Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29488277›Full record

ArticleHuman brain mapping2018

The increase in medial prefrontal glutamate/glutamine concentration during memory encoding is associated with better memory performance and stronger functional connectivity in the human medial prefrontal-thalamus-hippocampus network.

Jan-Willem Thielen, Donghyun Hong, Seyedmorteza Rohani Rankouhi, Jens Wiltfang, Guillén Fernández, David G Norris, Indira Tendolkar

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human brain mapping, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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  3. Selective mGluBiological psychiatry global open science · 2026
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  13. Correlation of GABABrain and behavior · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Jan-Willem ThielenErwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3339-9436
Donghyun HongErwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.
Seyedmorteza Rohani RankouhiErwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.
Jens WiltfangDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Guillén FernándezDonders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University and Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
David G NorrisErwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.
Indira TendolkarErwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3171-3671
Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging · DERadboud University Nijmegen · NLUniversitätsmedizin Göttingen · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The classical model of the declarative memory system describes the hippocampus and its interactions with representational brain areas in posterior neocortex as being essential for the formation of long-term episodic memories. However, new evidence suggests an extension of this classical model by assigning the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) a specific, yet not fully defined role in episodic memory. In this study, we utilized 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to lend further support for the idea of a mnemonic role of the mPFC in humans. By using MRS, we measured mPFC γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate/glutamine (GLx) concentrations before and after volunteers memorized face-name association. We demonstrate that mPFC GLx but not GABA levels increased during the memory task, which appeared to be related to memory performance. Regarding functional connectivity, we used the subsequent memory paradigm and found that the GLx increase was associated with stronger mPFC connectivity to thalamus and hippocampus for associations subsequently recognized with high confidence as opposed to subsequently recognized with low confidence/forgotten. Taken together, we provide new evidence for an mPFC involvement in episodic memory by showing a memory-related increase in mPFC excitatory neurotransmitter levels that was associated with better memory and stronger memory-related functional connectivity in a medial prefrontal-thalamus-hippocampus network.

Indexed as

Brain MappingAdultAssociation LearningCorrelation of DataFaceFemaleGlutamic AcidGlutamineHippocampusHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMagnetic Resonance ImagingMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyMaleMemoryNamesGlutamic AcidGlutaminefMRIfunctional connectivityGABAglutamatehippocampusmedial prefrontalmemoryMR spectroscopynetworkthalamus

Identifiers

PMID29488277
PMCPMC5969297
OpenAlexW2790950048

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.