Neural Mechanisms of Object Location Memory in Huntington's Disease

Object-location memory impairment in Huntington's disease (HD) occurs from premanifest period and declines as HD progresses, however, pathogenesis of object-location memory is unknown. The striatum and hippocampus are affected in HD, functionally interacting allowing intact object-location memory.

The present study investigated if object location memory impairment in premanifest and manifest HD was associated with aberrations in effective connectivity between striatum and hippocampal formation.

Using dynamic causal modelling, we examined effective connectivity between the striatum and hippocampus and association with object-location memory in 35 HD participants (23 premanifest, 12 early manifest) and 32 controls.

HD participants' object-location memory was worse than controls, with performance associated with aberrant effective connectivity from the striatum to hippocampal formation, lower connectivity was associated with poorer object-location memory. Connectivity from hippocampal formation to the striatum was lower in manifest HD. In premanifest HD, connectivity from parahippocampal gyrus to the striatum was stronger and associated with better object-location memory.

Findings raise questions regarding compensatory neural processes in HD and other neurodegenerative diseases, providing pathophysiological evidence that cognitive impairment may be related to connectopathy. © 2025 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.