Postmortem examination of patient H.M.’s brain based on histological sectioning and digital 3D reconstruction

Jacopo Annese (), Natalie M. Schenker-Ahmed, Hauke Bartsch, Paul Maechler, Colleen Sheh, Natasha Thomas, Junya Kayano, Alexander Ghatan, Noah Bresler, Matthew P. Frosch, Ruth Klaming and Suzanne Corkin
Additional contact information
Jacopo Annese: The Brain Observatory
Natalie M. Schenker-Ahmed: The Brain Observatory
Hauke Bartsch: The Brain Observatory
Paul Maechler: The Brain Observatory
Colleen Sheh: The Brain Observatory
Natasha Thomas: The Brain Observatory
Junya Kayano: The Brain Observatory
Alexander Ghatan: The Brain Observatory
Noah Bresler: The Brain Observatory
Matthew P. Frosch: C.S. Kubik Laboratory for Neuropathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Ruth Klaming: The Brain Observatory
Suzanne Corkin: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Modern scientific knowledge of how memory functions are organized in the human brain originated from the case of Henry G. Molaison (H.M.), an epileptic patient whose amnesia ensued unexpectedly following a bilateral surgical ablation of medial temporal lobe structures, including the hippocampus. The neuroanatomical extent of the 1953 operation could not be assessed definitively during H.M.’s life. Here we describe the results of a procedure designed to reconstruct a microscopic anatomical model of the whole brain and conduct detailed 3D measurements in the medial temporal lobe region. This approach, combined with cellular-level imaging of stained histological slices, demonstrates a significant amount of residual hippocampal tissue with distinctive cytoarchitecture. Our study also reveals diffuse pathology in the deep white matter and a small, circumscribed lesion in the left orbitofrontal cortex. The findings constitute new evidence that may help elucidate the consequences of H.M.’s operation in the context of the brain’s overall pathology.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4122

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