Dissociating Relational and Conjunctive Binding in Working Memory: A Case Study of Hippocampal Damage

This case demonstrates a dissociation between relational and conjunctive binding in WM, supporting the role of the hippocampus in relational feature associations and the reliance of conjunctive binding on parahippocampal structures. These findings demonstrate the utility of conjunctive binding tasks for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease-related dementia. Unlike traditional relational binding tasks, which may remain intact until later stages of hippocampal involvement, conjunctive binding tasks could act as sensitive markers of subhippocampal dysfunction in the earliest stages of AD-related pathology.