AUTHOR=Dahmani Louisa , Courcot Blandine , Near Jamie , Patel Raihaan , Amaral Robert S. C. , Chakravarty M. Mallar , Bohbot Véronique D. TITLE=Fimbria-Fornix Volume Is Associated With Spatial Memory and Olfactory Identification in Humans JOURNAL=Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience VOLUME=13 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2019.00087 DOI=10.3389/fnsys.2019.00087 ISSN=1662-5137 ABSTRACT=

White matter pathways that surround the hippocampus comprise its afferent and efferent connections, and are therefore crucial in mediating the function of the hippocampus. We recently demonstrated a role for the hippocampus in both spatial memory and olfactory identification in humans. In the current study, we focused our attention on the fimbria-fornix white matter bundle and investigated its relationship with spatial memory and olfactory identification. We administered a virtual navigation task and an olfactory identification task to 55 young healthy adults and measured the volume of the fimbria-fornix. We found that the volume of the right fimbria-fornix and its subdivisions is correlated with both navigational learning and olfactory identification in those who use hippocampus-based spatial memory strategies, and not in those who use caudate nucleus-based navigation strategies. These results are consistent with our recent finding that spatial memory and olfaction rely on similar neural networks and structures.