How do Patients With Amnesia Acquire New Knowledge?

NCT07191197 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: RC31/23/0377
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

THE STUDY AIMS to constitute the largest group of patients with major memory impairment resulting from various etiology and specific lesions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and use a combined psychometric and neuroimaging approach to study the factors allowing these patients to successfully learn new semantic information.

Conditions

Amnesia; Memory Disorder

Keywords

Learning; Semantic memory; Hippocampus; Temporal pole

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Performance on Fast-Mapping semantic learning task

  * MRI measures: Anatomical MRI (T1-weighted) images will be analyzed using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM, MATLAB toolbox). Voxels will be classified as "lesioned" or "non-lesioned" in gray and white matter. * Behavioral measures: Performance on fast-mapping tasks (recognition scores). Those measurements will be aggregated : VLSM will be used to generate statistical maps of significant differences in fast-mapping recognition scores between lesioned vs. non-lesioned voxels across the T1 MRI. This method allows the evaluation of statistical relationships between specific brain lesions and behavioral deficits without requiring patient grouping by lesion site or behavioral threshold. VLSM integrates permutation testing for robust statistical inference and can analyze both discrete and graded lesions. As voxels may be located in either cortical or white matter regions, the approach enables the investigation of disconnection syndromes in addition to cortical syndromes.

  Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Performance of semantic learning

  Baseline

Study Arms (2)

Learning abilities for Patients with an amnesic syndrome

EXPERIMENTAL

1 MRI session, 2 cognitive research tasks of semantic learning, and neuropsychological assessment.

Other: MRI; Other: Psychometric

Healthy controls

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

To allow multiple pairing for each patient, a group of 120 healthy controls aged between 18 to 70 years old will be recruited. Thus, it will be possible to compare one given patient to a group of 40 aged-matched subjects. All healthy volunteers will undergo the same intervention as the patients : 1 MRI session, 2 cognitive research tasks of semantic learning, neuropsychological assessment.

Other: MRI; Other: Psychometric

Interventions

Psychometric OTHER

2 cognitive research tasks of semantic learning and neuropsychological assessment

Healthy controls; Learning abilities for Patients with an amnesic syndrome

MRI OTHER

structural and functional resting state MRI

Healthy controls; Learning abilities for Patients with an amnesic syndrome

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Patients aged between 18 and 70 years
• Living in France since less than 20 years, being able to understand the French language, and have basic cultural knowledge as evaluated in classical clinical consultation
• Written agreement to participate in the study
• Intellectual capacities compatible with the cognitive tasks and signing of consent
• Affiliation to the French social security system
• For patients: bilateral brain lesion of the medial temporal lobe or the extended hippocampal system

You may not qualify if:

• Subjects under the age of 18 or over 70
• Contraindications for MRI (examples: wearers of a pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator, implanted equipment activated by an electrical, magnetic or mechanical system, wearers of haemostatic clips for intracerebral aneurysms or carotid arteries, wearers of orthopedic implants, claustrophobic)
• Refusal to be informed of an anomaly detected during the MRI

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Toulouse: lead
• National Research Agency, France: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

University Hospital of Caen

Caen, France

Location

University Hospital of Toulouse

Toulouse, France

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Amnesia; Memory Disorders

Interventions

Psychometrics

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neurocognitive Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Psychological Tests; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Central Study Contacts

Jérémie PARIENTE, MD + PHD

CONTACT

05 61 77 94 88; pariente.j@chu-toulouse.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: sectional, experimental, comparative, bicentric study.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 25, 2025
• First Posted: September 24, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2030
• Last Updated: December 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Locations

FR (2)