[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

processes such as language, planning, and problem solving. Additionally, the ability to represent
and manipulate spatial and non-spatial information is a key requirement of everyday cognition
and is an important component of a variety of cognitive skills, including reading and logical
reasoning. The aim of this project is to obtain information concerning the effect of childhood
lead poisoning on the integrity of neural circuits involved in spatial and non-spatial working
memory and to correlate these data with extent of childhood lead exposure. In the present
preliminary study, using functional MRI at 3T, we begin to examine the effect of childhood lead
exposure on working memory by studying patterns and extents of working memory-related
neural activation in adolescents with a documented history of different levels of childhood lead
exposure. Brain fMRI scans were obtained on adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years,
with documented histories of childhood blood lead testing prior to the age of 3 years, during
performance of 1-back and 2-back spatial and non-spatial working memory tasks. A number of
brain regions showed significant activation during performance of the 1-back and 2-back tasks.
Preliminary analyses indicate negative correlations between level of lead exposure and activation
in several frontal and parietal regions in both hemispheres in the 2-back working memory
conditions, while no significant negative correlation was observed between level of lead
exposure and activation in the 1-back working memory conditions. In addition, negative
correlations between activation and lead exposure were found more frequently in the 2-back
condition for spatial working memory. These preliminary findings suggest that prior childhood
lead exposure has persistent effects on the brain and alters brain activation during working
memory performance.
Disclosures: J.S. Schneider, None; J. Lackey, None; J. Shi, None; S. Lai, None.
Poster
288. Working Memory: Disorders, Genes and Connectivity
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 288.6/RR13
Topic: F.01.f. Working memory
Title: The hippocampus and short-term memory for auditory sequences in children
Authors: *E. CASTRO-SIERRA 1 , F. CHICO-PONCE DE LEON 2 , A. FERNANDEZ-
STEFANO 3 , A. VARGAS-RODRIGUEZ 3 , S. MARTINEZ-RODIGUEZ 4 ;
1 Lab. of Psychoacoustics, Hosp. Infantil de Mexico FG, Mexico DF, Mexico; 2 Dept. of
Neurosurg., 3 Dept. of Psychiatry, 4 Dept. of Social Work, Hosp. Infantil de Mexico Federico
Gomez, Mexico, DF, Mexico