the anterior, laterodorsal, pulvinar, and dorsomedial thalamic nuclei. Atrophy was often as pronounced as that in the hippocampal formation. Diencephalic volumes predicted memory over and above any hippocampal/subicular subfield volume estimate. White matter was compromised within and beyond this network. Fornix integrity was linked to diencephalic and hippocampal volumes, but not to recollection/recall. We strongly advise caution in employing the term “focal hippocampal damage” in cognitive neuroscience, and highlight the need to study the significance of plausibly knock-on effects in specific diencephalic nuclei and white matter tracts within broader circuits.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

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Data availability

Demographic, behavioral, and volumetric data are publicly available at https://osf.io/5ybnk/

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 5 keywords, 16 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 198 references.

Cite

This paper

Argyropoulos, G. P. D., Aggleton, J. P., & Butler, C. R. (2026). Diencephalic integrity explains aspects of hippocampal amnesia. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 36(6), bhag069. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag069

BibTeX

@article{argyropoulos2026diencephalic,
author = {Argyropoulos, Georgios P D and Aggleton, John P and Butler, Christopher R},
title = {{Diencephalic integrity explains aspects of hippocampal amnesia}},
journal = {Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
volume = {36},
number = {6},
pages = {bhag069},
publisher = {Oxford University Press},
issn = {1047-3211},
doi = {10.1093/cercor/bhag069},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag069},
pmid = {42319228},
pmcid = {PMC13280952}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Argyropoulos, Georgios P D
AU - Aggleton, John P
AU - Butler, Christopher R
TI - Diencephalic integrity explains aspects of hippocampal amnesia
T2 - Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
J2 - Cereb Cortex
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/01
VL - 36
IS - 6
SP - bhag069
SN - 1047-3211
PB - Oxford University Press
DO - 10.1093/cercor/bhag069
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag069
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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