Hippocampal subfields and their neocortical interactions during autobiographical memory

Abstract

Advances in ultra-high field 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (7 T fMRI) have provided unprecedented opportunities to gain insights into the neural underpinnings supporting human memory. The hippocampus, a heterogeneous brain structure comprising several subfields, plays a central role during vivid re-experiencing of autobiographical memories (AM). However, due to technical limitations, how hippocampal subfields differentially support AM, whether this contribution is specific to one portion along the hippocampal long-axis, and how subfields are functionally connected with other brain regions typically associated with AM retrieval remains elusive. Here, we leveraged technical advances of parallel imaging and employed a submillimeter Echo Planar Imaging sequence over the whole brain while participants re-experienced vivid, detail-rich AM. We found that all hippocampal subfields along the long-axis were engaged during AM retrieval. Nonetheless, only the pre/parasubiculum within the anterior body of the hippocampus contributed over and above to AM retrieval. Moreover, whole-brain functional connectivity analyses of the same data revealed that this part of the hippocampus was the only one that was strongly connected to other brain regions typically associated with AM, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and medial/lateral parietal regions. In the context of the broader literature, our results support recent proposals that the anterior body of the pre/ parasubiculum may play an important role in scene-based cognition, such as its engagement during the reexperiencing of personal past events.