Deficits in episodic memory are related to uncontrolled eating in a sample of healthy adults.

PubMed

Martin, A A; Davidson, T L; McCrory, M A

2018-05-01

Despite a substantial amount of animal data linking deficits in memory inhibition to the development of overeating and obesity, few studies have investigated the relevance of memory inhibition to uncontrolled eating in humans. Further, although memory for recent eating has been implicated as an important contributor to satiety and energy intake, the possibility that variations in episodic memory relate to individual differences in food intake control has been largely neglected. To examine these relationships, we recruited ninety-three adult subjects to attend a single lab session where we assessed body composition, dietary intake, memory performance, and eating behaviors (Three Factor Eating Questionnaire). Episodic recall and memory inhibition were assessed using a well-established measure of memory interference (Retrieval Practice Paradigm). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that memory inhibition was largely unrelated to participants' eating behaviors; however, episodic recall was reliably predicted by restrained vs. uncontrolled eating: recall was positively associated with strategic dieting (β = 2.45, p = 0.02), avoidance of fatty foods (β = 3.41, p = 0.004), and cognitive restraint (β = 1.55, p = 0.04). In contrast, recall was negatively associated with uncontrolled eating (β = -1.15, p = 0.03) and emotional eating (β = -2.46, p = 0.04). These findings suggest that episodic memory processing is related to uncontrolled eating in humans. The possibility that deficits in episodic memory may contribute to uncontrolled eating by disrupting memory for recent eating is discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Nature of Episodic Memory Deficits in MCI with and without Vascular Burden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villeneuve, Sylvia; Massoud, Fadi; Bocti, Christian; Gauthier, Serge; Belleville, Sylvie

2011-01-01

This study measured episodic memory deficits in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as a function of their vascular burden. Vascular burden was determined clinically by computing the number of vascular risk factors and diseases and neuroradiologically by assessing the presence and severity of white matter lesions (WML). Strategic…

Episodic Memory in Alzheimer Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Dementia With Lewy Bodies/Parkinson Disease Dementia: Disentangling Retrieval From Consolidation.

PubMed

Economou, Alexandra; Routsis, Christopher; Papageorgiou, Sokratis G

2016-01-01

Differences in episodic memory performance in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)/Parkinson disease with dementia (PDD) are inconsistent and task dependent. The inconsistencies may be attributed to the different tasks drawing on different memory processes. Few studies have examined episodic memory impairment in the above groups using memory tests that facilitate encoding, to distinguish memory deficits due to impairment of specific processes. We examined the memory performance of 106 AD patients, 51 FTD patients, 26 DLB/PDD patients, and 37 controls using the Five-Words Test, a 5-item memory test that facilitates encoding. The patient groups did not differ in modified Mini Mental State Examination scores. AD patients scored lowest on the Five-Words Test overall, and showed the greatest reduction from immediate total recall to delayed free recall relative to the other 2 groups, consistent with a predominantly consolidation deficit. DLB/PDD patients showed the largest improvement from delayed free to delayed total recall relative to the other 2 groups, consistent with a predominantly retrieval deficit. Deficits in both consolidation and retrieval underlie the memory impairment of the patients, to different extents, and contribute to the theoretical understanding of the nature of the memory impairment of the patient groups.

Source Memory in Korsakoff Syndrome: Disentangling the Mechanisms of Temporal Confusion.

PubMed

Brion, Mélanie; de Timary, Philippe; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Maurage, Pierre

2017-03-01

Korsakoff syndrome (KS), most frequently resulting from alcohol dependence (ALC), is characterized by severe anterograde amnesia. It has been suggested that these deficits may extend to other memory components, and notably source memory deficits involved in the disorientation and temporal confusion frequently observed in KS. However, the extent of this source memory impairment in KS and its usefulness for the differential diagnosis between ALC and KS remain unexplored. Nineteen patients with KS were compared with 19 alcohol-dependent individuals and 19 controls in a source memory test exploring temporal context confusions ("continuous recognition task"). Episodic memory and psychopathological comorbidities were controlled for. While no source memory deficit was observed in ALC, KS was associated with a significant presence of temporal context confusion, even when the influence of comorbidities was taken into account. This source memory impairment did not appear to be related to performances on episodic memory or executive functions. Patients with KS displayed source memory deficits, as indexed by temporal context confusions. The absence of a relationship with episodic memory performances seems to indicate that source memory impairment is not a mere by-product of amnesia. As ALC was associated with preserved source memory, the presence of temporal context confusion may serve as a complementary tool for the differential diagnosis between ALC and KS. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

The reduction of adult neurogenesis in depression impairs the retrieval of new as well as remote episodic memory

PubMed Central

Fang, Jing; Demic, Selver; Cheng, Sen

2018-01-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with an impairment of episodic memory, but the mechanisms underlying this deficit remain unclear. Animal models of MDD find impaired adult neurogenesis (AN) in the dentate gyrus (DG), and AN in DG has been suggested to play a critical role in reducing the interference between overlapping memories through pattern separation. Here, we study the effect of reduced AN in MDD on the accuracy of episodic memory using computational modeling. We focus on how memory is affected when periods with a normal rate of AN (asymptomatic states) alternate with periods with a low rate (depressive episodes), which has never been studied before. Also, unlike previous models of adult neurogenesis, which consider memories as static patterns, we model episodic memory as sequences of neural activity patterns. In our model, AN adds additional random components to the memory patterns, which results in the decorrelation of similar patterns. Consistent with previous studies, higher rates of AN lead to higher memory accuracy in our model, which implies that memories stored in the depressive state are impaired. Intriguingly, our model makes the novel prediction that memories stored in an earlier asymptomatic state are also impaired by a later depressive episode. This retrograde effect exacerbates with increased duration of the depressive episode. Finally, pattern separation at the sensory processing stage does not improve, but rather worsens, the accuracy of episodic memory retrieval, suggesting an explanation for why AN is found in brain areas serving memory rather than sensory function. In conclusion, while cognitive retrieval biases might contribute to episodic memory deficits in MDD, our model suggests a mechanistic explanation that affects all episodic memories, regardless of emotional relevance. PMID:29879169

The reduction of adult neurogenesis in depression impairs the retrieval of new as well as remote episodic memory.

PubMed

Fang, Jing; Demic, Selver; Cheng, Sen

2018-01-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with an impairment of episodic memory, but the mechanisms underlying this deficit remain unclear. Animal models of MDD find impaired adult neurogenesis (AN) in the dentate gyrus (DG), and AN in DG has been suggested to play a critical role in reducing the interference between overlapping memories through pattern separation. Here, we study the effect of reduced AN in MDD on the accuracy of episodic memory using computational modeling. We focus on how memory is affected when periods with a normal rate of AN (asymptomatic states) alternate with periods with a low rate (depressive episodes), which has never been studied before. Also, unlike previous models of adult neurogenesis, which consider memories as static patterns, we model episodic memory as sequences of neural activity patterns. In our model, AN adds additional random components to the memory patterns, which results in the decorrelation of similar patterns. Consistent with previous studies, higher rates of AN lead to higher memory accuracy in our model, which implies that memories stored in the depressive state are impaired. Intriguingly, our model makes the novel prediction that memories stored in an earlier asymptomatic state are also impaired by a later depressive episode. This retrograde effect exacerbates with increased duration of the depressive episode. Finally, pattern separation at the sensory processing stage does not improve, but rather worsens, the accuracy of episodic memory retrieval, suggesting an explanation for why AN is found in brain areas serving memory rather than sensory function. In conclusion, while cognitive retrieval biases might contribute to episodic memory deficits in MDD, our model suggests a mechanistic explanation that affects all episodic memories, regardless of emotional relevance.

Episodic foresight deficits in regular, but not recreational, cannabis users.

PubMed

Mercuri, Kimberly; Terrett, Gill; Henry, Julie D; Curran, H Valerie; Elliott, Morgan; Rendell, Peter G

2018-06-01

Cannabis use is associated with a range of neurocognitive deficits, including impaired episodic memory. However, no study to date has assessed whether these difficulties extend to episodic foresight, a core component of which is the ability to mentally travel into one's personal future. This is a particularly surprising omission given that episodic memory is considered to be critical to engage episodic foresight. In the present study, we provide the first test of how episodic foresight is affected in the context of differing levels of cannabis use, and the degree to which performance on a measure of this construct is related to episodic memory. Fifty-seven regular cannabis users (23 recreational, 34 regular) and 57 controls were assessed using an adapted version of the Autobiographical Interview. The results showed that regular-users exhibited greater impairment of episodic foresight and episodic memory than both recreational-users and cannabis-naïve controls. These data therefore show for the first time that cannabis-related disruption of cognitive functioning extends to the capacity for episodic foresight, and they are discussed in relation to their potential implications for functional outcomes in this group.

Non-Verbal Episodic Memory Deficits in Primary Progressive Aphasias are Highly Predictive of Underlying Amyloid Pathology.

PubMed

Ramanan, Siddharth; Flanagan, Emma; Leyton, Cristian E; Villemagne, Victor L; Rowe, Christopher C; Hodges, John R; Hornberger, Michael

2016-01-01

Diagnostic distinction of primary progressive aphasias (PPA) remains challenging, in particular for the logopenic (lvPPA) and nonfluent/agrammatic (naPPA) variants. Recent findings highlight that episodic memory deficits appear to discriminate these PPA variants from each other, as only lvPPA perform poorly on these tasks while having underlying amyloid pathology similar to that seen in amnestic dementias like Alzheimer's disease (AD). Most memory tests are, however, language based and thus potentially confounded by the prevalent language deficits in PPA. The current study investigated this issue across PPA variants by contrasting verbal and non-verbal episodic memory measures while controlling for their performance on a language subtest of a general cognitive screen. A total of 203 participants were included (25 lvPPA; 29 naPPA; 59 AD; 90 controls) and underwent extensive verbal and non-verbal episodic memory testing, with a subset of patients (n = 45) with confirmed amyloid profiles as assessed by Pittsburgh Compound B and PET. The most powerful discriminator between naPPA and lvPPA patients was a non-verbal recall measure (Rey Complex Figure delayed recall), with 81% of PPA patients classified correctly at presentation. Importantly, AD and lvPPA patients performed comparably on this measure, further highlighting the importance of underlying amyloid pathology in episodic memory profiles. The findings demonstrate that non-verbal recall emerges as the best discriminator of lvPPA and naPPA when controlling for language deficits in high load amyloid PPA cases.

Working memory deficits in boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): An examination of orthographic coding and episodic buffer processes.

PubMed

Alderson, R Matt; Kasper, Lisa J; Patros, Connor H G; Hudec, Kristen L; Tarle, Stephanie J; Lea, Sarah E

2015-01-01

The episodic buffer component of working memory was examined in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typically developing peers (TD). Thirty-two children (ADHD = 16, TD = 16) completed three versions of a phonological working memory task that varied with regard to stimulus presentation modality (auditory, visual, or dual auditory and visual), as well as a visuospatial task. Children with ADHD experienced the largest magnitude working memory deficits when phonological stimuli were presented via a unimodal, auditory format. Their performance improved during visual and dual modality conditions but remained significantly below the performance of children in the TD group. In contrast, the TD group did not exhibit performance differences between the auditory- and visual-phonological conditions but recalled significantly more stimuli during the dual-phonological condition. Furthermore, relative to TD children, children with ADHD recalled disproportionately fewer phonological stimuli as set sizes increased, regardless of presentation modality. Finally, an examination of working memory components indicated that the largest magnitude between-group difference was associated with the central executive. Collectively, these findings suggest that ADHD-related working memory deficits reflect a combination of impaired central executive and phonological storage/rehearsal processes, as well as an impaired ability to benefit from bound multimodal information processed by the episodic buffer.

Higher body mass index is associated with episodic memory deficits in young adults.

PubMed

Cheke, Lucy G; Simons, Jon S; Clayton, Nicola S

2016-11-01

Obesity has become an international health crisis. There is accumulating evidence that excess bodyweight is associated with changes to the structure and function of the brain and with a number of cognitive deficits. In particular, research suggests that obesity is associated with hippocampal and frontal lobe dysfunction, which would be predicted to impact memory. However, evidence for such memory impairment is currently limited. We hypothesised that higher body mass index (BMI) would be associated with reduced performance on a test of episodic memory that assesses not only content, but also context and feature integration. A total of 50 participants aged 18-35 years, with BMIs ranging from 18 to 51, were tested on a novel what-where-when style episodic memory test: the "Treasure-Hunt Task". This test requires recollection of object, location, and temporal order information within the same paradigm, as well as testing the ability to integrate these features into a single event recollection. Higher BMI was associated with significantly lower performance on the what-where-when (WWW) memory task and all individual elements: object identification, location memory, and temporal order memory. After controlling for age, sex, and years in education, the effect of BMI on the individual what, where, and when tasks remained, while the WWW dropped below significance. This finding of episodic memory deficits in obesity is of concern given the emerging evidence for a role for episodic cognition in appetite regulation.

Higher body mass index is associated with episodic memory deficits in young adults

PubMed Central

Cheke, Lucy G.; Simons, Jon S.; Clayton, Nicola S.

2016-01-01

Obesity has become an international health crisis. There is accumulating evidence that excess bodyweight is associated with changes to the structure and function of the brain and with a number of cognitive deficits. In particular, research suggests that obesity is associated with hippocampal and frontal lobe dysfunction, which would be predicted to impact memory. However, evidence for such memory impairment is currently limited. We hypothesised that higher body mass index (BMI) would be associated with reduced performance on a test of episodic memory that assesses not only content, but also context and feature integration. A total of 50 participants aged 18–35 years, with BMIs ranging from 18 to 51, were tested on a novel what–where–when style episodic memory test: the “Treasure-Hunt Task”. This test requires recollection of object, location, and temporal order information within the same paradigm, as well as testing the ability to integrate these features into a single event recollection. Higher BMI was associated with significantly lower performance on the what–where–when (WWW) memory task and all individual elements: object identification, location memory, and temporal order memory. After controlling for age, sex, and years in education, the effect of BMI on the individual what, where, and when tasks remained, while the WWW dropped below significance. This finding of episodic memory deficits in obesity is of concern given the emerging evidence for a role for episodic cognition in appetite regulation. PMID:26447832

Component processes of memory in alcoholism: pattern of compromise and neural substrates.

PubMed

Pitel, Anne-Lise; Eustache, Francis; Beaunieux, Helene

2014-01-01

Initially, alcohol-related memory deficits were considered only through the prism of Korsakoff's syndrome (KS). It is now clear, however, that chronic alcohol consumption results in memory disorders in alcoholics without ostensible neurologic complications, such as Wernicke's encephalopathy and KS. Most of the principal memory components are affected, including working memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, perceptual memory, and procedural memory. The extent of those cognitive impairments depends on several factors, such as age, gender, nutritional status, and psychiatric comorbidity. While memory disorders, especially episodic memory deficits, are largely definitive in patients with KS, recovery of memory abilities has been described with abstinence in uncomplicated alcoholics. Neuropsychologic impairments, and especially memory disorders, must be evaluated at alcohol treatment entry because they could impede patients from benefiting fully from cognitive and behavioral treatment approaches for alcohol dependence. Screening of memory deficits could also enable clinicians to detect, among alcoholics without ostensible neurologic complications, those at risk of developing permanent and debilitating amnesia that features KS. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Common and unique gray matter correlates of episodic memory dysfunction in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Irish, Muireann; Piguet, Olivier; Hodges, John R; Hornberger, Michael

2014-04-01

Conflicting evidence exists regarding the integrity of episodic memory in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Recent converging evidence suggests that episodic memory in progressive cases of bvFTD is compromised to the same extent as in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The underlying neural substrates of these episodic memory deficits, however, likely differ contingent on dementia type. In this study we sought to elucidate the neural substrates of episodic memory performance, across recall and recognition tasks, in both patient groups using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses. We predicted that episodic memory dysfunction would be apparent in both patient groups but would relate to divergent patterns of neural atrophy specific to each dementia type. We assessed episodic memory, across verbal and visual domains, in 19 bvFTD, 18 AD patients, and 19 age- and education-matched controls. Behaviorally, patient groups were indistinguishable for immediate and delayed recall, across verbal and visual domains. Whole-brain VBM analyses revealed regions commonly implicated in episodic retrieval across groups, namely the right temporal pole, right frontal lobe, left paracingulate gyrus, and right anterior hippocampus. Divergent neural networks specific to each group were also identified. Whereas a widespread network including posterior regions such as the posterior cingulate cortex, parietal and occipital cortices was exclusively implicated in AD, the frontal and anterior temporal lobes underpinned the episodic memory deficits in bvFTD. Our results point to distinct neural changes underlying episodic memory decline specific to each dementia syndrome. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with reduced activity in core memory regions of the brain.

PubMed

Cheke, Lucy G; Bonnici, Heidi M; Clayton, Nicola S; Simons, Jon S

2017-02-01

Increasing research in animals and humans suggests that obesity may be associated with learning and memory deficits, and in particular with reductions in episodic memory. Rodent models have implicated the hippocampus in obesity-related memory impairments, but the neural mechanisms underlying episodic memory deficits in obese humans remain undetermined. In the present study, lean and obese human participants were scanned using fMRI while completing a What-Where-When episodic memory test (the "Treasure-Hunt Task") that assessed the ability to remember integrated item, spatial, and temporal details of previously encoded complex events. In lean participants, the Treasure-Hunt task elicited significant activity in regions of the brain known to be important for recollecting episodic memories, such as the hippocampus, angular gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Both obesity and insulin resistance were associated with significantly reduced functional activity throughout the core recollection network. These findings indicate that obesity is associated with reduced functional activity in core brain areas supporting episodic memory and that insulin resistance may be a key player in this association. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Episodic memory impairment in Addison's disease: results from a telephonic cognitive assessment.

PubMed

Henry, Michelle; Thomas, Kevin G F; Ross, Ian L

2014-06-01

Patients with Addison's disease frequently self-report memory and attention difficulties, even when on standard replacement therapy. However, few published studies examine, using objective measures and assessing across multiple domains, the cognitive functioning of Addison's disease patients relative to healthy controls. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the previously reported subjective cognitive deficits in Addison's disease are confirmed by objective measures. Conducting comprehensive neuropsychological assessments of patients with relatively rare clinical disorders, such as Addison's disease, is challenging because access to those patients is often limited, and because their medical condition might prevent extended testing sessions. Brief telephonic cognitive assessments are a useful tool in such circumstances. Hence, we administered the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone to 27 Addison's disease patients and 27 matched healthy controls. The instrument provides objective assessment of episodic memory, working memory, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing. Statistical analyses confirmed that, as expected, patients performed significantly more poorly than controls on the episodic memory subtest. There were, however, no significant between-group differences on the attention, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing subtests. Furthermore, patients with a longer duration of illness performed more poorly across all domains of cognition. We conclude that, for Addison's disease patients, previously reported subjective cognitive deficits are matched by objective impairment, but only in the domain of episodic memory. Future research might investigate (a) whether these memory deficits are material-specific (i.e., whether non-verbal memory is also affected), and (b) the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these deficits.

Episodic Memory in Detoxified Alcoholics: Contribution of Grey Matter Microstructure Alteration

PubMed Central

Chanraud, Sandra; Leroy, Claire; Martelli, Catherine; Kostogianni, Nikoleta; Delain, Françoise; Aubin, Henri-Jean; Reynaud, Michel; Martinot, Jean-Luc

2009-01-01

Even though uncomplicated alcoholics may likely have episodic memory deficits, discrepancies exist regarding to the integrity of brain regions that underlie this function in healthy subjects. Possible relationships between episodic memory and 1) brain microstructure assessed by magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), 2) brain volumes assessed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) were investigated in uncomplicated, detoxified alcoholics. Diffusion and morphometric analyses were performed in 24 alcohol dependent men without neurological or somatic complications and in 24 healthy men. The mean apparent coefficient of diffusion (ADC) and grey matter volumes were measured in the whole brain. Episodic memory performance was assessed using a French version of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT). Correlation analyses between verbal episodic memory, brain microstructure, and brain volumes were carried out using SPM2 software. In those with alcohol dependence, higher ADC was detected mainly in frontal, temporal and parahippocampal regions, and in the cerebellum. In alcoholics, regions with higher ADC typically also had lower grey matter volume. Low verbal episodic memory performance in alcoholism was associated with higher mean ADC in parahippocampal areas, in frontal cortex and in the left temporal cortex; no correlation was found between regional volumes and episodic memory scores. Regression analyses for the control group were not significant. These findings support the hypothesis that regional microstructural but no macrostructural alteration of the brain might be responsible, at least in part, for episodic memory deficits in alcohol dependence. PMID:19707568

Antiretroviral Non-Adherence is Associated With a Retrieval Profile of Deficits in Verbal Episodic Memory.

PubMed

Obermeit, Lisa C; Morgan, Erin E; Casaletto, Kaitlin B; Grant, Igor; Woods, Steven Paul

2015-01-01

HIV-associated deficits in verbal episodic memory are commonly associated with antiretroviral non-adherence; however, the specific aspects of memory functioning (e.g., encoding, consolidation, or retrieval) that underlie this established relationship are not well understood. This study evaluated verbal memory profiles of 202 HIV+ participants who underwent a 30-day electronic monitoring of antiretroviral adherence. At the group level, non-adherence was significantly associated with lower scores on immediate and delayed passage recall and word list learning. Retention and recognition of passages and word lists were not related to adherence. Participants were then classified as having either a normal verbal memory profile, a "subcortical" retrieval profile (i.e., impaired free recall with relatively spared recognition), or a "cortical" encoding profile (e.g., cued recall intrusions) based on the Massman et al. ( 1990 ) algorithm for the California Verbal Learning Test. HIV+ participants with a classic retrieval deficit had significantly greater odds of being non-adherent than participants with a normal or encoding profile. These findings suggest that adherence to prescribed antiretroviral regimens may be particularly vulnerable to disruption in HIV+ individuals due to deficits in the complex process of efficiently accessing verbal episodic information with minimal cues. A stronger relationship between non-adherence and passage (vs. word list) recall was also found and may reflect the importance of contextual features in remembering to take medications. Targeted interventions for enhancing and supporting episodic memory retrieval processes may improve antiretroviral adherence and overall health outcomes among persons living with HIV.

Familiarity and recollection processes in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia and their unaffected parents.

PubMed

Lefèbvre, Andrée-Anne; Cellard, Caroline; Tremblay, Sébastien; Achim, Amélie; Rouleau, Nancie; Maziade, Michel; Roy, Marc-André

2010-01-30

Episodic memory deficits are present in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and their unaffected relatives and could be considered as a cognitive indicator of genetic vulnerability to SZ. The present study, involving patients with SZ as well as their parents, used experimental tasks specifically designed to disentangle the contribution of familiarity and recollection processes to episodic memory. The performance of patients with SZ (n=26) and their unaffected parents (n=35) was compared with that of healthy control groups matched on socio-demographic variables (controls of patients, n=26; controls of parents, n=35) on two memory tasks assessing recollection and familiarity. The first task was designed to investigate item recognition and memory for item-spatial context associations whereas the second targeted item-item associations. The results revealed an overall episodic memory deficit in patients with SZ, encompassing both familiarity and recollection, while unaffected parents showed a dysfunction restricted to the recollection process. Our study highlights differences and similarities in the source of the episodic memory deficit found in patients with SZ and their unaffected parents, and it suggests that recollection could act as a cognitive endophenotype of SZ. The results also suggest that use of experimental tasks represents a promising method in the search of cognitive endophenotypes in SZ.

Age-related differences in associative memory: the role of sensory decline.

PubMed

Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe; Kilb, Angela

2014-09-01

Numerous studies show age-related decline in episodic memory. One of the explanations for this decline points to older adults' deficit in associative memory, reflecting the difficulties they have in binding features of episodes into cohesive entities and retrieving these bindings. Here, we evaluate the degree to which this deficit may be mediated by sensory loss associated with increased age. In 2 experiments, young adults studied word pairs that were degraded at encoding either visually (Experiment 1) or auditorily (Experiment 2). We then tested their memory for both the component words and the associations with recognition tests. For both experiments, young adults under nondegraded conditions showed an advantage in associative over item memory, relative to a group of older adults. In contrast, under perceptually degraded conditions younger adults performed similarly to the older adults who were tested under nondegraded conditions. More specifically, under perceptual degradation, young adults' associative memory declined and their component memory improved somewhat, resulting in an associative deficit, similar to that shown by older adults. This evidence is consistent with a sensory acuity decline in old age being one mediator in the associative deficit of older adults. These results broaden our understanding of age-related memory changes and how sensory and cognitive processes interact to shape these changes. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed with respect to mechanisms underlying age-related changes in episodic memory and resource tradeoffs in the encoding of component and associative memory. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Breast Cancer Affects Both the Hippocampus Volume and the Episodic Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

PubMed Central

Bergouignan, Loretxu; Lefranc, Jean Pierre; Chupin, Marie; Morel, Nastassja; Spano, Jean Philippe; Fossati, Philippe

2011-01-01

Background Neuroimaging studies show the hippocampus is a crucial node in the neural network supporting episodic autobiographical memory retrieval. Stress-related psychiatric disorders, namely Major Depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are related to reduced hippocampus volume. However, this is not the case for remitted breast cancer patients with co-morbid stress-related psychiatric disorders. This exception may be due to the fact that, consequently to the cancer experience as such, this population might already be characterized by a reduced hippocampus with an episodic autobiographical memory deficit. Methodology We scanned, with a 3T Siemens TRIO, 16 patients who had lived through a “standard experience of breast cancer” (breast cancer and a standard treatment in remission since 18 month) in the absence of any associated stress-related psychiatric or neurological disorder and 21 matched controls. We then assessed their episodic autobiographical memory retrieval ability. Principal Findings Remitted breast cancer patients had both a significantly smaller hippocampus and a significant deficit in episodic autobiographical memory retrieval. The hippocampus atrophy was characterized by a smaller posterior hippocampus. The posterior hippocampus volume was intimately related to the ability to retrieve negative memories and to the past experience of breast cancer or not. Conclusions/Significance These results provide two main findings: (1) we identify a new population with a specific reduction in posterior hippocampus volume that is independent of any psychiatric or neurological pathology; (2) we show the intimate relation of the posterior hippocampus to the ability to retrieve episodic autobiographical memories. These are significant findings as it is the first demonstration that indicates considerable long-term effects of living through the experience of breast cancer and shows very specific hippocampal atrophy with a functional deficit without any presence of psychiatric pathology. PMID:22016764

Memory evaluation in mild cognitive impairment using recall and recognition tests.

PubMed

Bennett, Ilana J; Golob, Edward J; Parker, Elizabeth S; Starr, Arnold

2006-11-01

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a selective episodic memory deficit that often indicates early Alzheimer's disease. Episodic memory function in MCI is typically defined by deficits in free recall, but can also be tested using recognition procedures. To assess both recall and recognition in MCI, MCI (n = 21) and older comparison (n = 30) groups completed the USC-Repeatable Episodic Memory Test. Subjects memorized two verbally presented 15-item lists. One list was used for three free recall trials, immediately followed by yes/no recognition. The second list was used for three-alternative forced-choice recognition. Relative to the comparison group, MCI had significantly fewer hits and more false alarms in yes/no recognition, and were less accurate in forced-choice recognition. Signal detection analysis showed that group differences were not due to response bias. Discriminant function analysis showed that yes/no recognition was a better predictor of group membership than free recall or forced-choice measures. MCI subjects recalled fewer items than comparison subjects, with no group differences in repetitions, intrusions, serial position effects, or measures of recall strategy (subjective organization, recall consistency). Performance deficits on free recall and recognition in MCI suggest a combination of both tests may be useful for defining episodic memory impairment associated with MCI and early Alzheimer's disease.

Using memories to understand others: the role of episodic memory in theory of mind impairment in Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Moreau, Noémie; Viallet, François; Champagne-Lavau, Maud

2013-09-01

Theory of mind (TOM) refers to the ability to infer one's own and other's mental states. Growing evidence highlighted the presence of impairment on the most complex TOM tasks in Alzheimer disease (AD). However, how TOM deficit is related to other cognitive dysfunctions and more specifically to episodic memory impairment - the prominent feature of this disease - is still under debate. Recent neuroanatomical findings have shown that remembering past events and inferring others' states of mind share the same cerebral network suggesting the two abilities share a common process .This paper proposes to review emergent evidence of TOM impairment in AD patients and to discuss the evidence of a relationship between TOM and episodic memory. We will discuss about AD patients' deficit in TOM being possibly related to their difficulties in recollecting memories of past social interactions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perspectives on Episodic-Like and Episodic Memory

PubMed Central

Pause, Bettina M.; Zlomuzica, Armin; Kinugawa, Kiyoka; Mariani, Jean; Pietrowsky, Reinhard; Dere, Ekrem

2013-01-01

Episodic memory refers to the conscious recollection of a personal experience that contains information on what has happened and also where and when it happened. Recollection from episodic memory also implies a kind of first-person subjectivity that has been termed autonoetic consciousness. Episodic memory is extremely sensitive to cerebral aging and neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer’s disease deficits in episodic memory function are among the first cognitive symptoms observed. Furthermore, impaired episodic memory function is also observed in a variety of other neuropsychiatric diseases including dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, and Parkinson disease. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to induce and measure episodic memories in the laboratory and it is even more difficult to measure it in clinical populations. Presently, the tests used to assess episodic memory function do not comply with even down-sized definitions of episodic-like memory as a memory for what happened, where, and when. They also require sophisticated verbal competences and are difficult to apply to patient populations. In this review, we will summarize the progress made in defining behavioral criteria of episodic-like memory in animals (and humans) as well as the perspectives in developing novel tests of human episodic memory which can also account for phenomenological aspects of episodic memory such as autonoetic awareness. We will also define basic behavioral, procedural, and phenomenological criteria which might be helpful for the development of a valid and reliable clinical test of human episodic memory. PMID:23616754

Impact of emotional salience on episodic memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Krauel, Kerstin; Duzel, Emrah; Hinrichs, Hermann; Santel, Stephanie; Rellum, Thomas; Baving, Lioba

2007-06-15

Patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show episodic memory deficits especially in complex memory tasks. We investigated the neural correlates of memory formation in ADHD and their modulation by stimulus salience. We recorded event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging during an episodic memory paradigm with neutral and emotional pictures in 12 male ADHD subjects and 12 healthy adolescents. Emotional salience did significantly augment memory performance in ADHD patients. Successful encoding of neutral pictures was associated with activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in healthy adolescents but with activation of the superior parietal lobe (SPL) and precuneus in ADHD patients. Successful encoding of emotional pictures was associated with prefrontal and inferior temporal cortex activation in both groups. Healthy adolescents, moreover, showed deactivation in the inferior parietal lobe. From a pathophysiological point of view, the most striking functional differences between healthy adolescents and ADHD patients were in the ACC and SPL. We suggest that increased SPL activation in ADHD reflected attentional compensation for low ACC activation during the encoding of neutral pictures. The higher salience of emotional stimuli, in contrast, regulated the interplay between ACC and SPL in conjunction with improving memory to the level of healthy adolescents.

Impaired cue identification and intention retrieval underlie prospective memory deficits in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.

PubMed

Liu, Dengtang; Ji, Chengfeng; Zhuo, Kaiming; Song, Zhenhua; Wang, Yingchan; Mei, Li; Zhu, Dianming; Xiang, Qiong; Chen, Tianyi; Yang, Zhilei; Zhu, Guang; Wang, Ya; Cheung, Eric Fc; Xiang, Yu-Tao; Fan, Xiaoduo; Chan, Raymond Ck; Xu, Yifeng; Jiang, Kaida

2017-03-01

Schizophrenia is associated with impairment in prospective memory, the ability to remember to carry out an intended action in the future. It has been established that cue identification (detection of the cue event signaling that an intended action should be performed) and intention retrieval (retrieval of an intention from long-term memory following the recognition of a prospective cue) are two important processes underlying prospective memory. The purpose of this study was to examine prospective memory deficit and underlying cognitive processes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. This study examined cue identification and intention retrieval components of event-based prospective memory using a dual-task paradigm in 30 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls. All participants were also administered a set of tests assessing working memory and retrospective memory. Both cue identification and intention retrieval were impaired in patients with first-episode schizophrenia compared with healthy controls ( ps < 0.05), with a large effect size for cue identification (Cohen's d = 0.98) and a medium effect size for intention retrieval (Cohen's d = 0.62). After controlling for working memory and retrospective memory, the difference in cue identification between patients and healthy controls remained significant. However, the difference in intention retrieval between the two groups was no longer significant. In addition, there was a significant inverse relationship between cue identification and negative symptoms ( r = -0.446, p = 0.013) in the patient group. These findings suggest that both cue identification and intention retrieval in event-based prospective memory are impaired in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Cue identification and intention retrieval could be potentially used as biomarkers for early detection and treatment prognosis of schizophrenia. In addition, addressing cue identification deficit through cognitive enhancement training may potentially improve negative symptoms as well.

Prospective and retrospective episodic metamemory in posttraumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Sacher, Mathilde; Tudorache, Andrei-Cristian; Clarys, David; Boudjarane, Mohamed; Landré, Lionel; El-Hage, Wissam

2018-03-14

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been consistently associated with episodic memory deficits. To some extent, these deficits could be related to an impairment of metamemory in individuals with PTSD. This research consequently aims at investigating prospective (feeling-of-knowing, FOK) and retrospective (confidence) metamemory judgments for episodic information in PTSD. Twenty participants with PTSD and without depression were compared to 30 healthy comparison participants on metamemory judgments during an episodic memory task. The concordance between metamemory judgments and recognition performance was then assessed by gamma correlations. The results confirmed that PTSD is associated with episodic memory impairment. Regarding metamemory, gamma correlations indicated that participants with PTSD failed to accurately predict their future memory performance as compared to the comparison group (mean FOK gamma correlations: .23 vs. .42, respectively). Furthermore, participants with PTSD made less accurate confidence judgments than comparison participants (mean confidence gamma correlations: .62 vs. .74, respectively). Our results demonstrate an alteration of both prospective and retrospective metamemory processes in PTSD, which could be of particular relevance to future therapeutic interventions focusing on metacognitive strategies.

Test-retest reliability and validity of the Sniffin' TOM odor memory test.

PubMed

Croy, Ilona; Zehner, Cora; Larsson, Maria; Zucco, Gesualdo M; Hummel, Thomas

2015-03-01

Few attempts have been made to develop an olfactory test that captures episodic retention of olfactory information. Assessment of episodic odor memory is of particular interest in aging and in the cognitively impaired as both episodic memory deficits and olfactory loss have been targeted as reliable hallmarks of cognitive decline and impending dementia. Here, 96 healthy participants (18-92 years) and an additional 19 older people with mild cognitive impairment were tested (73-82 years). Participants were presented with 8 common odors with intentional encoding instructions that were followed by a yes-no recognition test. After recognition completion, participants were asked to identify all odors by means of free or cued identification. A retest of the odor memory test (Sniffin' TOM = test of odor memory) took place 17 days later. The results revealed satisfactory test-retest reliability (0.70) of odor recognition memory. Both recognition and identification performance were negatively affected by age and more pronounced among the cognitively impaired. In conclusion, the present work presents a reliable, valid, and simple test of episodic odor recognition memory that may be used in clinical groups where both episodic memory deficits and olfactory loss are prevalent preclinically such as Alzheimer's disease. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

True memory, false memory, and subjective recollection deficits after focal parietal lobe lesions.

PubMed

Drowos, David B; Berryhill, Marian; André, Jessica M; Olson, Ingrid R

2010-07-01

There is mounting evidence that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) plays an important role in episodic memory. We previously found that patients with PPC damage exhibit retrieval-related episodic memory deficits. Here we assess whether parietal lobe damage affects episodic memory on a different task: the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false-memory paradigm. Two patients with bilateral PPC damage and a group of matched controls were tested. In Experiment 1, the task was to remember words; in Experiment 2 the task was to remember pictures of common objects. Prior studies have shown that normal participants have high levels of false memory to words, low levels to pictures. The patients exhibited significantly lower levels of false memory to words. One patient showed significantly elevated levels of false memory to pictures. The patients' false memories were accompanied by reduced levels of recollection, as tested by a Remember/Know procedure. PPC damage causes decreased levels of false memories and an abnormal Remember/Know profile. Their false memory rate is similar to the rate exhibited by patients with medial temporal lobe damage. These results support the view that portions of the PPC play a critical role in objective and subjective aspects of recollection.

Recovery of episodic memory subprocesses in mild and complicated mild traumatic brain injury at 1 and 12 months post injury.

PubMed

Tayim, Fadi M; Flashman, Laura A; Wright, Matthew J; Roth, Robert M; McAllister, Thomas W

2016-11-01

Episodic memory complaints are commonly reported after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The contributions of specific memory subprocesses (encoding, consolidation, and retrieval), however, are not well understood in mild TBI (mTBI). In the present study, we evaluated subprocesses of episodic memory in patients with mTBI using the item-specific deficit approach (ISDA), which analyzes responses on list learning tasks at an item level. We also conducted exploratory analyses to evaluate the effects of complicated mTBI (comp-mTBI) on memory. We compared episodic verbal memory performance in mTBI (n = 92) at approximately 1 and 12 months post TBI, as well as in a healthy comparison (HC) group (n = 40) at equivalent time points. Episodic memory was assessed using the California Verbal Learning Test-2nd Edition (CVLT-II), and both standard CVLT-II scores and ISDA indices were evaluated. Compared to the HC group, the mTBI group showed significantly poorer encoding and learning across time, as measured by ISDA and CVLT-II. Further analyses of these mTBI subgroups [(noncomplicated mTBI (NC-mTBI, n = 77) and comp-mTBI (n = 15)], indicated that it was the comp-mTBI group who continued to demonstrate poorer encoding ability than the HC group. When the patient groups were directly compared, the NC-mTBI group improved slightly on the ISDA Encoding Deficit Index. While the comp-mTBI group worsened slightly over time, their poorer encoding ability was not likely clinically meaningful. These findings indicate that, while the NC-mTBI and HC groups' performances were comparable by 12 months, a primary, long-term deficit in encoding of auditory verbal information remained problematic in the comp-mTBI group.

Long-term episodic memory decline is associated with olfactory deficits only in carriers of ApoE-є4.

PubMed

Olofsson, Jonas K; Josefsson, Maria; Ekström, Ingrid; Wilson, Donald; Nyberg, Lars; Nordin, Steven; Nordin Adolfsson, Annelie; Adolfsson, Rolf; Nilsson, Lars-Göran; Larsson, Maria

2016-05-01

The ɛ4 allele of the Apolipoprotein E gene is a genetic risk factor for late-onset dementia of the Alzheimers' type (DAT), which is characterized by loss of both episodic memory and olfactory functions. Little is known about the possible role of ɛ4 in the association between ongoing episodic memory decline and olfactory deficits in the general population, but such information is relevant in determining the relevance of olfaction as a marker of DAT risk. The present study was based on a large, population-based sample (n=1087, aged 45-90 years, of which 324 were ɛ4-carriers). Episodic memory change rates were established using data collected every 5 years for a 10-20 year interval leading up to an olfactory assessment using the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test at the last wave of data collection. Participants were classified according to whether or not their episodic memory ability declined more rapidly than the age-typical norm (by >1SD). Our main result is that only in ɛ4-carriers was episodic memory decline associated with odor identification impairment. In individuals without ɛ4, odor identification was unrelated to episodic memory decline status. Follow-up analyses indicated that this moderation by ɛ4 was due to the olfactory nature of the identification test, and that the effect was not caused by 63 individuals with dementia. Our results suggest that the ɛ4 determines the functional association between ongoing episodic memory decline and olfaction. These findings are consistent with the notion that ɛ4-carriers with DAT, compared to non-carriers, display a cortical atrophy pattern that is more focused on mediotemporal lobe regions supporting olfactory and episodic memory functions. Olfactory and memory assessments might provide complementary information on mediotemporal atrophy prior to clinical dementia onset, but the ɛ4 should be considered when using olfactory assessment as an early-stage indicator. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Episodic memory deficits slow down the dynamics of cognitive procedural learning in normal ageing

PubMed Central

Beaunieux, Hélène; Hubert, Valérie; Pitel, Anne Lise; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis

2009-01-01

Cognitive procedural learning is characterized by three phases, each involving distinct processes. Considering the implication of the episodic memory in the first cognitive stage, the impairment of this memory system might be responsible for a slowing down of the cognitive procedural learning dynamics in the course of aging. Performances of massed cognitive procedural learning were evaluated in older and younger participants using the Tower of Toronto task. Nonverbal intelligence and psychomotor abilities were used to analyze procedural dynamics, while episodic memory and working memory were assessed to measure their respective contributions to learning strategies. This experiment showed that older participants did not spontaneously invoke episodic memory and presented a slowdown in the cognitive procedural learning associated with a late involvement of working memory. These findings suggest that the slowdown in the cognitive procedural learning may be linked with the implementation of different learning strategies less involving episodic memory in older subjects. PMID:18654928

Evidence for a differential contribution of early perceptual and late cognitive processes during encoding to episodic memory impairment in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Green, Amity E; Fitzgerald, Paul B; Johnston, Patrick J; Nathan, Pradeep J; Kulkarni, Jayashri; Croft, Rodney J

2017-08-01

Schizophrenia is characterised by significant episodic memory impairment that is thought to be related to problems with encoding, however the neuro-functional mechanisms underlying these deficits are not well understood. The present study used a subsequent recognition memory paradigm and event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate temporal aspects of episodic memory encoding deficits in schizophrenia. Electroencephalographic data was recorded in 24 patients and 19 healthy controls whilst participants categorised single words as pleasant/unpleasant. ERPs were generated to subsequently recognised versus unrecognised words on the basis of a forced-choice recognition memory task. Subsequent memory effects were examined with the late positive component (LPP). Group differences in N1, P2, N400 and LPP were examined for words correctly recognised. Patients performed more poorly than controls on the recognition task. During encoding patients had significantly reduced N400 and LPP amplitudes than controls. LPP amplitude correlated with task performance however amplitudes did not differ between patients and controls as a function of subsequent memory. No significant differences in N1 or P2 amplitude or latency were observed. The present results indicate that early sensory processes are intact and dysfunctional higher order cognitive processes during encoding are contributing to episodic memory impairments in schizophrenia.

Independent contribution of temporal beta-amyloid deposition to memory decline in the pre-dementia phase of Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Chételat, Gaël; Villemagne, Victor L; Pike, Kerryn E; Ellis, Kathryn A; Bourgeat, Pierrick; Jones, Gareth; O'Keefe, Graeme J; Salvado, Olivier; Szoeke, Cassandra; Martins, Ralph N; Ames, David; Masters, Colin L; Rowe, Christopher C

2011-03-01

The relationship between β-amyloid deposition and memory deficits in early Alzheimer's disease is unresolved, as past studies show conflicting findings. The present study aims to determine the relative contribution of regional β-amyloid deposition, hippocampal atrophy and white matter integrity to episodic memory deficits in non-demented older individuals harbouring one of the characteristic hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, i.e. with β-amyloid pathology. Understanding these relationships is critical for effective therapeutic development. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and [(11)C]Pittsburgh Compound B-positron emission tomography scans were obtained in 136 non-demented individuals aged over 60 years, including 93 healthy elderly and 43 patients with mild cognitive impairment. Voxel-based correlations were computed between a memory composite score and grey matter volume, white matter volume and β-amyloid deposition imaging datasets. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were then performed using values extracted in regions of most significant correlations to determine the relative contribution of each modality to memory deficits. All analyses were conducted pooling all groups together as well as within separate subgroups of cognitively normal elderly, patients with mild cognitive impairment and individuals with high versus low neocortical β-amyloid. Brain areas of highest correlation with episodic memory deficits were the hippocampi for grey matter volume, the perforant path for white matter volume and the temporal neocortex for β-amyloid deposition. When considering these three variables together, only hippocampal volume and temporal β-amyloid deposition provided independent contributions to memory deficits. In contrast to global β-amyloid deposition, temporal β-amyloid deposition was still related to memory independently from hippocampal atrophy within subgroups of cognitively normal elderly, patients with mild cognitive impairment or cases with high neocortical β-amyloid. In the pre-dementia stage of Alzheimer's disease, subtle episodic memory impairment is related to β-amyloid deposition, especially in the temporal neocortex, and independently from hippocampal atrophy, suggesting that both factors should be independently targeted in therapeutic trials aimed at reducing cognitive decline.

From amnesia to dementia: ERP studies of memory and language.

PubMed

Taylor, Jason R; Olichney, John M

2007-01-01

Cognitive event-related potential (ERP) studies of memory and language impairments in amnesia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are reviewed. Well-circumscribed lesions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) or diencephalon causing an amnestic syndrome, an inability to encode and retrieve episodic memories beyond the brief duration of working memory, appear to produce altered plasticity of the late positive P600 component, but usually spare P300 and N400 components. The neuropathology of AD affects MTL and extends to neocortical association areas, causing deficits of episodic and semantic memory. In AD dementia, the P300, N400, and P600 all commonly show abnormalities. ERP studies of individuals with mild cognitive impairment may reveal neurophysiological changes prior to the emergence of clinical deficits, which could advance the early detection and diagnosis of AD.

Fornix as an imaging marker for episodic memory deficits in healthy aging and in various neurological disorders

PubMed Central

Douet, Vanessa; Chang, Linda

2015-01-01

The fornix is a part of the limbic system and constitutes the major efferent and afferent white matter tracts from the hippocampi. The underdevelopment of or injuries to the fornix are strongly associated with memory deficits. Its role in memory impairments was suggested long ago with cases of surgical forniceal transections. However, recent advances in brain imaging techniques, such as diffusion tensor imaging, have revealed that macrostructural and microstructural abnormalities of the fornix correlated highly with declarative and episodic memory performance. This structure appears to provide a robust and early imaging predictor for memory deficits not only in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, but also in schizophrenia and psychiatric disorders, and during neurodevelopment and “typical” aging. The objective of the manuscript is to present a systematic review regarding published brain imaging research on the fornix, including the development of its tracts, its role in various neurological diseases, and its relationship to neurocognitive performance in human studies. PMID:25642186

True Memory, False Memory, and Subjective Recollection Deficits after Focal Parietal Lobe Lesions

PubMed Central

Drowos, David B.; Berryhill, Marian; André, Jessica M.; Olson, Ingrid R.

2010-01-01

Objective There is mounting evidence that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) plays an important role in episodic memory. We previously found that patients with PPC damage exhibit retrieval-related episodic memory deficits. Our objective was to assess whether parietal lobe damage affects episodic memory on a different task: the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false-memory paradigm. Method Two patients with bilateral PPC damage and matched controls were tested. In Experiment 1, the task was to remember words; in Experiment 2 the task was to remember pictures of common objects. Prior studies have shown that normal participants have high levels of false memory to words, low levels to pictures. Results The patients exhibited significantly lower levels of false memory to words. The patients' false memories were accompanied by reduced levels of recollection, as tested by a Remember/Know procedure. It is unlikely that a failure of gist processing accounts for these results, as patients accurately remembered thematic elements of short vignettes, but failed to remember details. These results support the view that portions of the PPC play a critical role in objective and subjective aspects of recollection. PMID:20604621

Episodic and working memory function in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Eikelboom, Willem S; Janssen, Nikki; Jiskoot, Lize C; van den Berg, Esther; Roelofs, Ardi; Kessels, Roy P C

2018-06-18

The distinction between Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) variants remains challenging for clinicians, especially for the non-fluent (nfv-PPA) and the logopenic variants (lv-PPA). Previous research suggests that memory tests might aid this differentiation. This meta-analysis compares memory function among PPA variants. Effects sizes were extracted from 41 studies (N = 849). Random-effects models were used to compare performance on episodic and working memory tests among PPA patients and healthy controls, and between the PPA variants. Memory deficits were frequently observed in PPA compared to controls, with large effect sizes for lv-PPA (Hedges' g = -2.04 [-2.58 to -1.49]), nfv-PPA (Hedges' g = -1.34 [-1.69 to -1.00]), and the semantic variant (sv-PPA; Hedges' g = -1.23 [-1.50 to -0.97]). Sv-PPA showed primarily verbal memory deficits, whereas lv-PPA showed worse performance than nfv-PPA on both verbal and non-verbal memory tests. Memory deficits were more pronounced in lv-PPA compared to nfv-PPA. This suggests that memory tests may be helpful to distinguish between these PPA variants. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Less Effort, Better Results: How Does Music Act on Prefrontal Cortex in Older Adults during Verbal Encoding? An fNIRS Study.

PubMed

Ferreri, Laura; Bigand, Emmanuel; Perrey, Stephane; Muthalib, Makii; Bard, Patrick; Bugaiska, Aurélia

2014-01-01

Several neuroimaging studies of cognitive aging revealed deficits in episodic memory abilities as a result of prefrontal cortex (PFC) limitations. Improving episodic memory performance despite PFC deficits is thus a critical issue in aging research. Listening to music stimulates cognitive performance in several non-purely musical activities (e.g., language and memory). Thus, music could represent a rich and helpful source during verbal encoding and therefore help subsequent retrieval. Furthermore, such benefit could be reflected in less demand of PFC, which is known to be crucial for encoding processes. This study aimed to investigate whether music may improve episodic memory in older adults while decreasing the PFC activity. Sixteen healthy older adults (μ = 64.5 years) encoded lists of words presented with or without a musical background while their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity was monitored using a eight-channel continuous-wave near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system (Oxymon Mk III, Artinis, The Netherlands). Behavioral results indicated a better source-memory performance for words encoded with music compared to words encoded with silence (p < 0.05). Functional NIRS data revealed bilateral decrease of oxyhemoglobin values in the music encoding condition compared to the silence condition (p < 0.05), suggesting that music modulates the activity of the DLPFC during encoding in a less-demanding direction. Taken together, our results indicate that music can help older adults in memory performances by decreasing their PFC activity. These findings open new perspectives about music as tool for episodic memory rehabilitation on special populations with memory deficits due to frontal lobe damage such as Alzheimer's patients.

Less Effort, Better Results: How Does Music Act on Prefrontal Cortex in Older Adults during Verbal Encoding? An fNIRS Study

PubMed Central

Ferreri, Laura; Bigand, Emmanuel; Perrey, Stephane; Muthalib, Makii; Bard, Patrick; Bugaiska, Aurélia

2014-01-01

Several neuroimaging studies of cognitive aging revealed deficits in episodic memory abilities as a result of prefrontal cortex (PFC) limitations. Improving episodic memory performance despite PFC deficits is thus a critical issue in aging research. Listening to music stimulates cognitive performance in several non-purely musical activities (e.g., language and memory). Thus, music could represent a rich and helpful source during verbal encoding and therefore help subsequent retrieval. Furthermore, such benefit could be reflected in less demand of PFC, which is known to be crucial for encoding processes. This study aimed to investigate whether music may improve episodic memory in older adults while decreasing the PFC activity. Sixteen healthy older adults (μ = 64.5 years) encoded lists of words presented with or without a musical background while their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity was monitored using a eight-channel continuous-wave near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system (Oxymon Mk III, Artinis, The Netherlands). Behavioral results indicated a better source-memory performance for words encoded with music compared to words encoded with silence (p < 0.05). Functional NIRS data revealed bilateral decrease of oxyhemoglobin values in the music encoding condition compared to the silence condition (p < 0.05), suggesting that music modulates the activity of the DLPFC during encoding in a less-demanding direction. Taken together, our results indicate that music can help older adults in memory performances by decreasing their PFC activity. These findings open new perspectives about music as tool for episodic memory rehabilitation on special populations with memory deficits due to frontal lobe damage such as Alzheimer’s patients. PMID:24860481

Social Cognition Deficits: The Key to Discriminate Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia from Alzheimer's Disease Regardless of Amnesia?

PubMed

Bertoux, Maxime; de Souza, Leonardo Cruz; O'Callaghan, Claire; Greve, Andrea; Sarazin, Marie; Dubois, Bruno; Hornberger, Michael

2016-01-01

Relative sparing of episodic memory is a diagnostic criterion of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). However, increasing evidence suggests that bvFTD patients can show episodic memory deficits at a similar level as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Social cognition tasks have been proposed to distinguish bvFTD, but no study to date has explored the utility of such tasks for the diagnosis of amnestic bvFTD. Here, we contrasted social cognition performance of amnestic and non-amnestic bvFTD from AD, with a subgroup having confirmed in vivo pathology markers. Ninety-six participants (38 bvFTD and 28 AD patients as well as 30 controls) performed the short Social-cognition and Emotional Assessment (mini-SEA). BvFTD patients were divided into amnestic versus non-amnestic presentation using the validated Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) assessing episodic memory. As expected, the accuracy of the FCSRT to distinguish the overall bvFTD group from AD was low (69.7% ) with ∼50% of bvFTD patients being amnestic. By contrast, the diagnostic accuracy of the mini-SEA was high (87.9% ). When bvFTD patients were split on the level of amnesia, mini-SEA diagnostic accuracy remained high (85.1% ) for amnestic bvFTD versus AD and increased to very high (93.9% ) for non-amnestic bvFTD versus AD. Social cognition deficits can distinguish bvFTD and AD regardless of amnesia to a high degree and provide a simple way to distinguish both diseases at presentation. These findings have clear implications for the diagnostic criteria of bvFTD. They suggest that the emphasis should be on social cognition deficits with episodic memory deficits not being a helpful diagnostic criterion in bvFTD.

The role of aging in intra-item and item-context binding processes in visual working memory.

PubMed

Peterson, Dwight J; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2016-11-01

Aging is accompanied by declines in both working memory and long-term episodic memory processes. Specifically, important age-related memory deficits are characterized by performance impairments exhibited by older relative to younger adults when binding distinct components into a single integrated representation, despite relatively intact memory for the individual components. While robust patterns of age-related binding deficits are prevalent in studies of long-term episodic memory, observations of such deficits in visual working memory (VWM) may depend on the specific type of binding process being examined. For instance, a number of studies indicate that processes involved in item-context binding of items to occupied spatial locations within visual working memory are impaired in older relative to younger adults. Other findings suggest that intra-item binding of visual surface features (e.g., color, shape), compared to memory for single features, within visual working memory, remains relatively intact. Here, we examined each of these binding processes in younger and older adults under both optimal conditions (i.e., no concurrent load) and concurrent load (e.g., articulatory suppression, backward counting). Experiment 1 revealed an age-related intra-item binding deficit for surface features under no concurrent load but not when articulatory suppression was required. In contrast, in Experiments 2 and 3, we observed an age-related item-context binding deficit regardless of the level of concurrent load. These findings reveal that the influence of concurrent load on distinct binding processes within VWM, potentially those supported by rehearsal, is an important factor mediating the presence or absence of age-related binding deficits within VWM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Binge drinking during adolescence and young adulthood is associated with deficits in verbal episodic memory

PubMed Central

Cadaveira, Fernando; Caamaño-Isorna, Francisco; Rodríguez-Holguín, Socorro

2017-01-01

Binge drinking (BD), a harmful pattern of alcohol consumption, is common during adolescence. Young adults with alcohol use disorders exhibit hippocampal alterations and episodic memory deficits. However, it is not known how these difficulties progress in community BD adolescents. Our objective was to analyze the relationship between BD trajectory and verbal episodic memory during the developmental period spanning from adolescence and to early adulthood. An initial sample of 155 male and female first-year university students with no other risk factors were followed over six years. Participants were classified as stable non-BDs, stable BDs and ex-BDs according to the third AUDIT item. At baseline, participants comprised 36 ♂/ 40 ♀ non-BDs (18.58 years), 40 ♂/ 39 ♀ BDs (18.87 years), and at the third follow-up, they comprised 8 ♂/ 8 ♀ stable non-BDs (25.49 years), 2 ♂/ 2 ♀ stable BDs (25.40) and 8 ♂/ 12 ♀ ex-BDs (24.97 years). Episodic memory was assessed four times with the Logical Memory subtest (WMS-III) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Generalized linear mixed models were applied. The results showed that, relative to non-BDs, stable BDs presented difficulties in immediate and delayed recall in the Logical Memory subtest. These difficulties remained stable over time. The short-term ex-BDs continued to display difficulties in immediate and delayed recall in the Logical Memory subtest, but long-term ex-BDs did not. The effects were not influenced by age of alcohol onset, frequency of cannabis use, tobacco use or psychopathological distress. In conclusion, BD during adolescence and young adulthood is associated with episodic memory deficits. Abandoning the BD pattern may lead to partial recovery. These findings are consistent with the vulnerability of the adolescent hippocampus to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol. PMID:28152062

Binge drinking during adolescence and young adulthood is associated with deficits in verbal episodic memory.

PubMed

Carbia, Carina; Cadaveira, Fernando; Caamaño-Isorna, Francisco; Rodríguez-Holguín, Socorro; Corral, Montse

2017-01-01

Binge drinking (BD), a harmful pattern of alcohol consumption, is common during adolescence. Young adults with alcohol use disorders exhibit hippocampal alterations and episodic memory deficits. However, it is not known how these difficulties progress in community BD adolescents. Our objective was to analyze the relationship between BD trajectory and verbal episodic memory during the developmental period spanning from adolescence and to early adulthood. An initial sample of 155 male and female first-year university students with no other risk factors were followed over six years. Participants were classified as stable non-BDs, stable BDs and ex-BDs according to the third AUDIT item. At baseline, participants comprised 36 ♂/ 40 ♀ non-BDs (18.58 years), 40 ♂/ 39 ♀ BDs (18.87 years), and at the third follow-up, they comprised 8 ♂/ 8 ♀ stable non-BDs (25.49 years), 2 ♂/ 2 ♀ stable BDs (25.40) and 8 ♂/ 12 ♀ ex-BDs (24.97 years). Episodic memory was assessed four times with the Logical Memory subtest (WMS-III) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Generalized linear mixed models were applied. The results showed that, relative to non-BDs, stable BDs presented difficulties in immediate and delayed recall in the Logical Memory subtest. These difficulties remained stable over time. The short-term ex-BDs continued to display difficulties in immediate and delayed recall in the Logical Memory subtest, but long-term ex-BDs did not. The effects were not influenced by age of alcohol onset, frequency of cannabis use, tobacco use or psychopathological distress. In conclusion, BD during adolescence and young adulthood is associated with episodic memory deficits. Abandoning the BD pattern may lead to partial recovery. These findings are consistent with the vulnerability of the adolescent hippocampus to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol.

Episodic memory and executive functioning in currently depressed patients compared to healthy controls.

PubMed

Pauls, Franz; Petermann, Franz; Lepach, Anja Christina

2015-01-01

At present, little is still known about the link between depression, memory and executive functioning. This study examined whether there are memory-related impairments in depressed patients and whether the size of such deficits depends on the age group and on specific types of cognitive measures. Memory performances of 215 clinically depressed patients were compared to the data of a matched control sample. Regression analyses were performed to determine the extent to which executive dysfunctions contributed to episodic memory impairments. When compared with healthy controls, significantly lower episodic memory and executive functioning performances were found for depressed patients of all age groups. Effect sizes appeared to vary across different memory and executive functioning measures. The extent to which executive dysfunctions could explain episodic memory impairments varied depending on the type of measure examined. These findings emphasise the need to consider memory-related functioning of depressed patients in the context of therapeutic treatments.

Out-of-body–induced hippocampal amnesia

PubMed Central

Bergouignan, Loretxu; Nyberg, Lars; Ehrsson, H. Henrik

2014-01-01

Theoretical models have suggested an association between the ongoing experience of the world from the perspective of one’s own body and hippocampus-based episodic memory. This link has been supported by clinical reports of long-term episodic memory impairments in psychiatric conditions with dissociative symptoms, in which individuals feel detached from themselves as if having an out-of-body experience. Here, we introduce an experimental approach to examine the necessary role of perceiving the world from the perspective of one’s own body for the successful episodic encoding of real-life events. While participants were involved in a social interaction, an out-of-body illusion was elicited, in which the sense of bodily self was displaced from the real body to the other end of the testing room. This condition was compared with a well-matched in-body illusion condition, in which the sense of bodily self was colocalized with the real body. In separate recall sessions, performed ∼1 wk later, we assessed the participants’ episodic memory of these events. The results revealed an episodic recollection deficit for events encoded out-of-body compared with in-body. Functional magnetic resonance imaging indicated that this impairment was specifically associated with activity changes in the posterior hippocampus. Collectively, these findings show that efficient hippocampus-based episodic-memory encoding requires a first-person perspective of the natural spatial relationship between the body and the world. Our observations have important implications for theoretical models of episodic memory, neurocognitive models of self, embodied cognition, and clinical research into memory deficits in psychiatric disorders. PMID:24616529

Out-of-body-induced hippocampal amnesia.

PubMed

Bergouignan, Loretxu; Nyberg, Lars; Ehrsson, H Henrik

2014-03-25

Theoretical models have suggested an association between the ongoing experience of the world from the perspective of one's own body and hippocampus-based episodic memory. This link has been supported by clinical reports of long-term episodic memory impairments in psychiatric conditions with dissociative symptoms, in which individuals feel detached from themselves as if having an out-of-body experience. Here, we introduce an experimental approach to examine the necessary role of perceiving the world from the perspective of one's own body for the successful episodic encoding of real-life events. While participants were involved in a social interaction, an out-of-body illusion was elicited, in which the sense of bodily self was displaced from the real body to the other end of the testing room. This condition was compared with a well-matched in-body illusion condition, in which the sense of bodily self was colocalized with the real body. In separate recall sessions, performed ∼1 wk later, we assessed the participants' episodic memory of these events. The results revealed an episodic recollection deficit for events encoded out-of-body compared with in-body. Functional magnetic resonance imaging indicated that this impairment was specifically associated with activity changes in the posterior hippocampus. Collectively, these findings show that efficient hippocampus-based episodic-memory encoding requires a first-person perspective of the natural spatial relationship between the body and the world. Our observations have important implications for theoretical models of episodic memory, neurocognitive models of self, embodied cognition, and clinical research into memory deficits in psychiatric disorders.

Medial Temporal Lobe Damage Causes Deficits in Episodic Memory and Episodic Future Thinking Not Attributable to Deficits in Narrative Construction

PubMed Central

Race, Elizabeth; Keane, Margaret M.; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-01-01

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) makes critical contributions to episodic memory, but its contributions to episodic future thinking remain a matter of debate. By one view, imagining future events relies on MTL mechanisms that also support memory for past events. Alternatively, it has recently been suggested that future thinking is independent of MTL-mediated processes and can be supported by regions outside the MTL. The current study investigated the nature and necessity of MTL involvement in imagining the future and tested the novel hypothesis that the MTL contributes to future thinking by supporting online binding processes related to narrative construction. Human amnesic patients with well-characterized MTL damage and healthy controls constructed narratives about (a) future events, (b) past events, and (c) visually-presented pictures. While all three tasks place similar demands on narrative construction, only the past and future conditions require memory/future thinking to mentally generate relevant narrative information. Patients produced impoverished descriptions of both past and future events but were unimpaired at producing detailed picture narratives. In addition, future-thinking performance positively correlated with episodic memory performance but did not correlate with picture narrative performance. Finally, future-thinking impairments were present when MTL lesions were restricted to the hippocampus and did not depend on the presence of neural damage outside the MTL. These results indicate that the ability to generate and maintain a detailed narrative is preserved in amnesia and suggest that a common MTL mechanism supports both episodic memory and episodic future thinking. PMID:21753003

Medial temporal lobe damage causes deficits in episodic memory and episodic future thinking not attributable to deficits in narrative construction.

PubMed

Race, Elizabeth; Keane, Margaret M; Verfaellie, Mieke

2011-07-13

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) makes critical contributions to episodic memory, but its contributions to episodic future thinking remain a matter of debate. By one view, imagining future events relies on MTL mechanisms that also support memory for past events. Alternatively, it has recently been suggested that future thinking is independent of MTL-mediated processes and can be supported by regions outside the MTL. The current study investigated the nature and necessity of MTL involvement in imagining the future and tested the novel hypothesis that the MTL contributes to future thinking by supporting online binding processes related to narrative construction. Human amnesic patients with well characterized MTL damage and healthy controls constructed narratives about (1) future events, (2) past events, and (3) visually presented pictures. While all three tasks place similar demands on narrative construction, only the past and future conditions require memory/future thinking to mentally generate relevant narrative information. Patients produced impoverished descriptions of both past and future events but were unimpaired at producing detailed picture narratives. In addition, future-thinking performance positively correlated with episodic memory performance but did not correlate with picture narrative performance. Finally, future-thinking impairments were present when MTL lesions were restricted to the hippocampus and did not depend on the presence of neural damage outside the MTL. These results indicate that the ability to generate and maintain a detailed narrative is preserved in amnesia and suggest that a common MTL mechanism supports both episodic memory and episodic future thinking.

Episodic, semantic and procedural memory in a case of amnesia at an early age.

PubMed

Ostergaard, A L

1987-01-01

The patient C.C. developed an amnesic syndrome at the age of 10 yr. Like adult amnesics, C.C. demonstrated impaired episodic memory for both verbal and visual materials although immediate memory span was spared. However, striking deficits were also observed on a wide variety of semantic memory tasks, including reading vocabulary and verbal fluency tests, semantic classification and lexical decision tasks and tests of verbal intelligence. On the other hand, C.C. showed normal learning and retention of two procedural tasks. It was argued that this evidence is inconsistent with the view that the amnesic syndrome represents a selective defect of episodic memory that leaves semantic memory relatively unaffected.

Olfactory memory in the old and very old: relations to episodic and semantic memory and APOE genotype.

PubMed

Larsson, Maria; Hedner, Margareta; Papenberg, Goran; Seubert, Janina; Bäckman, Lars; Laukka, Erika J

2016-02-01

The neuroanatomical organization that underlies olfactory memory is different from that of other memory types. The present work examines olfactory memory in an elderly population-based sample (Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen) aged 60-100 years (n = 2280). We used structural equation modeling to investigate whether olfactory memory in old age is best conceptualized as a distinct category, differentiated from episodic and semantic memory. Further, potential olfactory dedifferentiation and genetic associations (APOE) to olfactory function in late senescence were investigated. Results are in support of a 3-factor solution where olfactory memory, as indexed by episodic odor recognition and odor identification, is modeled separately from episodic and semantic memory for visual and verbal information. Increasing age was associated with poorer olfactory memory performance, and observed age-related deficits were further exacerbated for carriers of the APOE ε4 allele; these effects tended to be larger for olfactory memory compared to episodic and semantic memory pertaining to other sensory systems (vision, auditory). Finally, stronger correlations between olfactory and episodic memory, indicating dedifferentiation, were observed in the older age groups. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Subchronic Glucocorticoid Receptor Inhibition Rescues Early Episodic Memory and Synaptic Plasticity Deficits in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

PubMed Central

Lanté, Fabien; Chafai, Magda; Raymond, Elisabeth Fabienne; Salgueiro Pereira, Ana Rita; Mouska, Xavier; Kootar, Scherazad; Barik, Jacques; Bethus, Ingrid; Marie, Hélène

2015-01-01

The early phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by hippocampus-dependent memory deficits and impaired synaptic plasticity. Increasing evidence suggests that stress and dysregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, marked by the elevated circulating glucocorticoids, are risk factors for AD onset. How these changes contribute to early hippocampal dysfunction remains unclear. Using an elaborated version of the object recognition task, we carefully monitored alterations in key components of episodic memory, the first type of memory altered in AD patients, in early symptomatic Tg2576 AD mice. We also combined biochemical and ex vivo electrophysiological analyses to reveal novel cellular and molecular dysregulations underpinning the onset of the pathology. We show that HPA axis, circadian rhythm, and feedback mechanisms, as well as episodic memory, are compromised in this early symptomatic phase, reminiscent of human AD pathology. The cognitive decline could be rescued by subchronic in vivo treatment with RU486, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. These observed phenotypes were paralleled by a specific enhancement of N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR)-dependent LTD in CA1 pyramidal neurons, whereas LTP and metabotropic glutamate receptor-dependent LTD remain unchanged. NMDAR transmission was also enhanced. Finally, we show that, as for the behavioral deficit, RU486 treatment rescues this abnormal synaptic phenotype. These preclinical results define glucocorticoid signaling as a contributing factor to both episodic memory loss and early synaptic failure in this AD mouse model, and suggest that glucocorticoid receptor targeting strategies could be beneficial to delay AD onset. PMID:25622751

Revealing past memories: proactive interference and ketamine-induced memory deficits.

PubMed

Chrobak, James J; Hinman, James R; Sabolek, Helen R

2008-04-23

Memories of events that occur often are sensitive to interference from memories of similar events. Proactive interference plays an important and often unexamined role in memory testing for spatially and temporally unique events ("episodes"). Ketamine (NMDA receptor antagonist) treatment in humans and other mammals induces a constellation of cognitive deficits, including impairments in working and episodic memory. We examined the effects of the ketamine (2.5-100 mg/kg) on the acquisition, retrieval, and retention of memory in a delayed-match-to-place radial water maze task that can be used to assess proactive interference. Ketamine (2.5-25 mg/kg, i.p.) given 20 min before the sample trial, impaired encoding. The first errors made during the test trial were predominantly to arms located spatially adjacent to the goal arm, suggesting an established albeit weakened representation. Ketamine (25-100 mg/kg) given immediately after the sample trial had no effect on retention. Ketamine given before the test trial impaired retrieval. First errors under the influence of ketamine were predominantly to the goal location of the previous session. Thus, ketamine treatment promoted proactive interference. These memory deficits were not state dependent, because ketamine treatment at both encoding and retrieval only increased the number of errors during the test session. These data demonstrate the competing influence of distinct memory representations during the performance of a memory task in the rat. Furthermore, they demonstrate the subtle disruptive effects of the NMDA antagonist ketamine on both encoding and retrieval. Specifically, ketamine treatment disrupted retrieval by promoting proactive interference from previous episodic representations.

Neural Correlates of Verbal Episodic Memory and Lexical Retrieval in Logopenic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia.

PubMed

Win, Khaing T; Pluta, John; Yushkevich, Paul; Irwin, David J; McMillan, Corey T; Rascovsky, Katya; Wolk, David; Grossman, Murray

2017-01-01

Objective: Logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. But lvPPA patients display different cognitive and anatomical profile from the common clinical AD patients, whose verbal episodic memory is primarily affected. Reports of verbal episodic memory difficulty in lvPPA are inconsistent, and we hypothesized that their lexical retrieval impairment contributes to verbal episodic memory performance and is associated with left middle temporal gyrus atrophy. Methods: We evaluated patients with lvPPA ( n = 12) displaying prominent word-finding and repetition difficulties, and a demographically-matched cohort of clinical Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 26), and healthy seniors ( n = 16). We assessed lexical retrieval with confrontation naming and verbal episodic memory with delayed free recall. Whole-brain regressions related naming and delayed free recall to gray matter atrophy. Medial temporal lobe (MTL) subfields were examined using high in-plane resolution imaging. Results: lvPPA patients had naming and delayed free recall impairments, but intact recognition memory. In lvPPA, delayed free recall was related to naming; both were associated with left middle temporal gyrus atrophy but not MTL atrophy. Despite cerebrospinal fluid evidence consistent with AD pathology, examination of MTL subfields revealed no atrophy in lvPPA. While AD patients displayed impaired delayed free recall, this deficit did not correlate with naming. Regression analyses related delayed free recall deficits in clinical AD patients to MTL subfield atrophy, and naming to left middle temporal gyrus atrophy. Conclusion: Unlike amnestic AD patients, MTL subfields were not affected in lvPPA patients. Verbal episodic memory deficit observed in lvPPA was unlikely to be due to a hippocampal-mediated mechanism but appeared to be due to poor lexical retrieval. Relative sparing of MTL volume and intact recognition memory are consistent with previous reports of hippocampal-sparing variant cases of AD pathology, where neurofibrillary tangles are disproportionately distributed in cortical areas with relative sparing of the hippocampus. This suggests that AD neuropathology in lvPPA may originate in neuronal networks outside of the MTL, which deviates from the typical Braak staging pattern of spreading pathology in clinical AD.

The effects of attention on age-related relational memory deficits: Evidence from a novel attentional manipulation

PubMed Central

Kim, So-Yeon; Giovanello, Kelly S.

2011-01-01

Healthy aging is often accompanied by episodic memory decline. Prior studies have consistently demonstrated that older adults show disproportionate deficits in relational memory (RM) relative to item memory (IM). Despite rich evidence of an age-related RM deficit, the source of this deficit remains unspecified. One of the most widely investigated factors of age-related RM impairment is a reduction in attentional resources. However, no prior studies have demonstrated that reduced attentional resources are the critical source of age-related RM deficits. Here, we utilized qualitatively different attention tasks, and tested whether reduced attention for relational processing underlies the RM deficit observed in aging. In Experiment 1, we imposed either item-detection or relation-detection attention tasks on young adults during episodic memory encoding, and found that only the concurrent attention task involving relational processing disproportionately impaired RM performance in young adults. Moreover, by ruling out the possible confound of task-difficulty on the disproportionate RM impairment, we further demonstrated that reduced relational attention is a key factor for the age-related RM deficit. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results from Experiment 1 using different materials of stimuli and found that the effect of relational attention on RM is material-general. The results of Experiment 2 also showed that reducing attentional resources for relational processing in young adults strikingly equated their RM performance to that of older adults. Thus, the current study documents the first evidence that reduced attentional resources for relational processing are a critical factor for the relational memory impairment observed in aging. PMID:21707178

Verbal episodic memory in 426 multiple sclerosis patients: impairment in encoding, retrieval or both?

PubMed

Brissart, H; Morele, E; Baumann, C; Debouverie, M

2012-10-01

Episodic memory is frequently impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients but the exact nature of the disorder is controversial. It was initially thought to be due to a retrieval deficit but some studies have demonstrated an encoding deficit, which could be linked to a slowing of information processing speed or to a deficit in elaboration of strategies. The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and the nature of verbal episodic memory (VEM) impairment in MS patients. We retrieved memory performances of 426 patients [314 F-112 M; mean age: 46.1 years; median Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score: 3.1] from a neuropsychological data base. VEM was assessed using the 16 words RL-RI 16 test. 66% MS patients present at least one recall impaired in VEM (37.2% from 2 to 5 recall). 14.2% MS patients present an impairment in encoding phase. We observed that 5% of patients presented recognition difficulties. Correlations were observed between VEM performances and EDSS, and disease duration but no group effect (ANOVA) is observed between form of MS and VEM performances. These results confirm the high prevalence of VEM impairment in MS patients. Deficits affect mainly information retrieval in early stage MS patients and are then linked to encoding as disability increases. Storage disorders are infrequent, so cognitive rehabilitation with mental imaging could be effective in MS patients.

The contribution of mediator-based deficiencies to age differences in associative learning.

PubMed

Dunlosky, John; Hertzog, Christopher; Powell-Moman, Amy

2005-03-01

Production, mediational, and utilization deficiencies, which describe how strategy use may contribute to developmental trends in episodic memory, have been intensively investigated. Using a mediator report-and-retrieval method, the authors present evidence concerning the degree to which 2 previously unexplored mediator-based deficits--retrieval and decoding deficiencies--account for age deficits in learning. During study, older and younger adults were instructed to use a strategy (imagery or sentence generation) to associate words within paired associates. They also reported each mediator and later attempted to retrieve each response and the mediator produced at study. Substantial deficits occurred in mediator recall, and small differences were observed in decoding mediators. Mediator recall also accounted for a substantial proportion of the age deficits in criterion recall independently of fluid or crystallized intelligence. Discussion focuses on mediator-based deficiencies and their implications for theories of age deficits in episodic memory. Copyright 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Autobiographical memory and structural brain changes in chronic phase TBI.

PubMed

Esopenko, Carrie; Levine, Brian

2017-04-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with a range of neuropsychological deficits, including attention, memory, and executive functioning attributable to diffuse axonal injury (DAI) with accompanying focal frontal and temporal damage. Although the memory deficit of TBI has been well characterized with laboratory tests, comparatively little research has examined retrograde autobiographical memory (AM) at the chronic phase of TBI, with no prior studies of unselected patients drawn directly from hospital admissions for trauma. Moreover, little is known about the effects of TBI on canonical episodic and non-episodic (e.g., semantic) AM processes. In the present study, we assessed the effects of chronic-phase TBI on AM in patients with focal and DAI spanning the range of TBI severity. Patients and socioeconomic- and age-matched controls were administered the Autobiographical Interview (AI) (Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2002) a widely used method for dissociating episodic and semantic elements of AM, along with tests of neuropsychological and functional outcome. Measures of episodic and non-episodic AM were compared with regional brain volumes derived from high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Severe TBI (but not mild or moderate TBI) was associated with reduced recall of episodic autobiographical details and increased recall of non-episodic details relative to healthy comparison participants. There were no significant associations between AM performance and neuropsychological or functional outcome measures. Within the full TBI sample, autobiographical episodic memory was associated with reduced volume distributed across temporal, parietal, and prefrontal regions considered to be part of the brain's AM network. These results suggest that TBI-related distributed volume loss affects episodic autobiographical recollection. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reduced Hippocampal Functional Connectivity During Episodic Memory Retrieval in Autism

PubMed Central

Cooper, Rose A.; Richter, Franziska R.; Bays, Paul M.; Plaisted-Grant, Kate C.; Baron-Cohen, Simon

2017-01-01

Abstract Increasing recent research has sought to understand the recollection impairments experienced by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we tested whether these memory deficits reflect a reduction in the probability of retrieval success or in the precision of memory representations. We also used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural mechanisms underlying memory encoding and retrieval in ASD, focusing particularly on the functional connectivity of core episodic memory networks. Adults with ASD and typical control participants completed a memory task that involved studying visual displays and subsequently using a continuous dial to recreate their appearance. The ASD group exhibited reduced retrieval success, but there was no evidence of a difference in retrieval precision. fMRI data revealed similar patterns of brain activity and functional connectivity during memory encoding in the 2 groups, though encoding-related lateral frontal activity predicted subsequent retrieval success only in the control group. During memory retrieval, the ASD group exhibited attenuated lateral frontal activity and substantially reduced hippocampal connectivity, particularly between hippocampus and regions of the fronto-parietal control network. These findings demonstrate notable differences in brain function during episodic memory retrieval in ASD and highlight the importance of functional connectivity to understanding recollection-related retrieval deficits in this population. PMID:28057726

Age-related deficits in free recall: the role of rehearsal.

PubMed

Ward, Geoff; Maylor, Elizabeth A

2005-01-01

Age-related deficits have been consistently observed in free recall. Recent accounts of episodic memory suggest that these deficits could result from differential patterns of rehearsal. In the present study, 20 young and 20 older adults (mean ages 21 and 72 years, respectively) were presented with lists of 20 words for immediate free recall using the overt rehearsal methodology. The young outperformed the older adults at all serial positions. There were significant age-related differences in the patterns of overt rehearsals: Young adults rehearsed a greater number of different words than did older adults, they rehearsed words to more recent serial positions, and their rehearsals were more widely distributed throughout the list. Consistent with a recency-based account of episodic memory, age deficits in free recall are largely attributable to age differences in the recency, frequency, and distribution of rehearsals.

Long-Term Cognitive Impairment in Kleine-Levin Syndrome

PubMed Central

Uguccioni, Ginevra; Lavault, Sophie; Chaumereuil, Charlotte; Golmard, Jean-Louis; Gagnon, Jean-François; Arnulf, Isabelle

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: In Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS), episodes of hypersomnia, cognitive, and behavioral disturbances alternate with asymptomatic periods. Because 50% of patients report decreased academic performances, we evaluated their cognitive status during asymptomatic periods, determinants of deficits, and changes during follow-up. Methods: The cognitive assessment during asymptomatic periods in all consecutive patients with typical KLS and healthy controls included the non-verbal intelligence quotient (Raven Progressive Matrices), the Trail Making Test, the Stroop Color-Word Test, the Wechsler Memory Test, verbal fluencies, the Free and Cued Learning Memory Test, and the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure. Cognitive status was reevaluated after 0.5 to 2 y in 44 patients. Results: At baseline, compared with the 42 controls, the 122 patients with KLS exhibited lower non-verbal intelligence quotient, speed of processing, attention, and reduced retrieval strategies in episodic memory. Higher episode frequency, shorter episode duration, shorter time since last episode, deeper sleep, and megaphagia during episodes predicted impaired memory. The visuoconstructional abilities and non-verbal memory were intact. After a mean follow-up of 1.7 ± 1.0 y, the episode frequency decreased from 4.6 ± 4.8 to 1.7 ± 1.9/y. The logical reasoning and attention improved, the processing speed remained low, and the retrieval strategies in verbal memory further worsened. Conclusions: In this field study, one-third of patients with KLS have long-term cognitive deficits affecting retrieval and processing speed. Cognitive function should be systematically tested in patients with KLS, which appears important to help patients in their academic studies. Citation: Uguccioni G, Lavault S, Chaumereuil C, Golmard JL, Gagnon JF, Arnulf I. Long-term cognitive impairment in kleine-levin syndrome. SLEEP 2016;39(2):429–438. PMID:26414895

Moral judgment in episodic amnesia.

PubMed

Craver, Carl F; Keven, Nazim; Kwan, Donna; Kurczek, Jake; Duff, Melissa C; Rosenbaum, R Shayna

2016-08-01

To investigate the role of episodic thought about the past and future in moral judgment, we administered a well-established moral judgment battery to individuals with hippocampal damage and deficits in episodic thought (insert Greene et al. 2001). Healthy controls select deontological answers in high-conflict moral scenarios more frequently when they vividly imagine themselves in the scenarios than when they imagine scenarios abstractly, at some personal remove. If this bias is mediated by episodic thought, individuals with deficits in episodic thought should not exhibit this effect. We report that individuals with deficits in episodic memory and future thought make moral judgments and exhibit the biasing effect of vivid, personal imaginings on moral judgment. These results strongly suggest that the biasing effect of vivid personal imagining on moral judgment is not due to episodic thought about the past and future. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Autobiographical and episodic memory deficits in mild traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Wammes, Jeffrey D; Good, Tyler J; Fernandes, Myra A

2017-02-01

Those who have suffered a concussion, otherwise known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), often complain of lingering memory problems. However, there is little evidence in the behavioral literature reliably demonstrating memory deficits. Thus, in the present study, cognitive profiles including measures of general executive functioning and processing speed, as well as episodic and semantic memory were collected in younger and older adult participants with or without a remote (>1year prior to testing) mTBI. We first investigated whether there were observable episodic and autobiographical memory impairments associated with mTBI within an otherwise healthy young group. Next, because previous work had demonstrated some overlap in patterns of behavioral impairment in normally aging adults and younger adults with a history of mTBI (e.g. Ozen, Fernandes, Clark, & Roy, 2015), we sought to determine whether these groups displayed similar cognitive profiles. Lastly, we conducted an exploratory analysis to test whether having suffered an mTBI might exacerbate age-related cognitive decline. Results showed the expected age-related decline in episodic memory performance, coupled with a relative preservation of semantic memory in older adults. Importantly, this pattern was also present in younger adults with a history of remote mTBI. No differences were observed across older adult groups based on mTBI status. Logistic regression analyses, using each measure in our battery as a predictor, successfully classified mTBI status in younger participants with a high degree of specificity (79.5%). These results indicate that those who have had an mTBI demonstrate a distinct cognitive signature, characterized by impairment in episodic and autobiographical memory, coupled with a relative preservation of semantic memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CE verbal episodic memory impairment in schizophrenia: a comparison with frontal lobe lesion patients.

PubMed

Christensen, Bruce K; Patrick, Regan E; Stuss, Donald T; Gillingham, Susan; Zipursky, Robert B

2013-01-01

Schizophrenia (SCZ)-related verbal memory impairment is hypothesized to be mediated, in part, by frontal lobe (FTL) dysfunction. However, little research has contrasted the performance of SCZ patients with that of patients exhibiting circumscribed frontal lesions. The current study compared verbal episodic memory in patients with SCZ and focal FTL lesions (left frontal, LF; right frontal, RF; and bi-frontal, BF) on a four-trial list learning task consisting of three lists of varying semantic organizational structure. Each dependent variable was examined at two levels: scores collapsed across all four trials and learning scores (i.e., trial 4-trial 1). Performance deficits were observed in each patient group across most dependent measures at both levels. Regarding patient group differences, SCZ patients outperformed LF/BF patients (i.e., either learning scores or scores collapsed across trial) on free recall, primacy, primary memory, secondary memory, and subjective organization, whereas they only outperformed RF patients on the semantically blocked list on recency and primary memory. Collectively, these results indicate that the pattern of memory performance is largely similar between patients with SCZ and those with RF lesions. These data support tentative arguments that verbal episodic memory deficits in SCZ may be mediated by frontal dysfunction in the right hemisphere.

The influence of encoding strategy on episodic memory and cortical activity in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Bonner-Jackson, Aaron; Haut, Kristen; Csernansky, John G; Barch, Deanna M

2005-07-01

Recent work suggests that episodic memory deficits in schizophrenia may be related to disturbances of encoding or retrieval. Schizophrenia patients appear to benefit from instruction in episodic memory strategies. We tested the hypothesis that providing effective encoding strategies to schizophrenia patients enhances encoding-related brain activity and recognition performance. Seventeen schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while performing incidental encoding tasks of words and faces. Subjects were required to make either deep (abstract/concrete) or shallow (alphabetization) judgments for words and deep (gender) judgments for faces, followed by subsequent recognition tests. Schizophrenia and comparison subjects recognized significantly more words encoded deeply than shallowly, activated regions in inferior frontal cortex (Brodmann area 45/47) typically associated with deep and successful encoding of words, and showed greater left frontal activation for the processing of words compared with faces. However, during deep encoding and material-specific processing (words vs. faces), participants with schizophrenia activated regions not activated by control subjects, including several in prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest that a deficit in use of effective strategies influences episodic memory performance in schizophrenia and that abnormalities in functional brain activation persist even when such strategies are applied.

Developmental amnesia associated with early hypoxic-ischaemic injury.

PubMed

Gadian, D G; Aicardi, J; Watkins, K E; Porter, D A; Mishkin, M; Vargha-Khadem, F

2000-03-01

We recently reported on three young patients with severe impairments of episodic memory resulting from brain injury sustained early in life. These findings have led us to hypothesize that such impairments might be a previously unrecognized consequence of perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic injury. Neuropsychological and quantitative magnetic resonance investigations were carried out on five young patients, all of whom had suffered hypoxic-ischaemic episodes at or shortly after birth. All five patients showed severe impairments of episodic memory (memory for events), with relative preservation of semantic memory (memory for facts). However, none had any of the major neurological deficits that are typically associated with hypoxic-ischaemic injury, and all attended mainstream schools. Quantitative magnetic resonance investigations revealed severe bilateral hippocampal atrophy in all cases. As a group, the patients also showed bilateral reductions in grey matter in the regions of the putamen and the ventral part of the thalamus. On the basis of their clinical histories and the pattern of magnetic resonance findings, we attribute the patients' pathology and associated memory impairments primarily to hypoxic-ischaemic episodes sustained very early in life. We suggest that the degree of hypoxia-ischaemia was sufficient to produce selective damage to particularly vulnerable regions of the brain, notably the hippocampi, but was not sufficient to result in the more severe neurological and cognitive deficits that can follow hypoxic-ischaemic injury. The impairments in episodic memory may be difficult to recognize, particularly in early childhood, but this developmental amnesia can have debilitating consequences, both at home and at school, and may preclude independent life in adulthood.

Type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance are associated with word memory source monitoring recollection deficits but not simple recognition familiarity deficits following water, low glycaemic load, and high glycaemic load breakfasts.

PubMed

Lamport, Daniel J; Lawton, Clare L; Mansfield, Michael W; Moulin, Chris A J; Dye, Louise

2014-01-30

It has been established that type 2 diabetes, and to some extent, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), are associated with general neuropsychological impairments in episodic memory. However, the effect of abnormalities in glucose metabolism on specific retrieval processes such as source monitoring has not been investigated. The primary aim was to investigate the impact of type 2 diabetes and IGT on simple word recognition (familiarity) and complex source monitoring (recollection). A secondary aim was to examine the effect of acute breakfast glycaemic load manipulations on episodic memory. Data are presented from two separate studies; (i) 24 adults with type 2 diabetes and 12 controls aged 45-75years, (ii) 18 females with IGT and 47 female controls aged 30-50years. Controls were matched for age, IQ, BMI, waist circumference, and depression. Recognition of previously learned words and memory for specifically which list a previously learned word had appeared in (source monitoring) was examined at two test sessions during the morning after consumption of low glycaemic load, high glycaemic load and water breakfasts according to a counterbalanced, crossover design. Type 2 diabetes (p<0.05) and IGT (p<0.01) were associated with significant source monitoring recollection deficits but not impairments in familiarity. Impairments were only observed in the late postprandial stage at the second test session. These impairments were not attenuated by the breakfast glycaemic load manipulations. Isolated source monitoring recollection deficits indicate that abnormalities in glucose metabolism are not detrimental for global episodic memory processes. This enhances our understanding of how metabolic disorders are associated with memory impairments. © 2013.

[Physiopathology of autobiographical memory in aging: episodic and semantic distinction, clinical findings and neuroimaging studies].

PubMed

Piolino, Pascale; Martinelli, Pénélope; Viard, Armelle; Noulhiane, Marion; Eustache, Francis; Desgranges, Béatrice

2010-01-01

From an early age, autobiographical memory models our feeling of identity and continuity. It grows throughout lifetime with our experiences and is built up from general self-knowledge and specific memories. The study of autobiographical memory depicts the dynamic and reconstructive features of this type of long-term memory, combining both semantic and episodic aspects, its strength and fragility. In this article, we propose to illustrate the properties of autobiographical memory from the field of cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and neuroimaging research through the analysis of the mechanisms of disturbance in normal and Alzheimer's disease. We show that the cognitive and neural bases of autobiographical memory are distinct in both cases. In normal aging, autobiographical memory retrieval is mainly dependent on frontal/executive function and on sense of reexperiencing specific context connected to hippocampal regions regardless of memory remoteness. In Alzheimer's disease, autobiographical memory deficit, characterized by a Ribot's temporal gradient, is connected to different regions according to memory remoteness. Our functional neuroimaging results suggest that patients at the early stage can compensate for their massive deficit of episodic recent memories correlated to hippocampal alteration with over general remote memories related to prefrontal regions. On the whole, the research findings allowed initiating new autobiographical memory studies by comparing normal and pathological aging and developing cognitive methods of memory rehabilitation in patients based on preserved personal semantic capacity. © Société de Biologie, 2010.

Effect of episodic and working memory impairments on semantic and cognitive procedural learning at alcohol treatment entry.

PubMed

Pitel, Anne Lise; Witkowski, Thomas; Vabret, François; Guillery-Girard, Bérengère; Desgranges, Béatrice; Eustache, Francis; Beaunieux, Hélène

2007-02-01

Chronic alcoholism is known to impair the functioning of episodic and working memory, which may consequently reduce the ability to learn complex novel information. Nevertheless, semantic and cognitive procedural learning have not been properly explored at alcohol treatment entry, despite its potential clinical relevance. The goal of the present study was therefore to determine whether alcoholic patients, immediately after the weaning phase, are cognitively able to acquire complex new knowledge, given their episodic and working memory deficits. Twenty alcoholic inpatients with episodic memory and working memory deficits at alcohol treatment entry and a control group of 20 healthy subjects underwent a protocol of semantic acquisition and cognitive procedural learning. The semantic learning task consisted of the acquisition of 10 novel concepts, while subjects were administered the Tower of Toronto task to measure cognitive procedural learning. Analyses showed that although alcoholic subjects were able to acquire the category and features of the semantic concepts, albeit slowly, they presented impaired label learning. In the control group, executive functions and episodic memory predicted semantic learning in the first and second halves of the protocol, respectively. In addition to the cognitive processes involved in the learning strategies invoked by controls, alcoholic subjects seem to attempt to compensate for their impaired cognitive functions, invoking capacities of short-term passive storage. Regarding cognitive procedural learning, although the patients eventually achieved the same results as the controls, they failed to automate the procedure. Contrary to the control group, the alcoholic groups' learning performance was predicted by controlled cognitive functions throughout the protocol. At alcohol treatment entry, alcoholic patients with neuropsychological deficits have difficulty acquiring novel semantic and cognitive procedural knowledge. Compared with controls, they seem to use more costly learning strategies, which are nonetheless less efficient. These learning disabilities need to be considered when treatment requiring the acquisition of complex novel information is envisaged.

Electrolytic lesions of dorsal CA3 impair episodic-like memory in rats.

PubMed

Li, Jay-Shake; Chao, Yuen-Shin

2008-02-01

Episodic memory is the ability to recollect one's past experiences occurring in an unique spatial and temporal context. In non-human animals, it is expressed in the ability to combine "what", "where" and "when" factors to form an integrated memory system. During the search for its neural substrates, the hippocampus has attracted a lot of attentions. Yet, it is not yet possible to induce a pure episodic-like memory deficit in animal studies without being confounded by impairments in the spatial cognition. Here, we present a lesion study evidencing direct links between the hippocampus CA3 region and the episodic-like memory in rats. In a spontaneous object exploration task, lesioned rats showed no interaction between the temporal and spatial elements in their memory associated with the objects. In separate tests carried out subsequently, the same animals still expressed abilities to process spatial, temporal, and object recognition memory. In conclusions, our results support the idea that the hippocampus CA3 has a particular status in the neural mechanism of the episodic-like memory system. It is responsible for combining information from different modules of cognitive processes.

Autobiographical memory: a clinical perspective.

PubMed

Urbanowitsch, Nadja; Gorenc, Lina; Herold, Christina J; Schröder, Johannes

2013-12-10

Autobiographical memory (ABM) comprises memories of one's own past that are characterized by a sense of subjective time and autonoetic awareness. Although ABM deficits are among the primary symptoms of patients with major psychiatric conditions such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer Disease (AD) or chronic schizophrenia large clinical studies are scarce. We therefore summarize and discuss the results of our clinical studies on ABM deficits in the respective conditions. In these studies ABM was assessed by using the same instrument - i.e., the Erweitertes Autobiographisches Gedächtnis Inventar (E-AGI) - thus allowing a direct comparison between diagnostic groups. Episodic ABM, especially the richness of details was impaired already in MCI and in beginning AD. Semantic memories were spared until moderate stages, indicating a dissociation between both memory systems. A recency effect was detectable in cognitively unimpaired subjects and vanished in patients with AD. A similar pattern of deficits was found in patients with chronic schizophrenia but not in patients with major depression. These ABM deficits were not accounted for by gender, or education level and did not apply for the physiological ageing process in otherwise healthy elderly. In conclusion, ABM deficits are frequently found in AD and chronic schizophrenia and primarily involve episodic rather than semantic memories. This dissociation corresponds to the multiple trace theory which hypothesized that these memory functions refer to distinct neuronal systems. The semi-structured interview E-AGI used to discern ABM changes provided a sufficient reliability measures, moreover potential effects of a number of important confounders could be falsified so far. These findings underline the relevance of ABM-assessments in clinical practice.

Working memory and executive functions in transient global amnesia.

PubMed

Quinette, Peggy; Guillery, Bérengère; Desgranges, Béatrice; de la Sayette, Vincent; Viader, Fausto; Eustache, Francis

2003-09-01

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is usually considered to produce a profound impairment of long-term episodic memory, while at the same time sparing working memory. However, this neuropsychological dissociation has rarely been examined in detail. While a few studies have assessed some components of working memory in TGA, the results that have been obtained are far from conclusive. To clarify this issue, we carried out a comprehensive investigation of working memory in 10 patients during a TGA attack. In the first study, we report the results from three patients examined with a battery of neuropsychological tests designed to assess each of the three subcomponents of Baddeley's model of working memory. In a second study, seven different patients underwent neuropsychological investigations that focused specifically on the central executive system, using a protocol derived from a study by Miyake and colleagues. Our findings showed that subcomponents of working memory, such as the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketch pad, were spared in TGA patients. Specific executive functions that entailed inhibitory control, dual task performance, updating and shifting mechanisms were also found to be normal. However, we found significantly impaired performance for the Brown-Peterson test, and that TGA patients were significantly impaired in the recollection of their episodic memories. They also made reduced numbers of 'remember' compared with 'know' judgments in the episodic memory test several days after TGA. On the basis of our findings, it would appear that the episodic memory deficit during TGA is not related to elementary aspects of executive functioning. Our data also highlight the nature of the cognitive mechanisms involved in the Brown-Peterson task, which may well depend on long-term memory (such as the process of semantic encoding). Lastly, the selective deficit in recollective episodic memories observed in TGA may be principally related to medial temporal lobe abnormalities that have been reported in this syndrome.

Functional connectivity pattern during rest within the episodic memory network in association with episodic memory performance in bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Oertel-Knöchel, Viola; Reinke, Britta; Matura, Silke; Prvulovic, David; Linden, David E J; van de Ven, Vincent

2015-02-28

In this study, we sought to examine the intrinsic functional organization of the episodic memory network during rest in bipolar disorder (BD). The previous work suggests that deficits in intrinsic functional connectivity may account for impaired memory performance. We hypothesized that regions involved in episodic memory processing would reveal aberrant functional connectivity in patients with bipolar disorder. We examined 21 patients with BD and 21 healthy matched controls who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a resting condition. We did a seed-based functional connectivity analysis (SBA), using the regions of the episodic memory network that showed a significantly different activation pattern during task-related fMRI as seeds. The functional connectivity scores (FC) were further correlated with episodic memory task performance. Our results revealed decreased FC scores within frontal areas and between frontal and temporal/hippocampal/limbic regions in BD patients in comparison with controls. We observed higher FC in BD patients compared with controls between frontal and limbic regions. The decrease in fronto-frontal functional connectivity in BD patients showed a significant positive association with episodic memory performance. The association between task-independent dysfunctional frontal-limbic FC and episodic memory performance may be relevant for current pathophysiological models of the disease. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dominance of objects over context in a mediotemporal lobe model of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Talamini, Lucia M; Meeter, Martijn

2009-08-04

A large body of evidence suggests impaired context processing in schizophrenia. Here we propose that this impairment arises from defective integration of mediotemporal 'what' and 'where' routes, carrying object and spatial information to the hippocampus. We have previously shown, in a mediotemporal lobe (MTL) model, that the abnormal connectivity between MTL regions observed in schizophrenia can explain the episodic memory deficits associated with the disorder. Here we show that the same neuropathology leads to several context processing deficits observed in patients with schizophrenia: 1) failure to choose subordinate stimuli over dominant ones when the former fit the context, 2) decreased contextual constraints in memory retrieval, as reflected in increased false alarm rates and 3) impaired retrieval of contextual information in source monitoring. Model analyses show that these deficits occur because the 'schizophrenic MTL' forms fragmented episodic representations, in which objects are overrepresented at the expense of spatial contextual information. These findings highlight the importance of MTL neuropathology in schizophrenia, demonstrating that it may underlie a broad spectrum of deficits, including context processing and memory impairments. It is argued that these processing deficits may contribute to central schizophrenia symptoms such as contextually inappropriate behavior, associative abnormalities, conversational drift, concreteness and delusions.

Memory systems in schizophrenia: Modularity is preserved but deficits are generalized.

PubMed

Haut, Kristen M; Karlsgodt, Katherine H; Bilder, Robert M; Congdon, Eliza; Freimer, Nelson B; London, Edythe D; Sabb, Fred W; Ventura, Joseph; Cannon, Tyrone D

2015-10-01

Schizophrenia patients exhibit impaired working and episodic memory, but this may represent generalized impairment across memory modalities or performance deficits restricted to particular memory systems in subgroups of patients. Furthermore, it is unclear whether deficits are unique from those associated with other disorders. Healthy controls (n=1101) and patients with schizophrenia (n=58), bipolar disorder (n=49) and attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (n=46) performed 18 tasks addressing primarily verbal and spatial episodic and working memory. Effect sizes for group contrasts were compared across tasks and the consistency of subjects' distributional positions across memory domains was measured. Schizophrenia patients performed poorly relative to the other groups on every test. While low to moderate correlation was found between memory domains (r=.320), supporting modularity of these systems, there was limited agreement between measures regarding each individual's task performance (ICC=.292) and in identifying those individuals falling into the lowest quintile (kappa=0.259). A general ability factor accounted for nearly all of the group differences in performance and agreement across measures in classifying low performers. Pathophysiological processes involved in schizophrenia appear to act primarily on general abilities required in all tasks rather than on specific abilities within different memory domains and modalities. These effects represent a general shift in the overall distribution of general ability (i.e., each case functioning at a lower level than they would have if not for the illness), rather than presence of a generally low-performing subgroup of patients. There is little evidence that memory impairments in schizophrenia are shared with bipolar disorder and ADHD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Memory systems in schizophrenia: Modularity is preserved but deficits are generalized

PubMed Central

Haut, Kristen M.; Karlsgodt, Katherine H.; Bilder, Robert M.; Congdon, Eliza; Freimer, Nelson; London, Edythe D.; Sabb, Fred W.; Ventura, Joseph; Cannon, Tyrone D.

2015-01-01

Objective Schizophrenia patients exhibit impaired working and episodic memory, but this may represent generalized impairment across memory modalities or performance deficits restricted to particular memory systems in subgroups of patients. Furthermore, it is unclear whether deficits are unique from those associated with other disorders. Method Healthy controls (n=1101) and patients with schizophrenia (n=58), bipolar disorder (n=49) and attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (n=46) performed 18 tasks addressing primarily verbal and spatial episodic and working memory. Effect sizes for group contrasts were compared across tasks and the consistency of subjects’ distributional positions across memory domains was measured. Results Schizophrenia patients performed poorly relative to the other groups on every test. While low to moderate correlation was found between memory domains (r=.320), supporting modularity of these systems, there was limited agreement between measures regarding each individual’s task performance (ICC=.292) and in identifying those individuals falling into the lowest quintile (kappa=0.259). A general ability factor accounted for nearly all of the group differences in performance and agreement across measures in classifying low performers. Conclusions Pathophysiological processes involved in schizophrenia appear to act primarily on general abilities required in all tasks rather than on specific abilities within different memory domains and modalities. These effects represent a general shift in the overall distribution of general ability (i.e., each case functioning at a lower level than they would have if not for the illness), rather than presence of a generally low-performing subgroup of patients. There is little evidence that memory impairments in schizophrenia are shared with bipolar disorder and ADHD. PMID:26299707

Proactive effects of memory in young and older adults: The role of change recollection

PubMed Central

Wahlheim, Christopher N.

2015-01-01

Age-related deficits in episodic memory are sometimes attributed to older adults being more susceptible to proactive interference. These deficits have been explained by impaired abilities to inhibit competing information and to recollect target information. In the present article, I propose that a change recollection deficit also contributes to age differences in proactive interference. Change recollection occurs when individuals can remember how information changed across episodes, and this counteracts proactive interference by preserving the temporal order of information. Three experiments were conducted to determine whether older adults are less likely to counteract proactive interference by recollecting change. Paired-associate learning paradigms with two lists of word pairs included pairs that repeated across lists, pairs that only appeared in List 2 (control items), and pairs with cues that repeated and responses that changed across lists. Young and older adults’ abilities to detect changed pairs in List 2 and to later recollect those changes at test were measured, along with cued recall of the List 2 responses and confidence in recall performance. Change recollection produced proactive facilitation in the recall of changed pairs, whereas the failure to recollect change resulted in proactive interference. Confidence judgments were sensitive to these effects. The critical finding was that older adults recollected change less than did young adults, and this partially explained older adults’ greater susceptibility to proactive interference. These findings have theoretical implications, showing that a change recollection deficit contributes to age-related deficits in episodic memory. PMID:24710672

Proactive effects of memory in young and older adults: the role of change recollection.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N

2014-08-01

Age-related deficits in episodic memory are sometimes attributed to older adults being more susceptible to proactive interference. These deficits have been explained by impaired abilities to inhibit competing information and to recollect target information. In the present article, I propose that a change recollection deficit also contributes to age differences in proactive interference. Change recollection occurs when individuals can remember how information changed across episodes, and this counteracts proactive interference by preserving the temporal order of information. Three experiments were conducted to determine whether older adults are less likely to counteract proactive interference by recollecting change. Paired-associate learning paradigms with two lists of word pairs included pairs that repeated across lists, pairs that only appeared in List 2 (control items), and pairs with cues that repeated and responses that changed across lists. Young and older adults' abilities to detect changed pairs in List 2 and to later recollect those changes at test were measured, along with cued recall of the List 2 responses and confidence in recall performance. Change recollection produced proactive facilitation in the recall of changed pairs, whereas the failure to recollect change resulted in proactive interference. Confidence judgments were sensitive to these effects. The critical finding was that older adults recollected change less than did young adults, and this partially explained older adults' greater susceptibility to proactive interference. These findings have theoretical implications, showing that a change recollection deficit contributes to age-related deficits in episodic memory.

Memory and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Wallace, Anna; Bucks, Romola S.

2013-01-01

Study Objectives: To examine episodic memory performance in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Design Meta-analysis was used to synthesize results from individual studies examining the impact of OSA on episodic memory performance. The performance of individuals with OSA was compared to healthy controls or normative data. Participants Forty-two studies were included, comprising 2,294 adults with untreated OSA and 1,364 healthy controls. Studies that recorded information about participants at baseline prior to treatment interventions were included in the analysis. Measurements Participants were assessed with tasks that included a measure of episodic memory: immediate recall, delayed recall, learning, and/or recognition memory. Results: The results of the meta-analyses provide evidence that individuals with OSA are significantly impaired when compared to healthy controls on verbal episodic memory (immediate recall, delayed recall, learning, and recognition) and visuo-spatial episodic memory (immediate and delayed recall), but not visual immediate recall or visuo-spatial learning. When patients were compared to norms, negative effects of OSA were found only in verbal immediate and delayed recall. Conclusions: This meta-analysis contributes to understanding of the nature of episodic memory deficits in individuals with OSA. Impairments to episodic memory are likely to affect the daily functioning of individuals with OSA. Citation Wallace A; Bucks RS. Memory and obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis. SLEEP 2013;36(2):203-220. PMID:23372268

The Role of Aging in Intra-Item and Item-Context Binding Processes in Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Dwight J.; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2016-01-01

Aging is accompanied by declines in both working memory and long-term episodic memory processes. Specifically, important age-related memory deficits are characterized by performance impairments exhibited by older relative to younger adults when binding distinct components into a single integrated representation, despite relatively intact memory…

Psychogenic amnesia--a malady of the constricted self.

PubMed

Staniloiu, Angelica; Markowitsch, Hans J; Brand, Matthias

2010-09-01

Autobiographical-episodic memory is the conjunction of subjective time, autonoetic consciousness and the experiencing self. Understanding the neural correlates of autobiographical-episodic memory might therefore be essential for shedding light on the neurobiology underlying the experience of being an autonoetic self. In this contribution we illustrate the intimate relationship between autobiographical-episodic memory and self by reviewing the clinical and neuropsychological features and brain functional imaging correlates of psychogenic amnesia - a condition that is usually characterized by severely impaired retrograde memory functioning, in absence of structural brain damage as detected by standard imaging. We demonstrate that in this disorder the autobiographical-episodic memory deficits do not exist in isolation, but occur with impairments of the autonoetic self-consciousness, emotional processing, and theory of mind or executive functions. Furthermore functional and metabolic brain alterations involving regions that are agreed upon to exert crucial roles in memory processes were frequently found to accompany the psychogenic memory "loss". Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuropsychological Correlates of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Nestor, Paul G.; Kubicki, Marek; Gurrera, Ronald J.; Niznikiewicz, Margaret; Frumin, Melissa; McCarley, Robert W.; Shenton, Martha E.

2009-01-01

Patients with schizophrenia (n = 41) and healthy comparison participants (n = 46) completed neuropsychological measures of intelligence, memory, and executive function. A subset of each group also completed magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies (fractional anisotropy and cross-sectional area) of the uncinate fasciculus (UF) and cingulate bundle (CB). Patients with schizophrenia showed reduced levels of functioning across all neuropsychological measures. In addition, selective neuropsychological–DTI relationships emerged. Among patients but not controls, lower levels of declarative–episodic verbal memory correlated with reduced left UF, whereas executive function errors related to performance monitoring correlated with reduced left CB. The data suggested abnormal DTI patterns linking declarative–episodic verbal memory deficits to the left UF and executive function deficits to the left CB among patients with schizophrenia. PMID:15506830

Altered Effective Connectivity of Hippocampus-Dependent Episodic Memory Network in mTBI Survivors

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are generally recognized to affect episodic memory. However, less is known regarding how external force altered the way functionally connected brain structures of the episodic memory system interact. To address this issue, we adopted an effective connectivity based analysis, namely, multivariate Granger causality approach, to explore causal interactions within the brain network of interest. Results presented that TBI induced increased bilateral and decreased ipsilateral effective connectivity in the episodic memory network in comparison with that of normal controls. Moreover, the left anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG, the concept forming hub), left hippocampus (the personal experience binding hub), and left parahippocampal gyrus (the contextual association hub) were no longer network hubs in TBI survivors, who compensated for hippocampal deficits by relying more on the right hippocampus (underlying perceptual memory) and the right medial frontal gyrus (MeFG) in the anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC). We postulated that the overrecruitment of the right anterior PFC caused dysfunction of the strategic component of episodic memory, which caused deteriorating episodic memory in mTBI survivors. Our findings also suggested that the pattern of brain network changes in TBI survivors presented similar functional consequences to normal aging. PMID:28074162

Developmental amnesia: Fractionation of developing memory systems.

PubMed

Temple, Christine M; Richardson, Paul

2006-07-01

Study of the developmental amnesias utilizing a cognitive neuropsychological methodology has highlighted the dissociations that may occur between the development of components of memory. M.M., a new case of developmental amnesia, was identified after screening from the normal population on cognitive and memory measures. Retrospective investigation found that he was of low birthweight. M.M. had impaired semantic memory for knowledge of facts and words. There was impaired episodic memory for words and stories but intact episodic memory for visual designs and features. This forms a double dissociation with Dr S. (Temple, 1992), who had intact verbal but impaired visual episodic memory. M.M. also had impaired autobiographical episodic memory. Nevertheless, learning over repeated trials occurred, consistent with previous theorizing that learning is not simply the effect of recurrent episodic memory. Nor is it the same as establishing semantic memory, since for M.M. semantic memory is also impaired. Within reading, there was an impaired lexico-semantic system, elevated levels of homophone confusion, but intact phonological reading, consistent with surface dyslexia and raising issues about the interrelationship of the semantic system and literacy development. The results are compatible with discrete semi-independent components within memory development, whereby deficits are associated with residual normality, but there may also be an explicit relationship between the semantic memory system and both vocabulary and reading acquisition.

Medial temporal lobe structure and cognition in individuals with schizophrenia and in their non-psychotic siblings.

PubMed

Karnik-Henry, Meghana S; Wang, Lei; Barch, Deanna M; Harms, Michael P; Campanella, Carolina; Csernansky, John G

2012-07-01

Medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures play a central role in episodic memory. Prior studies suggest that individuals with schizophrenia have deficits in episodic memory as well as structural abnormalities of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). While correlations have been reported between MTL volume loss and episodic memory deficits in such individuals, it is not clear whether such correlations reflect the influence of the disease state or of underlying genetic influences that might contribute to risk. We used high resolution magnetic resonance imaging and probabilistic algorithms for image analysis to determine whether MTL structure, episodic memory performance and the relationship between the two differed among groups of 47 healthy control subjects, 50 control siblings, 39 schizophrenia subjects, and 33 siblings of schizophrenia subjects. High-dimensional large deformation brain mapping was used to obtain volume measures of the hippocampus. Cortical distance mapping was used to obtain volume and thickness measures of the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and its substructures: the entorhinal cortex (ERC), the perirhinal cortex (PRC), and the parahippocampal cortex (PHC). Neuropsychological data was used to establish an episodic memory domain score for each subject. Both schizophrenia subjects and their siblings displayed abnormalities in episodic memory performance. Siblings of individuals with schizophrenia, and to a lesser extent, individuals with schizophrenia themselves, displayed abnormalities in measures of MTL structure (volume loss or cortical thinning) as compared to control groups. Further, we observed correlations between structural measures and memory performance in both schizophrenia subjects and their siblings, but not in their respective control groups. These findings suggest that disease-specific genetic factors present in both patients and their relatives may be responsible for correlated abnormalities of MTL structure and memory impairment. The observed attenuated effect of such factors on MTL structure in individuals with schizophrenia may be due to non-genetic influences related to the development and progression of the disease on global brain structure and cognitive processing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Changes in sleep theta rhythm are related to episodic memory impairment in early Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Hot, Pascal; Rauchs, Géraldine; Bertran, Françoise; Denise, Pierre; Desgranges, Béatrice; Clochon, Patrice; Eustache, Francis

2011-07-01

Impairments have been reported both in sleep structure and episodic memory in Alzheimer's disease [AD]. Our objective was to investigate the relationships between episodic memory deficits and electro-encephalography [EEG] abnormalities occurring during sleep in patients with early AD. Postlearning sleep was recorded in 14 patients with mild to moderate AD, and 14 healthy elderly controls after they performed an episodic memory task derived from the Grober and Buschke's procedure. For each sleep stage, the relative power and mean frequency in each band were analyzed. Relative to agematched controls, AD patients presented faster mean theta frequency in both REM sleep and slow wave sleep [SWS]. In AD patients, a correlative analysis revealed that faster theta frequency during SWS was associated with better delayed episodic recall. We assume that increased theta activity reflects changes in neuronal activity to maintain memory performance, indicating that compensatory mechanisms already described at the waking state could also be engaged during SWS. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Supporting the self-concept with memory: insight from amnesia

PubMed Central

Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-01-01

We investigated the extent to which personal semantic memory supports the self-concept in individuals with medial temporal lobe amnesia and healthy adults. Participants completed eight ‘I Am’ self-statements. For each of the four highest ranked self-statements, participants completed an open-ended narrative task, during which they provided supporting information indicating why the I Am statement was considered self-descriptive. Participants then completed an episodic probe task, during which they attempted to retrieve six episodic memories for each of these self-statements. Supporting information was scored as episodic, personal semantic or general semantic. In the narrative task, personal semantic memory predominated as self-supporting information in both groups. The amnesic participants generated fewer personal semantic memories than controls to support their self-statements, a deficit that was more pronounced for trait relative to role self-statements. In the episodic probe task, the controls primarily generated unique event memories, but the amnesic participants did not. These findings demonstrate that personal semantic memory, in particular autobiographical fact knowledge, plays a critical role in supporting the self-concept, regardless of the accessibility of episodic memories, and they highlight potential differences in the way traits and roles are supported by personal memory. PMID:25964501

Everyday episodic memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a preliminary investigation.

PubMed

Irish, Muireann; Lawlor, Brian A; Coen, Robert F; O'Mara, Shane M

2011-08-04

Decline in episodic memory is one of the hallmark features of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is also a defining feature of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which is posited as a potential prodrome of AD. While deficits in episodic memory are well documented in MCI, the nature of this impairment remains relatively under-researched, particularly for those domains with direct relevance and meaning for the patient's daily life. In order to fully explore the impact of disruption to the episodic memory system on everyday memory in MCI, we examined participants' episodic memory capacity using a battery of experimental tasks with real-world relevance. We investigated episodic acquisition and delayed recall (story-memory), associative memory (face-name pairings), spatial memory (route learning and recall), and memory for everyday mundane events in 16 amnestic MCI and 18 control participants. Furthermore, we followed MCI participants longitudinally to gain preliminary evidence regarding the possible predictive efficacy of these real-world episodic memory tasks for subsequent conversion to AD. The most discriminating tests at baseline were measures of acquisition, delayed recall, and associative memory, followed by everyday memory, and spatial memory tasks, with MCI patients scoring significantly lower than controls. At follow-up (mean time elapsed: 22.4 months), 6 MCI cases had progressed to clinically probable AD. Exploratory logistic regression analyses revealed that delayed associative memory performance at baseline was a potential predictor of subsequent conversion to AD. As a preliminary study, our findings suggest that simple associative memory paradigms with real-world relevance represent an important line of enquiry in future longitudinal studies charting MCI progression over time.

The Influence of Encoding Strategy on Episodic Memory and Cortical Activity in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Haut, Kristen; Csernansky, John G.; Barch, Deanna M.

2005-01-01

Background: Recent work suggests that episodic memory deficits in schizophrenia may be related to disturbances of encoding or retrieval. Schizophrenia patients appear to benefit from instruction in episodic memory strategies. We tested the hypothesis that providing effective encoding strategies to schizophrenia patients enhances encoding-related brain activity and recognition performance. Methods: Seventeen schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while performing incidental encoding tasks of words and faces. Subjects were required to make either deep (abstract/concrete) or shallow (alphabetization) judgments for words and deep (gender) judgments for faces, followed by subsequent recognition tests. Results: Schizophrenia and comparison subjects recognized significantly more words encoded deeply than shallowly, activated regions in inferior frontal cortex (Brodmann area 45/47) typically associated with deep and successful encoding of words, and showed greater left frontal activation for the processing of words compared with faces. However, during deep encoding and material-specific processing (words vs. faces), participants with schizophrenia activated regions not activated by control subjects, including several in prefrontal cortex. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a deficit in use of effective strategies influences episodic memory performance in schizophrenia and that abnormalities in functional brain activation persist even when such strategies are applied. PMID:15992522

Memory for Sequences of Events Impaired in Typical Aging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Timothy A.; Morris, Andrea M.; Stark, Shauna M.; Fortin, Norbert J.; Stark, Craig E. L.

2015-01-01

Typical aging is associated with diminished episodic memory performance. To improve our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying this age-related memory deficit, we previously developed an integrated, cross-species approach to link converging evidence from human and animal research. This novel approach focuses on the ability to…

Autobiographical Memory: A Clinical Perspective

PubMed Central

Urbanowitsch, Nadja; Gorenc, Lina; Herold, Christina J.; Schröder, Johannes

2013-01-01

Autobiographical memory (ABM) comprises memories of one’s own past that are characterized by a sense of subjective time and autonoetic awareness. Although ABM deficits are among the primary symptoms of patients with major psychiatric conditions such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer Disease (AD) or chronic schizophrenia large clinical studies are scarce. We therefore summarize and discuss the results of our clinical studies on ABM deficits in the respective conditions. In these studies ABM was assessed by using the same instrument – i.e., the Erweitertes Autobiographisches Gedächtnis Inventar (E-AGI) – thus allowing a direct comparison between diagnostic groups. Episodic ABM, especially the richness of details was impaired already in MCI and in beginning AD. Semantic memories were spared until moderate stages, indicating a dissociation between both memory systems. A recency effect was detectable in cognitively unimpaired subjects and vanished in patients with AD. A similar pattern of deficits was found in patients with chronic schizophrenia but not in patients with major depression. These ABM deficits were not accounted for by gender, or education level and did not apply for the physiological ageing process in otherwise healthy elderly. In conclusion, ABM deficits are frequently found in AD and chronic schizophrenia and primarily involve episodic rather than semantic memories. This dissociation corresponds to the multiple trace theory which hypothesized that these memory functions refer to distinct neuronal systems. The semi-structured interview E-AGI used to discern ABM changes provided a sufficient reliability measures, moreover potential effects of a number of important confounders could be falsified so far. These findings underline the relevance of ABM-assessments in clinical practice. PMID:24339804

Early Memories of Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Assessed Using Online Self-Reports

PubMed Central

Zamoscik, Vera; Mier, Daniela; Schmidt, Stephanie N. L.; Kirsch, Peter

2016-01-01

“When I was one and a half years old, I was on a ferry lying on red seats” – while several autobiographical accounts by people with autism reveal vivid memories of early childhood, the vast amount of experimental investigations found deficits in personal autobiographic memory in autism. To assess this contradiction empirically, we implemented an online questionnaire on early childhood events to compare people on the autism spectrum (AS) and non-autistic people with respect to their earliest autobiographical episodic memories and the earliest semantic know event as told by another person. Results indicate that people on the AS do not differ from non-autistic people in the age of their earliest know events but remember events from an earlier age in childhood and with more sensory details, contradicting the assumption of an overall deficit in personal episodic memory in autism. Furthermore, our results emphasize the supporting influence of language for memory formation and give evidence for an important role of sensory features in memories of people on the AS. PMID:27199786

A SEMantic and EPisodic Memory Test (SEMEP) Developed within the Embodied Cognition Framework: Application to Normal Aging, Alzheimer's Disease and Semantic Dementia.

PubMed

Vallet, Guillaume T; Hudon, Carol; Bier, Nathalie; Macoir, Joël; Versace, Rémy; Simard, Martine

2017-01-01

Embodiment has highlighted the importance of sensory-motor components in cognition. Perception and memory are thus very tightly bound together, and episodic and semantic memories should rely on the same grounded memory traces. Reduced perception should then directly reduce the ability to encode and retrieve an episodic memory, as in normal aging. Multimodal integration deficits, as in Alzheimer's disease, should lead to more severe episodic memory impairment. The present study introduces a new memory test developed to take into account these assumptions. The SEMEP (SEMantic-Episodic) memory test proposes to assess conjointly semantic and episodic knowledge across multiple tasks: semantic matching, naming, free recall, and recognition. The performance of young adults is compared to healthy elderly adults (HE), patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and patients with semantic dementia (SD). The results show specific patterns of performance between the groups. HE commit memory errors only for presented but not to be remembered items. AD patients present the worst episodic memory performance associated with intrusion errors (recall or recognition of items never presented). They were the only group to not benefit from a visual isolation (addition of a yellow background), a method known to increase the distinctiveness of the memory traces. Finally, SD patients suffer from the most severe semantic impairment. To conclude, confusion errors are common across all the elderly groups, whereas AD was the only group to exhibit regular intrusion errors and SD patients to show severe semantic impairment.

Changes in Tryptophan Catabolite (TRYCAT) Pathway Patterning Are Associated with Mild Impairments in Declarative Memory in Schizophrenia and Deficits in Semantic and Episodic Memory Coupled with Increased False-Memory Creation in Deficit Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Kanchanatawan, Buranee; Hemrungrojn, Solaphat; Thika, Supaksorn; Sirivichayakul, Sunee; Ruxrungtham, Kiat; Carvalho, André F; Geffard, Michel; Anderson, George; Maes, Michael

2018-06-01

Evidence indicates that schizophrenia and in particular negative symptoms and deficit schizophrenia are accompanied by neurocognitive impairments and changes in the patterning of the tryptophan catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway. This cross-sectional study was carried out to examine the associations between cognitive functions (as measured with Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD)) and TRYCAT pathway patterning in patients with (n = 40) and without (n = 40) deficit schizophrenia and normal controls (n = 40). Cognitive measures were assessed with the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), Boston Naming Test (BNT), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Word List Memory (WLM), Constructional Praxis, Word List Recall (WLRecall), and Word List Recognition (WLRecognition), while TRYCAT measurements assessed the IgA/IgM responses to noxious TRYCATs, namely quinolinic acid (QA), 3-OH-kynurenine (3HK), picolinic acid (PA), and xanthurenic (XA) acid, and more protective (PRO) TRYCATs, including kynurenic acid (KA) and anthranilic acid (AA). IgA NOX/PRO, IgM KA/3HK, and IgA/IgM NOX/PRO ratios were computed. Schizophrenia was accompanied by lower VFT and WLM, while BNT (dysnomia) and MMSE are significantly lower in multiple- than first-episode schizophrenia. Deficit schizophrenia is strongly associated with worse outcomes on VFT, MMSE, WLM, WLRecall, WLRecognition, and delayed recall savings and increased false memories. Around 40-50% of the variance in negative symptoms' scores was explained by VFT, WLM, WLRecall, and MMSE. Increases in IgA NOX/PRO, IgM KA/3HK, and/or IgA/IgM NOX/PRO ratios were associated with impairments in VFT, BNT, MMSE, WLM, WLRecall, WLRecognition, and false-memory creation. In conclusion, nondeficit schizophrenia is accompanied by mild memory impairments, while disease progression is accompanied by broader cognitive impairments. Deficit schizophrenia and negative symptoms are strongly associated with deficits in working memory, delayed recall and recognition, and increased false-memory creation. These cognitive impairments and memory deficits are in part explained by increased production and/or attenuated regulation of TRYCATs with neurotoxic, excitotoxic, immune-inflammatory, oxidative, and nitrosative potential, which may contribute to neuroprogression.

Working memory and semantic involvement in sentence processing: a case of pure progressive amnesia.

PubMed

Fossard, Marion; Rigalleau, François; Puel, Michèle; Nespoulous, Jean-Luc; Viallard, Gérard; Démonet, Jean-François; Cardebat, Dominique

2006-01-01

ED, a 83-year-old woman, meets the criteria of pure progressive amnesia, with gradual impairment of episodic and autobiographical memory, sparing of semantic processing and strong working memory (WM) deficit. The dissociation between disturbed WM and spared semantic processing permitted testing the role of WM in processing anaphors like pronouns or repeated names. Results showed a globally normal anaphoric behavior in two experiments requiring anaphoric processing in sentence production and comprehension. We suggest that preserved semantic processing in ED would have compensated for working memory deficit in anaphoric processing.

[Early episodic memory impairments in Alzheimer's disease].

PubMed

Ergis, A-M; Eusop-Roussel, E

2008-05-01

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show early episodic memory impairments. Such deficits reflect specific impairments affecting one or several stages of encoding, storage and retrieval processes. However, AD patients not only have great difficulty retrieving memories and information but also suffer from distortions of memory, as intrusions and false recognitions. Intrusions can be defined as the unintentional recall of inappropriate information in a laboratory-learning tasks such as word-list recall and story recall. False recognition refers to the erroneous recognition of information that was not previously presented. The first objective of this review is to present studies from the literature that allowed a better understanding of the nature of episodic memory deficits in AD, and to examine recent research on false memories. The second part of this review is aimed at presenting recent research conducted on prospective memory (PM) in Alzheimer's disease. Prospective memory situations involve forming intentions and then realizing those intentions at some appropriate time in the future. Everyday examples of prospective memory include remembering to buy bread on the way home from work, remembering to give friends a message upon next encountering them, and remembering to take medication. Patients suffering from AD show difficulties in performing prospective tasks in daily life, according to the complaints of their care givers, and these difficulties are massively present at the first stages of the disease. Nevertheless, very few studies have been dedicated to this subject, although the evaluation of PM could be helpful for the early diagnosis of AD.

Differential patterns of contextual organization of memory in first-episode psychosis.

PubMed

Murty, Vishnu P; McKinney, Rachel A; DuBrow, Sarah; Jalbrzikowski, Maria; Haas, Gretchen L; Luna, Beatriz

2018-02-15

Contextual information is used to support and organize episodic memory. Prior research has reliably shown memory deficits in psychosis; however, little research has characterized how this population uses contextual information during memory recall. We employed an approach founded in a computational framework of free recall to quantify how individuals with first episode of psychosis (FEP, N = 97) and controls (CON, N = 55) use temporal and semantic context to organize memory recall. Free recall was characterized using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R). We compared FEP and CON on three measures of free recall: proportion recalled, temporal clustering, and semantic clustering. Measures of temporal/semantic clustering quantified how individuals use contextual information to organize memory recall. We also assessed to what extent these measures relate to antipsychotic use and differentiated between different types of psychosis. We also explored the relationship between these measures and intelligence. In comparison to CON, FEP had reduced recall and less temporal clustering during free recall (p < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected), and showed a trend towards greater semantic clustering (p = 0.10, Bonferroni-corrected). Within FEP, antipsychotic use and diagnoses did not differentiate between free recall accuracy or contextual organization of memory. IQ was related to free recall accuracy, but not the use of contextual information during recall in either group (p < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected). These results show that in addition to deficits in memory recall, FEP differed in how they organize memories compared to CON.

Dynamics of the cognitive procedural learning in alcoholics with Korsakoff's syndrome.

PubMed

Beaunieux, Hélène; Pitel, Anne L; Witkowski, Thomas; Vabret, François; Viader, Fausto; Eustache, Francis

2013-06-01

While procedures acquired before the development of amnesia are likely to be preserved in alcoholic patients with Korsakoff's syndrome, the ability of Korsakoff patients (KS) to learn new cognitive procedures is called in question. According to the Adaptive Control of Thoughts model, learning a new cognitive procedure requires highly controlled processes in the initial cognitive phase, which may be difficult for KS with episodic and working memory deficits. The goals of the present study were to examine the learning dynamics of KS compared with uncomplicated alcoholic patients (AL) and control subjects (CS) and to determine the contribution of episodic and working memory abilities in cognitive procedural learning performance. Fourteen KS, 15 AL, and 15 CS were submitted to 40 trials (4 daily learning sessions) of the Tower of Toronto task (disk-transfer task similar to the tower of Hanoi task) as well as episodic and working memory tasks. The 10 KS who were able to perform the cognitive procedural learning task obtained lower results than both CS and AL. The cognitive phase was longer in the Korsakoff's syndrome group than in the other 2 groups but did not differ between the 3 groups any more when episodic memory abilities were controlled. Our results indicate that KS have impaired cognitive procedural learning abilities compared with both AL and CS. Episodic memory deficits observed in KS result in a delayed transition from the cognitive learning phase to more advanced learning phases and, as a consequence, in an absence of automation of the procedure within 40 trials. Copyright © 2012 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

The relationship of Theory of Mind with symptoms and cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder: a prospective study.

PubMed

Ioannidi, N; Konstantakopoulos, G; Sakkas, D; Oulis, P

2015-01-01

Previous studies in bipolar disorder suggest patients' deficient performance in Theory of Mind tasks, both during manic or depressive episodes and in remission. However, most of the extant studies were cross-sectional and did not control for potential confounders such as residual symptoms or co-existent deficits in other cognitive functions. The present study is the first prospective study that assessed the effect of remission on Theory of Mind (ToM) in patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) controlling for other cognitive deficits. ToM was assessed in 29 patients with BD type I during an episode of the illness and in remission as well as in 29 healthy controls. The two groups were pair-matched for gender, age and education level. Three tests with different levels of complexity were used to assess ToM: First Order False Belief Task, Hinting Task and Faux Pas Recognition Test. Concomitantly, a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to all participants assessing general intelligence, working memory, attention, speed processing, verbal learning, and memory and executive functions. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Young Mania Rating Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and GAF were also administered to the patients. Differences between patients--in acute phase and in remission--and the control group on neuropsychological tests were tested using one-way ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni corrections. The effect of other cognitive deficits on patients' ToM dysfunction was controlled for using general linear models. The patients showed significantly lower performance in all ToM tests during the acute phases as compared to the control group (p values from 0.001 to 0.014). However, these impairments did not persist beyond acute mood episode, except patients' poor performance on Faux Pas (p=0.001). Additionally, patients had poorer performance compared to control group in verbal learning and memory (p<0.001) as well as visuospatial working memory (p<0.001) during both the acute and the euthymic phases of the illness. Patients also had poorer performance than healthy controls in immediate memory (p=0.026) and executive functions (p=0.001), however only during episodes of illness. Differences in Faux Pas did not remain statistically significant when the effect of verbal memory and visuospatial working memory was controlled for. Differences in other ToM tests during episodes did not remain statistically significant, when other cognitive functions that were found impaired in patients during episodes, were controlled for. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that ToM dysfunction in BD is associated with mood symptoms and it might reflect underlying cognitive deficits rather than representing a specific trait marker of the disorder.

Dominance of Objects over Context in a Mediotemporal Lobe Model of Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Talamini, Lucia M.; Meeter, Martijn

2009-01-01

Background A large body of evidence suggests impaired context processing in schizophrenia. Here we propose that this impairment arises from defective integration of mediotemporal ‘what’ and ‘where’ routes, carrying object and spatial information to the hippocampus. Methodology and Findings We have previously shown, in a mediotemporal lobe (MTL) model, that the abnormal connectivity between MTL regions observed in schizophrenia can explain the episodic memory deficits associated with the disorder. Here we show that the same neuropathology leads to several context processing deficits observed in patients with schizophrenia: 1) failure to choose subordinate stimuli over dominant ones when the former fit the context, 2) decreased contextual constraints in memory retrieval, as reflected in increased false alarm rates and 3) impaired retrieval of contextual information in source monitoring. Model analyses show that these deficits occur because the ‘schizophrenic MTL’ forms fragmented episodic representations, in which objects are overrepresented at the expense of spatial contextual information. Conclusions and Significance These findings highlight the importance of MTL neuropathology in schizophrenia, demonstrating that it may underlie a broad spectrum of deficits, including context processing and memory impairments. It is argued that these processing deficits may contribute to central schizophrenia symptoms such as contextually inappropriate behavior, associative abnormalities, conversational drift, concreteness and delusions. PMID:19652706

Impaired event memory and recollection in a case of developmental amnesia.

PubMed

Rosenbaum, R S; Carson, N; Abraham, N; Bowles, B; Kwan, D; Köhler, S; Svoboda, E; Levine, B; Richards, B

2011-10-01

A current debate in the literature is whether all declarative memories and associated memory processes rely on the same neural substrate. Here, we show that H.C., a developmental amnesic person with selective bilateral hippocampal volume loss, has a mild deficit in personal episodic memory, and a more pronounced deficit in public event memory; semantic memory for personal and general knowledge was unimpaired. This was accompanied by a subtle difference in impairment between recollection and familiarity on lab-based tests of recognition memory. Strikingly, H.C.'s recognition did not benefit from a levels-of-processing manipulation. Thus, not all types of declarative memory and related processes can exist independently of the hippocampus even if it is damaged early in life.

Everyday episodic memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a preliminary investigation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Decline in episodic memory is one of the hallmark features of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is also a defining feature of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which is posited as a potential prodrome of AD. While deficits in episodic memory are well documented in MCI, the nature of this impairment remains relatively under-researched, particularly for those domains with direct relevance and meaning for the patient's daily life. In order to fully explore the impact of disruption to the episodic memory system on everyday memory in MCI, we examined participants' episodic memory capacity using a battery of experimental tasks with real-world relevance. We investigated episodic acquisition and delayed recall (story-memory), associative memory (face-name pairings), spatial memory (route learning and recall), and memory for everyday mundane events in 16 amnestic MCI and 18 control participants. Furthermore, we followed MCI participants longitudinally to gain preliminary evidence regarding the possible predictive efficacy of these real-world episodic memory tasks for subsequent conversion to AD. Results The most discriminating tests at baseline were measures of acquisition, delayed recall, and associative memory, followed by everyday memory, and spatial memory tasks, with MCI patients scoring significantly lower than controls. At follow-up (mean time elapsed: 22.4 months), 6 MCI cases had progressed to clinically probable AD. Exploratory logistic regression analyses revealed that delayed associative memory performance at baseline was a potential predictor of subsequent conversion to AD. Conclusions As a preliminary study, our findings suggest that simple associative memory paradigms with real-world relevance represent an important line of enquiry in future longitudinal studies charting MCI progression over time. PMID:21816065

Supporting the self-concept with memory: insight from amnesia.

PubMed

Grilli, Matthew D; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-12-01

We investigated the extent to which personal semantic memory supports the self-concept in individuals with medial temporal lobe amnesia and healthy adults. Participants completed eight 'I Am' self-statements. For each of the four highest ranked self-statements, participants completed an open-ended narrative task, during which they provided supporting information indicating why the I Am statement was considered self-descriptive. Participants then completed an episodic probe task, during which they attempted to retrieve six episodic memories for each of these self-statements. Supporting information was scored as episodic, personal semantic or general semantic. In the narrative task, personal semantic memory predominated as self-supporting information in both groups. The amnesic participants generated fewer personal semantic memories than controls to support their self-statements, a deficit that was more pronounced for trait relative to role self-statements. In the episodic probe task, the controls primarily generated unique event memories, but the amnesic participants did not. These findings demonstrate that personal semantic memory, in particular autobiographical fact knowledge, plays a critical role in supporting the self-concept, regardless of the accessibility of episodic memories, and they highlight potential differences in the way traits and roles are supported by personal memory. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Semantic amnesia without dementia: documentation of a case.

PubMed

Rusconi, M L; Zago, S; Basso, A

1997-06-01

We described the case of a patient affected by a progressive semantic memory disorder associated with prevalent temporal lobe atrophy. This deficit seems to be "pure" in the sense that it has not been found to overlap with other cognitive deficits (intellectual, linguistic, perceptual, visuo-spatial etc.) for a long time. Furthermore, despite his impaired semantic knowledge, the autobiographical memory of the patient was largely intact. This case therefore represents a form of "semantic amnesia" without dementia, and supports the hypothesis that there is a partial distinction between "semantic" and "episodic" memory.

Memory deficit in patients with schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder: relational vs item-specific memory

PubMed Central

Jung, Wookyoung; Lee, Seung-Hwan

2016-01-01

It has been well established that patients with schizophrenia have impairments in cognitive functioning and also that patients who experienced traumatic events suffer from cognitive deficits. Of the cognitive deficits revealed in schizophrenia or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, the current article provides a brief review of deficit in episodic memory, which is highly predictive of patients’ quality of life and global functioning. In particular, we have focused on studies that compared relational and item-specific memory performance in schizophrenia and PTSD, because measures of relational and item-specific memory are considered the most promising constructs for immediate tangible development of clinical trial paradigm. The behavioral findings of schizophrenia are based on the tasks developed by the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS) initiative and the Cognitive Neuroscience Test Reliability and Clinical Applications for Schizophrenia (CNTRACS) Consortium. The findings we reviewed consistently showed that schizophrenia and PTSD are closely associated with more severe impairments in relational memory compared to item-specific memory. Candidate brain regions involved in relational memory impairment in schizophrenia and PTSD are also discussed. PMID:27274250

Cognitive and affective theory of mind abilities in alcohol-dependent patients: the role of autobiographical memory.

PubMed

Nandrino, Jean-Louis; Gandolphe, Marie-Charlotte; Alexandre, Charlotte; Kmiecik, Elodie; Yguel, Jacques; Urso, Laurent

2014-10-01

Many studies of patients with alcohol dependence (AD) have highlighted their difficulty in identifying both their own emotional state and those of a social partner. We examined (1) the cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM) abilities of AD patients and (2) how the efficiency of their autobiographical memory (AM) can affect the effectiveness of ToM ability. In a cross-sectional design, AD patients (N=50) and healthy controls (N=30) completed a ToM movie paradigm (Versailles-Situational Intention Reading, V-SIR) in which they inferred the intentions of characters in movies depicting social interactions, and the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test (RMET), which assessed the emotional dimension of the ToM. AM was investigated using the "Autobiographical Memory Interview" (AMI) to assess both episodic and semantic components of AM. Concerning ToM, patients with AD showed lower performance in the RMET than control participants, whereas no difference was observed on the V-SIR test. AD patients had lower scores than controls on the AMI, for both episodic and semantic components and for different periods of life. A multiple linear regression analysis also showed that AM deficits might predict lower ToM performance, especially for the RMET task. Patients with AD have a specific affective ToM deficit. They used episodic memories to perceive the emotions of others, whereas controls used preferentially semantic memories to perform the task. Both these deficits could constitute a risk of relapse and should be a target for psychotherapeutic interventions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Word frequency influences on the list length effect and associative memory in young and older adults.

PubMed

Badham, Stephen P; Whitney, Cora; Sanghera, Sumeet; Maylor, Elizabeth A

2017-07-01

Many studies show that age deficits in memory are smaller for information supported by pre-experimental experience. Many studies also find dissociations in memory tasks between words that occur with high and low frequencies in language, but the literature is mixed regarding the extent of word frequency effects in normal ageing. We examined whether age deficits in episodic memory could be influenced by manipulations of word frequency. In Experiment 1, young and older adults studied short and long lists of high- and low-frequency words for free recall. The list length effect (the drop in proportion recalled for longer lists) was larger in young compared to older adults and for high- compared to low-frequency words. In Experiment 2, young and older adults completed item and associative recognition memory tests with high- and low-frequency words. Age deficits were greater for associative memory than for item memory, demonstrating an age-related associative deficit. High-frequency words led to better associative memory performance whilst low-frequency words resulted in better item memory performance. In neither experiment was there any evidence for age deficits to be smaller for high- relative to low-frequency words, suggesting that word frequency effects on memory operate independently from effects due to cognitive ageing.

Sketching to Remember: Episodic Free Recall Task Support for Child Witnesses and Victims with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattison, Michelle L. A.; Dando, Coral J.; Ormerod, Thomas C.

2015-01-01

Deficits in episodic free-recall memory performance have been reported in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet best practice dictates that child witness/victim interviews commence with a free-recall account. No "tools" exist to support children with ASD to freely recall episodic information. Here, the efficacy of a novel…

Episodic and semantic components of autobiographical memories and imagined future events in post-traumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Brown, Adam D; Addis, Donna Rose; Romano, Tracy A; Marmar, Charles R; Bryant, Richard A; Hirst, William; Schacter, Daniel L

2014-01-01

Individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) tend to retrieve autobiographical memories with less episodic specificity, referred to as overgeneralised autobiographical memory. In line with evidence that autobiographical memory overlaps with one's capacity to imagine the future, recent work has also shown that individuals with PTSD also imagine themselves in the future with less episodic specificity. To date most studies quantify episodic specificity by the presence of a distinct event. However, this method does not distinguish between the numbers of internal (episodic) and external (semantic) details, which can provide additional insights into remembering the past and imagining the future. This study employed the Autobiographical Interview (AI) coding scheme to the autobiographical memory and imagined future event narratives generated by combat veterans with and without PTSD. Responses were coded for the number of internal and external details. Compared to combat veterans without PTSD, those with PTSD generated more external than internal details when recalling past or imagining future events, and fewer internal details were associated with greater symptom severity. The potential mechanisms underlying these bidirectional deficits and clinical implications are discussed.

Developmental amnesia: a new pattern of dissociation with intact episodic memory.

PubMed

Temple, Christine M; Richardson, Paul

2004-01-01

A case of developmental amnesia is reported for a child, CL, of normal intelligence, who has intact episodic memory but impaired semantic memory for both semantic knowledge of facts and semantic knowledge of words, including general world knowledge, knowledge of word meanings and superordinate knowledge of words. In contrast to the deficits in semantic memory, there are no impairments in episodic memory for verbal or visual material, assessed by recall or recognition. Lexical decision was also intact, indicating impairment in semantic knowledge of vocabulary rather than absence of lexical representations. The case forms a double dissociation to the cases of Vargha-Khadem et al. [Science 277 (1997) 376; Episodic memory: new directions in research (2002) 153]; Gadian et al. [Brain 123 (2000) 499] for whom semantic memory was intact but episodic memory was impaired. This double dissociation suggests that semantic memory and episodic memory have the capacity to develop separately and supports models of modularity within memory development and a functional architecture for the developmental disorders within which there is residual normality rather than pervasive abnormality. Knowledge of arithmetical facts is also spared for CL, consistent with adult studies arguing for numeracy knowledge distinct from other semantics. Reading was characterised by difficulty with irregular words and homophones but intact reading of nonwords. CL has surface dyslexia with poor lexico-semantic reading skills but good phonological reading skills. The case was identified following screening from a population of normal schoolchildren suggesting that developmental amnesias may be more pervasive than has been recognised previously.

Associative episodic memory and recollective processes in childhood temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Martins, Sylvie; Guillery-Girard, Bérengère; Clochon, Patrice; Bulteau, Christine; Hertz-Pannier, Lucie; Chiron, Catherine; Eustache, Francis; Jambaqué, Isabelle

2015-03-01

While the current literature on children suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy (CTLE) mostly focuses on material-related episodic memory deficits according to seizure-onset lateralization, the present study examined associative episodic memory according to the type of information to memorize (e.g., factual, spatial, and sequential) and further investigated subjective and objective recollection. Eleven children with left temporal lobe epilepsy (LTLE), 10 children with right temporal lobe epilepsy (RTLE), among whom 9 displayed hippocampal sclerosis (HS), and 42 healthy controls completed the WHAT-WHEN-WHERE protocol (Guillery-Girard et al., 2013). Group comparisons were first conducted according to the affected side and second according to the underlying pathology. Results showed associative memory impairments in patients irrespective of the affected side. Moreover, this study revealed that HS is particularly deleterious to associative and subjective recollection in CTLE. In addition, this study emphasizes the need for assessing episodic memory in childhood TLE beyond material specificity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Separate elements of episodic memory subserved by distinct hippocampal-prefrontal connections.

PubMed

Barker, Gareth R I; Banks, Paul J; Scott, Hannah; Ralph, G Scott; Mitrophanous, Kyriacos A; Wong, Liang-Fong; Bashir, Zafar I; Uney, James B; Warburton, E Clea

2017-02-01

Episodic memory formation depends on information about a stimulus being integrated within a precise spatial and temporal context, a process dependent on the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Investigations of putative functional interactions between these regions are complicated by multiple direct and indirect hippocampal-prefrontal connections. Here application of a pharmacogenetic deactivation technique enabled us to investigate the mnemonic contributions of two direct hippocampal-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) pathways, one arising in the dorsal CA1 (dCA1) and the other in the intermediate CA1 (iCA1). While deactivation of either pathway impaired episodic memory, the resulting pattern of mnemonic deficits was different: deactivation of the dCA1→mPFC pathway selectively disrupted temporal order judgments while iCA1→mPFC pathway deactivation disrupted spatial memory. These findings reveal a previously unsuspected division of function among CA1 neurons that project directly to the mPFC. Such subnetworks may enable the distinctiveness of contextual information to be maintained in an episodic memory circuit.

Evidence that hippocampal-parahippocampal dysfunction is related to genetic risk for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Di Giorgio, A; Gelao, B; Caforio, G; Romano, R; Andriola, I; D'Ambrosio, E; Papazacharias, A; Elifani, F; Bianco, L Lo; Taurisano, P; Fazio, L; Popolizio, T; Blasi, G; Bertolino, A

2013-08-01

Abnormalities in hippocampal-parahippocampal (H-PH) function are prominent features of schizophrenia and have been associated with deficits in episodic memory. However, it remains unclear whether these abnormalities represent a phenotype related to genetic risk for schizophrenia or whether they are related to disease state. We investigated H-PH-mediated behavior and physiology, using blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI), during episodic memory in a sample of patients with schizophrenia, clinically unaffected siblings and healthy subjects. Patients with schizophrenia and unaffected siblings displayed abnormalities in episodic memory performance. During an fMRI memory encoding task, both patients and siblings demonstrated a similar pattern of reduced H-PH engagement compared with healthy subjects. Our findings suggest that the pathophysiological mechanism underlying the inability of patients with schizophrenia to properly engage the H-PH during episodic memory is related to genetic risk for the disorder. Therefore, H-PH dysfunction can be assumed as a schizophrenia susceptibility-related phenotype.

Residual memory dysfunction in recurrent major depressive disorder--a longitudinal study from Juntendo University Mood Disorder Project.

PubMed

Maeshima, Hitoshi; Baba, Hajime; Nakano, Yoshiyuki; Satomura, Emi; Namekawa, Yuki; Takebayashi, Naoko; Suzuki, Toshihito; Mimura, Masaru; Arai, Heii

2012-12-20

Depression may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Large cohort studies have shown that recurrent depression is associated with a risk of developing dementia. Other studies have documented smaller hippocampal volume in patients with recurrent depression. It is speculative that a greater risk of developing dementia may result from a higher number of previous depressive episodes. This study compared patients with recurrent and single-episode depression in the remitted stage, and healthy controls to elucidate the impact of the number of depressive episodes on memory. Logical memory and visual reproduction subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised were given to 68 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) (30 patients with a single episode and residual 38 patients with recurrent multiple episodes) and 57 healthy controls. The patients with MDD received memory assessment at the time of initial remission and at the follow-up period 3 years after remission. At the time of initial remission, scores of both logical memory and visual reproduction subtests were significantly lower in both patient groups compared with healthy controls. At follow-up, memory dysfunction of the single-episode group disappeared, whereas scores in the recurrent group remained significantly lower than those of the single-episode group and controls. All patients in the present study were on antidepressant medications. Patients with recurrent MDD with multiple depressive episodes showed residual memory dysfunction even after 3 years of remission. Persistence of memory deficits in the recurrent depression may be a risk factor for developing dementia. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Episodic and semantic memory in posthypnotic amnesia: A reevaluation.

PubMed

Spanos, N P; Radtke, H L; Dubreuil, D L

1982-09-01

Recently, Kihlstrom found that a suggestion for posthypnotic amnesia produced impairments on episodic but not semantic memory tasks. During amnesia testing, highly and very highly susceptible subjects showed reduced recall for a previously learned word list but no deficits on a word association task designed to elicit the forgotten words as associates. He hypnotized that posthypnotic amnesia involved a dissociation between episodic and semantic components of memory. We tested the alternative hypothesis that Kihlstrom's findings resulted from experimental demands conveyed by the wording of the amnesia suggestion he employed. We found that subjects could be induced to show only episodic impairments (thereby replicating Kihlstrom) or both episodic and semantic impairments (contrary to Kihlstrom) by subtly varying the wording of amnesia suggestions. These findings are inconsistent with a dissociation hypothesis. Instead, they support the notion that hypnotic amnesia is a strategic enactment strongly influenced by expectations generated in the amnesia testing situation.

Selective, age-related autobiographical memory deficits in children with severe traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Lah, Suncica; Gott, Chloe; Parry, Louise; Black, Carly; Epps, Adrienne; Gascoigne, Michael

2017-12-18

Autobiographical memory (AM) is a complex function that involves re-experiencing of past personal events (episodic memory) scaffolded by personal facts (semantic memory). While AM is supported by a brain network and cognitive skills that are vulnerable to disruption by child traumatic brain injury (TBI), AM has not been examined in this patient population. Cross-sectional study. Participants included children with severe closed TBI (n = 14) and healthy control (NC) children (n = 20) of comparable age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Participants completed (1) the Child Autobiographical Interview (Willoughby et al., , Front. Psychol., 3, 53), which required recall of autobiographical events and distinguished episodic (internal) from non-episodic (external) details, and self-rating of event phenomenological qualities, and (2) a battery of neuropsychological tests. Children with TBI recalled significantly fewer internal details relative to NCs, but the between-group difference was eliminated when specific probes were provided. The groups did not differ in either recall of external details or in ratings of events' phenomenological qualities. The gap between the groups in recall of internal details increased with age, as the greater number of internal details was associated with older age in the NC group, but not in the TBI group. Poorer verbal memory and lower IQ were related to recall of fewer internal details in the TBI group. This study unveils, to our knowledge for the first time, that severe child TBI is associated with a selective deficit in autobiographical memory that involves episodic, but spares semantic details, and identifies the risk factors for this impairment. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Remember and Know Judgments During Recognition in Chronic Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

van Erp, Theo G.M.; Lesh, Tyler A.; Knowlton, Barbara J.; Bearden, Carrie E.; Hardt, Molly; Karlsgodt, Katherine H.; Shirinyan, David; Rao, Vikas; Green, Michael F.; Subotnik, Kenneth L.; Nuechterlein, Keith; Cannon, Tyrone D.

2008-01-01

Deficits in learning and memory are among the most robust correlates of schizophrenia. It has been hypothesized that these deficits are in part due to reduced conscious recollection and increased reliance on familiarity assessment as a basis for retrieval. The Remember-Know (R-K) paradigm was administered to 35 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 35 healthy controls. In addition to making “remember” and “know” judgments, the participants were asked to make forced choice recognition judgments with regard to details about the learning episode. Analyses comparing response types showed a significant reduction in “remember” responses and a significant increase in “know” responses in schizophrenia patients relative to controls. Both patients and controls recalled more details of the learning episode for “remember” compared to “know” responses, although, in particular for “remember” responses, patients recalled fewer details compared with controls. Notably, patients recognized fewer inter-item but not intra-item stimulus features compared with controls. These findings suggest deficits in organizing and integrating relational information during the learning episode and/or using relational information for retrieval. A Dual-Process Signal Detection interpretation of these findings suggests that recollection in chronic schizophrenia is significantly reduced, while familiarity is not. Additionally, a unidimensional Signal Detection Theory interpretation suggests that chronic schizophrenia patients show a reduction in memory strength, and an altered criterion on the memory strength distribution for detecting new compared with old stimuli but not for detecting stimuli that are remembered versus familiar. Taken together, these findings are consistent with a deficit in recollection and increased reliance on familiarity in making recognition memory judgments in chronic schizophrenia. PMID:17964760

Neuropsychological and FDG-PET profiles in VGKC autoimmune limbic encephalitis.

PubMed

Dodich, Alessandra; Cerami, Chiara; Iannaccone, Sandro; Marcone, Alessandra; Alongi, Pierpaolo; Crespi, Chiara; Canessa, Nicola; Andreetta, Francesca; Falini, Andrea; Cappa, Stefano F; Perani, Daniela

2016-10-01

Limbic encephalitis (LE) is characterized by an acute or subacute onset with memory impairments, confusional state, behavioral disorders, variably associated with seizures and dystonic movements. It is due to inflammatory processes that selectively affect the medial temporal lobe structures. Voltage-gate potassium channel (VGKC) autoantibodies are frequently observed. In this study, we assessed at the individual level FDG-PET brain metabolic dysfunctions and neuropsychological profiles in three autoimmune LE cases seropositive for neuronal VGKC-complex autoantibodies. LGI1 and CASPR2 potassium channel complex autoantibody subtyping was performed. Cognitive abilities were evaluated with an in-depth neuropsychological battery focused on episodic memory and affective recognition/processing skills. FDG-PET data were analyzed at single-subject level according to a standardized and validated voxel-based Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) method. Patients showed severe episodic memory and fear recognition deficits at the neuropsychological assessment. No disorder of mentalizing processing was present. Variable patterns of increases and decreases of brain glucose metabolism emerged in the limbic structures, highlighting the pathology-driven selective vulnerability of this system. Additional involvement of cortical and subcortical regions, particularly in the sensorimotor system and basal ganglia, was found. Episodic memory and fear recognition deficits characterize the cognitive profile of LE. Commonalities and differences may occur in the brain metabolic patterns. Single-subject voxel-based analysis of FDG-PET imaging could be useful in the early detection of the metabolic correlates of cognitive and non-cognitive deficits characterizing LE condition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bihemispheric cerebral FDG PET correlates of cognitive dysfunction as assessed by the CERAD in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Schönknecht, Oskar Dieter Peter; Hunt, Aoife; Toro, Pablo; Guenther, Thomas; Henze, Marcus; Haberkorn, Uwe; Schröder, Johannes

2011-04-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a variety of cognitive deficits which can be reliably assessed by the neuropsychological test battery of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), but the cerebral changes underlying the respective cognitive deficits are only partly understood. Measures of severity of dementia in AD as well as delayed episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment significantly correlated with bihemispheric cerebral glucose hypometabolism. We therefore hypothesized that the CERAD cognitive battery may represent cerebral dysfunction of both hemispheres in patients with AD. In 32 patients with AD, cerebral glucose metabolism was investigated using positron-emission-tomography with 18Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET) and associated with the test scores of the CERAD cognitive battery by statistical parametric mapping. Episodic memory scores significantly correlated with temporopari etal glucose metabolism of both hemispheres while delayed episodic memory significantly was correlated with the right frontotemporal cortices. Verbal fluency and naming scores significantly correlated with glucose metabolism in left temporoparietal and right frontal cortices, whereas constructional praxis predominantly correlated significantly with the bilateral precuneus. In conclusion, the results of our study demonstrate that not only memory function but also functions of language and constructional praxis in AD are associated with glucose metabolism as revealed by FDG PET in subsets of uni- and bilateral brain areas. The findings of our study for the first time demonstrate that in AD neuropsychological deficits as assessed by the CERAD refer to different cerebral sites of both hemispheres.

Effects of Self-Paced Encoding and Practice on Age-Related Deficits in Binding Three Features

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinjo, Hikari

2010-01-01

Although much literature suggests that the age-related decline in episodic memory could be due to difficulties in binding features of information, previous studies focused mainly on memory of paired associations rather than memory of multiple bound features. In reality, however, there are many situations that require binding multiple features…

Material-Specific Lateralization of Working Memory in the Medial Temporal Lobe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Dylan D.; Sziklas, Viviane; Garver, Krista E.; Jones-Gotman, Marilyn

2009-01-01

Mnemonic deficits in patients with medial temporal lobe (MTL) damage arising from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are traditionally constrained to long-term episodic memory, sparing short-term and working memory (WM). This view of WM as being independent of MTL structures has recently been challenged by a small number of patient and neuroimaging…

Interaction between emotion and memory: importance of mammillary bodies damage in a mouse model of the alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome.

PubMed

Béracochéa, Daniel

2005-01-01

Chronic alcohol consumption (CAC) can lead to the Korsakoff syndrome (KS), a memory deficiency attributed to diencephalic damage and/or to medial temporal or cortical related dysfunction. The etiology of KS remains unclear. Most animal models of KS involve thiamine-deficient diets associated with pyrithiamine treatment. Here we present a mouse model of CAC-induced KS. We demonstrate that CAC-generated retrieval memory deficits in working/ episodic memory tasks, together with a reduction of fear reactivity, result from damage to the mammillary bodies (MB). Experimental lesions of MB in non-alcoholic mice produced the same memory and emotional impairments. Drugs having anxiogenic-like properties counteract such impairments produced by CAC or by MB lesions. We suggest (a) that MB are the essential components of a brain network underlying emotional processes, which would be critically important in the retrieval processes involved in working/ episodic memory tasks, and (b) that failure to maintain emotional arousal due to MB damage can be a main factor of CAC-induced memory deficits. Overall, our animal model fits well with general neuropsychological and anatomic impairments observed in KS.

Interaction Between Emotion and Memory: Importance of Mammillary Bodies Damage in a Mouse Model of the Alcoholic Korsakoff Syndrome

PubMed Central

Béracochéa, Daniel

2005-01-01

Chronic alcohol consumption (CAC) can lead to the Korsakoff syndrome (KS), a memory deficiency attributed to diencephalie damage and/or to medial temporal or cortical related dysfunction. The etiology of KS remains unclear. Most animal models of KS involve thiaminedeficient diets associated with pyrithiamine treatment. Here we present a mouse model of CAC-induced KS. We demonstrate that CAC-generated retrieval memory deficits in working/ episodic memory tasks, together with a reduction of fear reactivity, result from damage to the mammillary bodies (MB). Experimental lesions of MB in non-alcoholic mice produced the same memory and emotional impairments. Drugs having anxiogenic-like properties counteract such impairments produced by CAC or by MB lesions. We suggest (a) that MB are the essential components of a brain network underlying emotional processes, which would be critically important in the retrieval processes involved in working/ episodic memory tasks, and (b) that failure to maintain emotional arousal due to MB damage can be a main factor of CAC-induced memory deficits. Overall, our animal model fits well with general neuropsychological and anatomic impairments observed in KS. PMID:16444899

Episodic memory function is associated with multiple measures of white matter integrity in cognitive aging

PubMed Central

Lockhart, Samuel N.; Mayda, Adriane B. V.; Roach, Alexandra E.; Fletcher, Evan; Carmichael, Owen; Maillard, Pauline; Schwarz, Christopher G.; Yonelinas, Andrew P.; Ranganath, Charan; DeCarli, Charles

2011-01-01

Previous neuroimaging research indicates that white matter injury and integrity, measured respectively by white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and fractional anisotropy (FA) obtained from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), differ with aging and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and are associated with episodic memory deficits in cognitively normal older adults. However, knowledge about tract-specific relationships between WMH, FA, and episodic memory in aging remains limited. We hypothesized that white matter connections between frontal cortex and subcortical structures as well as connections between frontal and temporo-parietal cortex would be most affected. In the current study, we examined relationships between WMH, FA and episodic memory in 15 young adults, 13 elders with minimal WMH and 15 elders with extensive WMH, using an episodic recognition memory test for object-color associations. Voxel-based statistics were used to identify voxel clusters where white matter measures were specifically associated with variations in episodic memory performance, and white matter tracts intersecting these clusters were analyzed to examine white matter-memory relationships. White matter injury and integrity measures were significantly associated with episodic memory in extensive regions of white matter, located predominantly in frontal, parietal, and subcortical regions. Template based tractography indicated that white matter injury, as measured by WMH, in the uncinate and inferior longitudinal fasciculi were significantly negatively associated with episodic memory performance. Other tracts such as thalamo-frontal projections, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and dorsal cingulum bundle demonstrated strong negative associations as well. The results suggest that white matter injury to multiple pathways, including connections of frontal and temporal cortex and frontal-subcortical white matter tracts, plays a critical role in memory differences seen in older individuals. PMID:22438841

Role of parietal regions in episodic memory retrieval: the dual attentional processes hypothesis.

PubMed

Cabeza, Roberto

2008-01-01

Although parietal cortex is frequently activated during episodic memory retrieval, damage to this region does not markedly impair episodic memory. To account for these and other findings, a new dual attentional processes (DAP) hypothesis is proposed. According to this hypothesis, dorsal parietal cortex (DPC) contributes top-down attentional processes guided by retrieval goals, whereas ventral parietal cortex (VPC) contributes bottom-up attentional processes captured by the retrieval output. Consistent with this hypothesis, DPC activity increases with retrieval effort whereas VPC activity increases with confidence in old and new responses. The DAP hypothesis can also account for the overlap of parietal activations across different cognitive domains and for opposing effects of parietal activity on encoding vs. retrieval. Finally, the DAP hypothesis explains why VPC lesions yield a memory neglect syndrome: a deficit in spontaneously reporting relevant memory details but not in accessing the same details when guided by specific questions.

Selective deficits in episodic feeling of knowing in ageing: a novel use of the general knowledge task.

PubMed

Morson, Suzannah M; Moulin, Chris J A; Souchay, Céline

2015-05-01

Failure to recall an item from memory can be accompanied by the subjective experience that the item is known but currently unavailable for report. The feeling of knowing (FOK) task allows measurement of the predictive accuracy of this reflective judgement. Young and older adults were asked to provide answers to general knowledge questions both prior to and after learning, thus measuring both semantic and episodic memory for the items. FOK judgements were made at each stage for all unrecalled responses, providing a measure of predictive accuracy for semantic and episodic knowledge. Results demonstrated a selective effect of age on episodic FOK resolution, with older adults found to have impaired episodic FOK accuracy while semantic FOK accuracy remained intact. Although recall and recognition measures of episodic memory are equivalent between the two age groups, older adults may have been unable to access contextual details on which to base their FOK judgements. The results suggest that older adults are not able to accurately predict future recognition of unrecalled episodic information, and consequently may have difficulties in monitoring recently encoded memories. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Higher order memories for objects encountered in different spatio-temporal contexts in mice: evidence for episodic memory.

PubMed

Dere, Ekrem; Silva, Maria A De Souza; Huston, Joseph P

2004-01-01

The ability to build higher order multi-modal memories comprising information about the spatio-temporal context of events has been termed 'episodic memory'. Deficits in episodic memory are apparent in a number of neuropsychiatric diseases. Unfortunately, the development of animal models of episodic memory has made little progress. Towards the goal of such a model we devised an object exploration task for mice, providing evidence that rodents can associate object, spatial and temporal information. In our task the mice learned the temporal sequence by which identical objects were introduced into two different contexts. The 'what' component of an episodic memory was operationalized via physically distinct objects; the 'where' component through physically different contexts, and, most importantly, the 'when' component via the context-specific inverted sequence in which four objects were presented. Our results suggest that mice are able to recollect the inverted temporal sequence in which identical objects were introduced into two distinct environments. During two consecutive test trials mice showed an inverse context-specific exploration pattern regarding identical objects that were previously encountered with even frequencies. It seems that the contexts served as discriminative stimuli signaling which of the two sequences are decisive during the two test trials.

Beneficial effects of semantic memory support on older adults' episodic memory: Differential patterns of support of item and associative information.

PubMed

Mohanty, Praggyan Pam; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe; Ratneshwar, Srinivasan

2016-02-01

The effects of two types of semantic memory support-meaningfulness of an item and relatedness between items-in mitigating age-related deficits in item and associative, memory are examined in a marketing context. In Experiment 1, participants studied less (vs. more) meaningful brand logo graphics (pictures) paired with meaningful brand names (words) and later were assessed by item (old/new) and associative (intact/recombined) memory recognition tests. Results showed that meaningfulness of items eliminated age deficits in item memory, while equivalently boosting associative memory for older and younger adults. Experiment 2, in which related and unrelated brand logo graphics and brand name pairs served as stimuli, revealed that relatedness between items eliminated age deficits in associative memory, while improving to the same degree item memory in older and younger adults. Experiment 2 also provided evidence for a probable boundary condition that could reconcile seemingly contradictory extant results. Overall, these experiments provided evidence that although the two types of semantic memory support can improve both item and associative memory in older and younger adults, older adults' memory deficits can be eliminated when the type of support provided is compatible with the type of information required to perform well on the test. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Hippocampal amnesia.

PubMed

Spiers, H J; Maguire, E A; Burgess, N

2001-01-01

This article reviews 147 cases of amnesia following damage including the hippocampus or fornix as reported in 179 publications. The aetiology, mnestic abilities and reference(s) are tabulated for each case. Consistent findings across cases include the association of bilateral hippocampal damage with a deficit in anterograde episodic memory combined with spared procedural and working memory. The limited nature of retrograde amnesia following lesions to the fornix is also noted. Less consistent and thus more controversial findings, include effects of lesion size or laterality, deficits in semantic memory or familiarity-based recognition and the extent of retrograde amnesia. The evidence concerning these issues is reviewed across cases.

Memory Dysfunction

PubMed Central

Matthews, Brandy R.

2015-01-01

Purpose of Review: This article highlights the dissociable human memory systems of episodic, semantic, and procedural memory in the context of neurologic illnesses known to adversely affect specific neuroanatomic structures relevant to each memory system. Recent Findings: Advances in functional neuroimaging and refinement of neuropsychological and bedside assessment tools continue to support a model of multiple memory systems that are distinct yet complementary and to support the potential for one system to be engaged as a compensatory strategy when a counterpart system fails. Summary: Episodic memory, the ability to recall personal episodes, is the subtype of memory most often perceived as dysfunctional by patients and informants. Medial temporal lobe structures, especially the hippocampal formation and associated cortical and subcortical structures, are most often associated with episodic memory loss. Episodic memory dysfunction may present acutely, as in concussion; transiently, as in transient global amnesia (TGA); subacutely, as in thiamine deficiency; or chronically, as in Alzheimer disease. Semantic memory refers to acquired knowledge about the world. Anterior and inferior temporal lobe structures are most often associated with semantic memory loss. The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is the paradigmatic disorder resulting in predominant semantic memory dysfunction. Working memory, associated with frontal lobe function, is the active maintenance of information in the mind that can be potentially manipulated to complete goal-directed tasks. Procedural memory, the ability to learn skills that become automatic, involves the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and supplementary motor cortex. Parkinson disease and related disorders result in procedural memory deficits. Most memory concerns warrant bedside cognitive or neuropsychological evaluation and neuroimaging to assess for specific neuropathologies and guide treatment. PMID:26039844

Autobiographical Memory Deficits in Alcohol-Dependent Patients with Short- and Long-Term Abstinence.

PubMed

Nandrino, Jean-Louis; El Haj, Mohamad; Torre, Julie; Naye, Delphine; Douchet, Helyette; Danel, Thierry; Cottençin, Oliver

2016-04-01

Autobiographical memory (AM) enables the storage and retrieval of life experiences that allow individuals to build their sense of identity. Several AM impairments have been described in patients with alcohol abuse disorders without assessing whether such deficits can be recovered. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify whether the semantic (SAM) and episodic (EAM) dimensions of AM are affected in individuals with alcohol dependence after short-term abstinence (STA) or long-term abstinence (LTA). A second aim of this study was to examine the factors that could disrupt the efficiency of semantic and episodic AM (the impact of depression severity, cognitive functions, recent or early traumatic events, and drinking history variables). After clinical and cognitive evaluations (alcohol consumption, depression, anxiety, IQ, memory performance), AM was assessed with the Autobiographical Memory Interview in patients with recent (between 4 and 6 weeks) and longer (at least 6 months) abstinence. Participants were asked to retrieve the number and nature of traumatic or painful life experiences in recent or early life periods (using the Childhood Traumatic Events Scale). The 2 abstinent groups had lower global EAM and SAM scores than the control group. These scores were comparable for both abstinent groups. For childhood events, no significant differences were observed in SAM for both groups compared with control participants. For early adulthood and recent events, both STA and LTA groups had lower scores on both SAM and EAM. Moreover, there was a negative correlation between the length of substance consumption and SAM scores. This study highlighted a specific AM disorder in both episodic and semantic dimensions. These deficits remained after 6 months of abstinence. This AM impairment may be explained by compromised encoding and consolidation of memories during bouts of drinking. Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Naming of objects, faces and buildings in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Ahmed, Samrah; Arnold, Robert; Thompson, Sian A; Graham, Kim S; Hodges, John R

2008-06-01

Accruing evidence suggests that the cognitive deficits in very early Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are not confined to episodic memory, with a number of studies documenting semantic memory deficits, especially for knowledge of people. To investigate whether this difficulty in naming famous people extends to other proper names based information, three naming tasks - the Graded Naming Test (GNT), which uses objects and animals, the Graded Faces Test (GFT) and the newly designed Graded Buildings Test (GBT) - were administered to 69 participants (32 patients in the early prodromal stage of AD, so-called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and 37 normal control participants). Patients were found to be impaired on all three tests compared to controls, although naming of objects was significantly better than naming of faces and buildings. Discriminant analysis successfully predicted group membership for 100% controls and 78.1% of patients. The results suggest that even in cases that do not yet fulfil criteria for AD naming of famous people and buildings is impaired, and that both these semantic domains show greater vulnerability than general semantic knowledge. A semantic deficit together with the hallmark episodic deficit may be common in MCI, and that the use of graded tasks tapping semantic memory may be useful for the early identification of patients with MCI.

Neuropsychological and SPECT scan findings during and after transient global amnesia: evidence for the differential impairment of remote episodic memory.

PubMed

Evans, J; Wilson, B; Wraight, E P; Hodges, J R

1993-11-01

A patient had neuropsychological testing during, and at two days and seven weeks after a transient global amnesia (TGA) attack. During the attack she exhibited a characteristically profound anterograde amnesia but a limited remote memory loss; the most striking impairment was a deficit in personal episodic memory revealed by her performance on the Autobiographical Memory Interview. Personal and general semantic information was less impaired although there were indications of a temporal gradient in the impairment. When tested after the attack, she demonstrated normal anterograde and retrograde memory. A SPECT scan performed during TGA showed a focal reduction in cerebral perfusion in the postero-medial temporal lobes bilaterally which had resolved after seven weeks.

Amnesia and the organization of the hippocampal system.

PubMed

Mishkin, M; Vargha-Khadem, F; Gadian, D G

1998-01-01

Early hippocampal injury in humans has been found to result in a limited form of global anterograde amnesia. At issue is whether the limitation is qualitative, with the amnesia reflecting substantially greater impairment in episodic than in semantic memory, or only quantitative, with both episodic and semantic memory being partially and equivalently impaired. Evidence from neuroanatomical and lesion studies in animals suggests that the hippocampus and subhippocampal cortices form a hierarchically organized system, such that the greatest convergence of information (and, by implication, the richest amount of association) takes place within the hippocampus, located at the top of the hierarchy. On the one hand, this evidence is consistent with the view that selective hippocampal damage produces a differential impairment in context-rich episodic memory as compared with context-free semantic memory, because only the latter can be supported by the subhippocampal cortices. On the other hand, given the system's hierarchical form of organization, this dissociation of deficits is difficult to prove, because a quantitatively limited deficit will nearly always be a viable alternative. A final choice between the alternative views is therefore likely to depend less on further evidence gathered in brain-injured patients than on which view accounts for more of the data gathered from converging approaches to the problem.

Low-frequency oscillations in default mode subnetworks are associated with episodic memory impairments in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Veldsman, Michele; Egorova, Natalia; Singh, Baljeet; Mungas, Dan; DeCarli, Charles; Brodtmann, Amy

2017-11-01

Disruptions to functional connectivity in subsystems of the default mode network are evident in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Functional connectivity estimates correlations in the time course of low-frequency activity. Much less is known about other potential perturbations to this activity, such as changes in the amplitude of oscillations and how this relates to cognition. We examined the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in 44 AD patients and 128 cognitively normal participants and related this to episodic memory, the core deficit in AD. We show higher amplitudes of low-frequency oscillations in AD patients. Rather than being compensatory, this appears to be maladaptive, with greater amplitude in the ventral default mode subnetwork associated with poorer episodic memory. Perturbations to default mode subnetworks in AD are evident in the amplitude of low-frequency oscillations in the resting brain. These disruptions are associated with episodic memory demonstrating their behavioral and clinical relevance in AD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impaired category fluency in medial temporal lobe amnesia: the role of episodic memory.

PubMed

Greenberg, Daniel L; Keane, Margaret M; Ryan, Lee; Verfaellie, Mieke

2009-09-02

Memory tasks are often classified as semantic or episodic, but recent research shows that these types of memory are highly interactive. Category fluency, for example, is generally considered to reflect retrieval from semantic memory, but behavioral evidence suggests that episodic memory is also involved: participants frequently draw on autobiographical experiences while generating exemplars of certain categories. Neuroimaging studies accordingly have reported increased medial temporal lobe (MTL) activation during exemplar generation. Studies of fluency in MTL amnesics have yielded mixed results but were not designed to determine the precise contributions of episodic memory. We addressed this issue by asking MTL amnesics and controls to generate exemplars of three types of categories. One type tended to elicit autobiographical and spatial retrieval strategies (AS). Another type elicited strategies that were autobiographical but nonspatial (AN). The third type elicited neither autobiographical nor spatial strategies (N). Amnesic patients and control participants generated exemplars for eight categories of each type. Patients were impaired on all category types but were more impaired on AS and AN categories. After covarying for phonemic fluency (total FAS score), the N category impairment was not significant, but the impairment on AS and AN categories remained. The same results were obtained for patients with lesions restricted to the MTL and those with more extensive lesions. We conclude that patients' episodic memory impairment hindered their performance on this putatively semantic task. This interaction between episodic and semantic memory might partially account for fluency deficits seen in aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease.

Similar autobiographical memory impairment in long-term secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Müller, S; Saur, R; Greve, B; Melms, A; Hautzinger, M; Fallgatter, A J; Leyhe, T

2013-02-01

Memory disturbance is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS), but little is known about autobiographical memory deficits in the long-term course of different MS subtypes. Inflammatory activity and demyelination is pronounced in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) whereas, similar to Alzheimer's disease, neurodegeneration affecting autobiographical memory-associated areas is seen in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). In light of distinct disease mechanisms, we evaluated autobiographical memory in different MS subtypes and hypothesized similarities between elderly patients with SPMS and Alzheimer's disease. We used the Autobiographical Memory Interview to assess episodic and semantic autobiographical memory in 112 education- and gender-matched participants, including healthy controls and patients with RRMS, SPMS, amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and early Alzheimer's dementia (AD). Patients with SPMS, AD, and aMCI, but not with RRMS, exhibited a pattern of episodic autobiographical memory impairment that followed Ribot's Law; older memories were better preserved than more recent memories. In contrast to aMCI and AD, neither SPMS nor RRMS was associated with semantic autobiographical memory impairment. Our neuropsychological findings suggest that episodic autobiographical memory is affected in long-term patients with SPMS, possibly due to neurodegenerative processes in functional relevant brain regions.

Impairments in Component Processes of Executive Function and Episodic Memory in Alcoholism, HIV Infection, and HIV Infection with Alcoholism Comorbidity.

PubMed

Fama, Rosemary; Sullivan, Edith V; Sassoon, Stephanie A; Pfefferbaum, Adolf; Zahr, Natalie M

2016-12-01

Executive functioning and episodic memory impairment occur in HIV infection (HIV) and chronic alcoholism (ALC). Comorbidity of these conditions (HIV + ALC) is prevalent and heightens risk of vulnerability to separate and compounded deficits. Age and disease-related variables can also serve as mediators of cognitive impairment and should be considered, given the extended longevity of HIV-infected individuals in this era of improved pharmacological therapy. HIV, ALC, HIV + ALC, and normal controls (NC) were administered traditional and computerized tests of executive function and episodic memory. Test scores were expressed as age- and education-corrected Z-scores; selective tests were averaged to compute Executive Function and Episodic Memory Composite scores. Efficiency scores were calculated for tests with accuracy and response times. HIV, ALC, and HIV + ALC had lower scores than NC on Executive Function and Episodic Memory Composites, with HIV + ALC even lower than ALC and HIV on the Episodic Memory Composite. Impairments in planning and free recall of visuospatial material were observed in ALC, whereas impairments in psychomotor speed, sequencing, narrative free recall, and pattern recognition were observed in HIV. Lower decision-making efficiency scores than NC occurred in all 3 clinical groups. In ALC, age and lifetime alcohol consumption were each unique predictors of Executive Function and Episodic Memory Composite scores. In HIV + ALC, age was a unique predictor of Episodic Memory Composite score. Disease-specific and disease-overlapping patterns of impairment in HIV, ALC, and HIV + ALC have implications regarding brain systems disrupted by each disease and clinical ramifications regarding the complexities and compounded damping of cognitive functioning associated with dual diagnosis that may be exacerbated with aging. Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Semantic memory and frontal executive function during transient global amnesia.

PubMed

Hodges, J R

1994-05-01

To assess semantic memory and frontal executive function, two patients underwent neuropsychological testing during transient global amnesia (TGA) and after an interval of 6-8 weeks. In spite of a profound deficit in anterograde verbal and non-verbal memory, semantic memory was normal, as judged by category fluency measures, picture naming, and picture-word and picture-picture matching, and reading ability was normal. Similarly, there were no deficits on a number of tests known to be sensitive to frontal executive dysfunction. A hexamethylpropyleneamine-oxime (HMPAO) single photon emission CT (SPECT) scan, obtained on one patient 24 hours post-TGA, showed focal left temporal lobe hypoperfusion which had resolved three months later. The observed dissociation between episodic and semantic memory is discussed in the light of contemporary cognitive theories of memory organisation.

Similar profile of cognitive impairment and recovery for Aboriginal Australians in treatment for episodic or chronic alcohol use.

PubMed

Dingwall, Kylie M; Maruff, Paul; Cairney, Sheree

2011-08-01

The cognitive impairment and recovery associated with chronic alcohol abuse and subsequent abstinence is well understood. However, the recovery profile following heavy episodic or 'binge' use, which is common among some Australian Aboriginal users, has not been investigated thoroughly and no empirical studies have examined chronic use in this population. The aim of this study was to identify and compare cognitive impairment and recovery associated with chronic and episodic alcohol use among Aboriginal Australians. Longitudinal case-control design. Residential alcohol treatment programmes in northern Australia. Forty chronic alcohol users, 24 episodic users and 41 healthy controls [mean age = 34.24; standard deviation (SD) = 9.73]. Cognitive assessments of visual motor, attention, memory, learning and executive functions at baseline (start of treatment), then 4 weeks and 8 weeks later. Reassessment of 31% of participants an average of 11 months later (SD = 4.4) comparing those who remained abstinent (n = 5), those who relapsed (n = 11) and healthy controls (n = 19). At baseline, chronic and episodic alcohol users showed impaired visual motor, learning, memory and executive functions. With the exception of visual motor impairment, all deficits had improved to normal levels within 4 weeks. Visual motor deficits had normalized within 11 months. Performances did not differ at any time between chronic and episodic alcohol groups. In Aboriginal Australians, episodic drinking is associated with similar patterns of impairment and recovery as chronic alcohol use. Most cognitive deficits appear to recover within the first month of abstinence, while persisting visual motor problems recover within 1 year. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Metamemory monitoring in mild cognitive impairment: Evidence of a less accurate episodic feeling-of-knowing.

PubMed

Perrotin, Audrey; Belleville, Sylvie; Isingrini, Michel

2007-09-20

This study aimed at exploring metamemory and specifically the accuracy of memory monitoring in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using an episodic memory feeling-of-knowing (FOK) procedure. To this end, 20 people with MCI and 20 matched control participants were compared on the episodic FOK task. Results showed that the MCI group made less accurate FOK predictions than the control group by overestimating their memory performance on a recognition task. The MCI overestimation behavior was found to be critically related to the severity of their cognitive decline. In the light of recent neuroanatomical models showing the involvement of a temporal-frontal network underlying accurate FOK predictions, the role of memory and executive processes was evaluated. Thus, participants were also administered memory and executive neuropsychological tests. Correlation analysis revealed a between-group differential pattern indicating that FOK accuracy was primarily related to memory abilities in people with MCI, whereas it was specifically related to executive functioning in control participants. The lesser ability of people with MCI to assess their memory status accurately on an episodic FOK task is discussed in relation to both their subjective memory complaints and to their actual memory deficits which might be mediated by the brain vulnerability of their hippocampus and medial temporal system. It is suggested that their memory weakness may lead people with MCI to use other less reliable forms of memory monitoring.

Cognitive training of self-initiation of semantic encoding strategies in schizophrenia: A pilot study.

PubMed

Guimond, Synthia; Lepage, Martin

2016-01-01

Available cognitive remediation interventions have a significant but relatively small to moderate impact on episodic memory in schizophrenia. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of a brief novel episodic memory training targeting the self-initiation of semantic encoding strategies. To select patients with such deficits, 28 participants with schizophrenia performed our Semantic Encoding Memory Task (SEMT) that provides a measure of self-initiated semantic encoding strategies. This task identified a deficit in 13 participants who were then offered two 60-minute training sessions one week apart. After the training, patients performed an alternate version of the SEMT. The CVLT-II (a standardised measure of semantic encoding strategies) and the BVMT-R (a control spatial memory task) were used to quantify memory pre- and post-training. After the training, participants were significantly better at self-initiating semantic encoding strategies in the SEMT (p = .004) and in the CVLT-II (p = .002). No significant differences were found in the BVMT-R. The current study demonstrates that a brief and specific training in memory strategies can help patients to improve a deficient memory process in schizophrenia. Future studies will need to test this intervention further using a randomised controlled trial, and to explore its functional impact.

Gray matter morphological anomalies in the cerebellar vermis in first-episode schizophrenia patients with cognitive deficits.

PubMed

Wang, Jingjuan; Zhou, Li; Cui, Chunlei; Liu, Zhening; Lu, Jie

2017-11-22

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of early schizophrenia. However, the pathological foundations underlying cognitive deficits are still unknown. The present study examined the association between gray matter density and cognitive deficits in first-episode schizophrenia. Structural magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was performed in 34 first-episode schizophrenia patients and 21 healthy controls. Patients were divided into two subgroups according to working memory task performance. The three groups were well matched for age, gender, and education, and the two patient groups were also further matched for diagnosis, duration of illness, and antipsychotic treatment. Voxel-based morphometric analysis was performed to estimate changes in gray matter density in first-episode schizophrenia patients with cognitive deficits. The relationships between gray matter density and clinical outcomes were explored. Patients with cognitive deficits were found to have reduced gray matter density in the vermis and tonsil of cerebellum compared with patients without cognitive deficits and healthy controls, decreased gray matter density in left supplementary motor area, bilateral precentral gyrus compared with patients without cognitive deficits. Classifier results showed GMD in cerebellar vermis tonsil cluster could differentiate SZ-CD from controls, left supplementary motor area cluster could differentiate SZ-CD from SZ-NCD. Gray matter density values of the cerebellar vermis cluster in patients groups were positively correlated with cognitive severity. Decreased gray matter density in the vermis and tonsil of cerebellum may underlie early psychosis and serve as a candidate biomarker for schizophrenia with cognitive deficits.

Recovering and preventing loss of detailed memory: differential rates of forgetting for detail types in episodic memory

PubMed Central

Bonasia, Kyra; St-Laurent, Marie; Pishdadian, Sara; Winocur, Gordon; Grady, Cheryl; Moscovitch, Morris

2016-01-01

Episodic memories undergo qualitative changes with time, but little is known about how different aspects of memory are affected. Different types of information in a memory, such as perceptual detail, and central themes, may be lost at different rates. In patients with medial temporal lobe damage, memory for perceptual details is severely impaired, while memory for central details is relatively spared. Given the sensitivity of memory to loss of details, the present study sought to investigate factors that mediate the forgetting of different types of information from naturalistic episodic memories in young healthy adults. The study investigated (1) time-dependent loss of “central” and “peripheral” details from episodic memories, (2) the effectiveness of cuing with reminders to reinstate memory details, and (3) the role of retrieval in preventing forgetting. Over the course of 7 d, memory for naturalistic events (film clips) underwent a time-dependent loss of peripheral details, while memory for central details (the core or gist of events) showed significantly less loss. Giving brief reminders of the clips just before retrieval reinstated memory for peripheral details, suggesting that loss of details is not always permanent, and may reflect both a storage and retrieval deficit. Furthermore, retrieving a memory shortly after it was encoded prevented loss of both central and peripheral details, thereby promoting retention over time. We consider the implications of these results for behavioral and neurobiological models of retention and forgetting. PMID:26773100

Recovering and preventing loss of detailed memory: differential rates of forgetting for detail types in episodic memory.

PubMed

Sekeres, Melanie J; Bonasia, Kyra; St-Laurent, Marie; Pishdadian, Sara; Winocur, Gordon; Grady, Cheryl; Moscovitch, Morris

2016-02-01

Episodic memories undergo qualitative changes with time, but little is known about how different aspects of memory are affected. Different types of information in a memory, such as perceptual detail, and central themes, may be lost at different rates. In patients with medial temporal lobe damage, memory for perceptual details is severely impaired, while memory for central details is relatively spared. Given the sensitivity of memory to loss of details, the present study sought to investigate factors that mediate the forgetting of different types of information from naturalistic episodic memories in young healthy adults. The study investigated (1) time-dependent loss of "central" and "peripheral" details from episodic memories, (2) the effectiveness of cuing with reminders to reinstate memory details, and (3) the role of retrieval in preventing forgetting. Over the course of 7 d, memory for naturalistic events (film clips) underwent a time-dependent loss of peripheral details, while memory for central details (the core or gist of events) showed significantly less loss. Giving brief reminders of the clips just before retrieval reinstated memory for peripheral details, suggesting that loss of details is not always permanent, and may reflect both a storage and retrieval deficit. Furthermore, retrieving a memory shortly after it was encoded prevented loss of both central and peripheral details, thereby promoting retention over time. We consider the implications of these results for behavioral and neurobiological models of retention and forgetting. © 2016 Sekeres et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Semantic Processing Impairment in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

PubMed Central

Jaimes-Bautista, Amanda G.; Rodríguez-Camacho, Mario; Martínez-Juárez, Iris E.; Rodríguez-Agudelo, Yaneth

2015-01-01

The impairment in episodic memory system is the best-known cognitive deficit in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Recent studies have shown evidence of semantic disorders, but they have been less studied than episodic memory. The semantic dysfunction in TLE has various cognitive manifestations, such as the presence of language disorders characterized by defects in naming, verbal fluency, or remote semantic information retrieval, which affects the ability of patients to interact with their surroundings. This paper is a review of recent research about the consequences of TLE on semantic processing, considering neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging findings, as well as the functional role of the hippocampus in semantic processing. The evidence from these studies shows disturbance of semantic memory in patients with TLE and supports the theory of declarative memory of the hippocampus. Functional neuroimaging studies show an inefficient compensatory functional reorganization of semantic networks and electrophysiological studies show a lack of N400 effect that could indicate that the deficit in semantic processing in patients with TLE could be due to a failure in the mechanisms of automatic access to lexicon. PMID:26257956

Working memory and executive function decline across normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Kirova, Anna-Mariya; Bays, Rebecca B; Lagalwar, Sarita

2015-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease marked by deficits in episodic memory, working memory (WM), and executive function. Examples of executive dysfunction in AD include poor selective and divided attention, failed inhibition of interfering stimuli, and poor manipulation skills. Although episodic deficits during disease progression have been widely studied and are the benchmark of a probable AD diagnosis, more recent research has investigated WM and executive function decline during mild cognitive impairment (MCI), also referred to as the preclinical stage of AD. MCI is a critical period during which cognitive restructuring and neuroplasticity such as compensation still occur; therefore, cognitive therapies could have a beneficial effect on decreasing the likelihood of AD progression during MCI. Monitoring performance on working memory and executive function tasks to track cognitive function may signal progression from normal cognition to MCI to AD. The present review tracks WM decline through normal aging, MCI, and AD to highlight the behavioral and neurological differences that distinguish these three stages in an effort to guide future research on MCI diagnosis, cognitive therapy, and AD prevention.

The neuroscience of positive memory deficits in depression

PubMed Central

Dillon, Daniel G.

2015-01-01

Adults with unipolar depression typically show poor episodic memory for positive material, but the neuroscientific mechanisms responsible for this deficit have not been characterized. I suggest a simple hypothesis: weak memory for positive material in depression reflects disrupted communication between the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory systems during encoding. This proposal draws on basic research showing that dopamine release in the hippocampus is critical for the transition from early- to late-phase long-term potentiation (LTP) that marks the conversion of labile, short-term memories into stable, long-term memories. Neuroimaging and pharmacological data from healthy humans paint a similar picture: activation of the mesolimbic reward circuit enhances encoding and boosts retention. Unipolar depression is characterized by anhedonia–loss of pleasure–and reward circuit dysfunction, which is believed to reflect negative effects of stress on the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Thus, I propose that the MTL is deprived of strengthening reward signals in depressed adults and memory for positive events suffers accordingly. Although other mechanisms are important, this hypothesis holds promise as an explanation for positive memory deficits in depression. PMID:26441703

Drug-induced cerebral glucose metabolism resembling Alzheimer's Disease: a case study.

PubMed

Riepe, Matthias W; Walther, Britta; Vonend, Catharina; Beer, Ambros J

2015-07-11

With aging of society the absolute number and the proportion of patients with cognitive deficits increase. Multiple disorders and diseases can foster cognitive impairment, e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD), depressive disorder, or polypharmacy. A 74 year old man presented to the Old Age Psychiatry Service with cognitive deficits while being treated for recurrent depressive episodes and essential tremor with Venlafaxine, Lithium, and Primidone. Neuropsychological testing revealed a medio-temporal pattern of deficits with pronounced impairment of episodic memory, particularly delayed recall. Likewise, cognitive flexibility, semantic fluency, and attention were impaired. Positron emission tomography (PET) with fluorodeoxyglucose was performed and revealed a pattern of glucose utilization deficit resembling AD. On cessation of treatment with Lithium and Primidone, cognitive performance improved, particularly episodic memory performance and cognitive flexibility. Likewise, glucose metabolism normalized. Despite normalization of both, clinical symptoms and glucose utilization, the patient remained worried about possible underlying Alzheimer's disease pathology. To rule this out, an amyloid-PET was performed. No cortical amyloid was observed. Pharmacological treatment of older subjects may mimic glucose metabolism and clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. In the present case both, imaging and clinical findings, reversed to normal on change of treatment. Amyloid PET is a helpful tool to additionally rule out underlying Alzheimer's disease in situations of clinical doubt even if clinical or other imaging findings are suggestive of Alzheimer's disease.

[Event-related potentials P₃₀₀ with memory function and psychopathology in first-episode paranoid schizophrenia].

PubMed

Liu, Wei-bo; Chen, Qiao-zhen; Yin, Hou-min; Zheng, Lei-lei; Yu, Shao-hua; Chen, Yi-ping; Li, Hui-chun

2011-11-01

To investigate the variability of event-related potentials P(300) and the relationship with memory function/psychopathology in patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia. Thirty patients with first-episode paranoid schizophrenia (patient group) and twenty health subjects (control group) were enrolled in the study. The auditory event-related potentials P₃₀₀ at the scalp electrodes Cz, Pz and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) were examined in both groups, Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was evaluated in patient group. In comparison with control group, patients had longer latency of P₃₀₀ [(390.6 ± 47.6)ms at Cz and (393.3 ± 50.1)ms at Pz] (P<0.01), lower amplitude of P₃₀₀ [(7.7 ± 3.4) μV at Cz and (8.5 ± 3.9)μV at Pz] (P<0.05-0.01). The memory quotient (88.1 ± 10.0) scores and short-term memory, immediate memory in patient group were damaged significantly (P<0.05-0.01). In patient group, the latency of P300 was correlated positively with PANSS scores and negatively with WMS scores (P<0.05-0.01). First-episode paranoid schizophrenia has memory deficit, which can be evaluated comprehensively by P₃₀₀ and WMS. The longer latency of P₃₀₀ might be associated with the increased severity of first-episode paranoid schizophrenia.

The chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel selectively impairs learning while sparing source memory and spatial memory.

PubMed

Smith, Alexandra E; Slivicki, Richard A; Hohmann, Andrea G; Crystal, Jonathon D

2017-03-01

Chemotherapeutic agents are widely used to treat patients with systemic cancer. The efficacy of these therapies is undermined by their adverse side-effect profiles such as cognitive deficits that have a negative impact on the quality of life of cancer survivors. Cognitive side effects occur across a variety of domains, including memory, executive function, and processing speed. Such impairments are exacerbated under cognitive challenges and a subgroup of patients experience long-term impairments. Episodic memory in rats can be examined using a source memory task. In the current study, rats received paclitaxel, a taxane-derived chemotherapeutic agent, and learning and memory functioning was examined using the source memory task. Treatment with paclitaxel did not impair spatial and episodic memory, and paclitaxel treated rats were not more susceptible to cognitive challenges. Under conditions in which memory was not impaired, paclitaxel treatment impaired learning of new rules, documenting a decreased sensitivity to changes in experimental contingencies. These findings provide new information on the nature of cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments, particularly regarding the incongruent vulnerability of episodic memory and new learning following treatment with paclitaxel. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhancing memory and imagination improves problem solving among individuals with depression.

PubMed

McFarland, Craig P; Primosch, Mark; Maxson, Chelsey M; Stewart, Brandon T

2017-08-01

Recent work has revealed links between memory, imagination, and problem solving, and suggests that increasing access to detailed memories can lead to improved imagination and problem-solving performance. Depression is often associated with overgeneral memory and imagination, along with problem-solving deficits. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that an interview designed to elicit detailed recollections would enhance imagination and problem solving among both depressed and nondepressed participants. In a within-subjects design, participants completed a control interview or an episodic specificity induction prior to completing memory, imagination, and problem-solving tasks. Results revealed that compared to the control interview, the episodic specificity induction fostered increased detail generation in memory and imagination and more relevant steps on the problem-solving task among depressed and nondepressed participants. This study builds on previous work by demonstrating that a brief interview can enhance problem solving among individuals with depression and supports the notion that episodic memory plays a key role in problem solving. It should be noted, however, that the results of the interview are relatively short-lived.

Spatial working memory in aging and mild cognitive impairment: effects of task load and contextual cueing.

PubMed

Kessels, Roy P C; Meulenbroek, Olga; Fernández, Guillén; Olde Rikkert, Marcel G M

2010-09-01

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is characterized by episodic memory deficits, while aspects of working memory may also be implicated, but studies into this latter domain are scarce and results are inconclusive. Using a computerized search paradigm, this study compares 25 young adults, 25 typically aging older adults and 15 amnestic MCI patients as to their working-memory capacities for object-location information and potential differential effects of memory load and additional context cues. An age-related deficit in visuospatial working-memory maintenance was found that became more pronounced with increasing task demands. The MCI group additionally showed reduced maintenance of bound information, i.e., object-location associations, again especially at elevated memory load. No effects of contextual cueing were found. The current findings indicate that working memory should be considered when screening patients for suspected MCI and monitoring its progression.

Traumatic stress is linked to a deficit in associative episodic memory.

PubMed

Guez, Jonathan; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe; Yankovsky, Yan; Cohen, Jonathan; Shiber, Asher; Shalev, Hadar

2011-06-01

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are haunted by persistent memories of the trauma, but ironically are impaired in memories of daily life. The current set of 4 experiments compared new learning and memory of emotionally neutral content in 2 groups of patients and aged- and education-matched controls: 20 patients diagnosed with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) and 20 patients diagnosed with acute stress disorder (ASD). In all experiments, participants studied a list of stimuli pairs (words or pictures) and were then tested for their memory of the items, or for the association between items in each pair. Results indicated that both types of patients showed associative memory impairment compared to a control group, although their item memory performance was relatively intact. Potential mechanisms underlying such associative memory deficits in posttraumatic patients are discussed. Copyright © 2011 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Retrograde amnesia: a study of its relation to anterograde amnesia and semantic memory deficits.

PubMed

Schmidtke, K; Vollmer, H

1997-04-01

This group study of 24 amnesic patients and 40 control subjects examined the hypothesis that retrograde memory deficits result from a combination of two impairment mechanisms: (1) a deficit in the retrieval of contents that is related to dysfunctioning of the hippocampal anterograde memory system, and (2) a deficit in the storage and/or retrieval of contents that is related to concomitant neocortical lesions. Retrograde amnesia was evaluated with the use of new Famous Persons and Autobiographical Memory Tests. The postulated components of retrograde memory impairment were assessed using the Wechsler Memory Scale and a new Semantic Memory Test, respectively. Regression analyses showed that recent episodic autobiography was exclusively related to the hippocampal component, while memory for famous persons and childhood autobiography was related to the neocortical component. In the case of details concerning people of recent fame, both components were identified as independent determinants. The temporal gradient of patients' impairment at the Famous Persons Test was marked for detailed knowledge, but small for overlearned knowledge. The present results thus support the combination hypothesis. They conform to the view that the transition from a hippocampus-dependent to a neocortex-dependent mnemonic representation of new contents is mediated by reiteration, and occurs within 5-10 years.

A selective memory deficit caused by autoimmune encephalopathy associated with Hashimoto thyroiditis.

PubMed

Koros, Christos; Economou, Alexandra; Mastorakos, George; Bonakis, Anastasios; Kalfakis, Nikolaos; Papageorgiou, Sokratis G

2012-09-01

We report a longstanding selective memory deficit in a euthyroid 45-year-old woman who was being treated with levothyroxine for Hashimoto thyroiditis. The patient had complained of memory problems and deterioration of her concentration skills for about 2 years. Her endocrinologist thought that she was depressed. The patient's physical examination was normal. She scored a full 30 points on the Mini-Mental State Examination, but neuropsychological evaluation showed a significant deficit in her verbal memory. Routine blood tests and cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed only antithyroid peroxidase antibodies. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was normal. Electroencephalogram showed scarce intermittent bilateral multifocal theta waves. We increased the patient's daily dose of levothyroxine and started her on dexamethasone therapy. Five months later, we repeated the entire evaluation and found both her cognitive function and her electroencephalogram to be normal. Autoimmune encephalopathy associated with Hashimoto thyroiditis is already known to present with either stroke-like episodes or diffuse progressive deterioration. Our patient shows that the encephalopathy can present as a chronic selective memory deficit that can spare executive functions and short-term memory. This presentation can be missed or mistaken for depression, but can be diagnosed with a detailed neuropsychological evaluation.

Context Memory in Alzheimer's Disease

PubMed Central

El Haj, Mohamad; Kessels, Roy P.C.

2013-01-01

Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by a gradual loss of memory. Specifically, context aspects of memory are impaired in AD. Our review sheds light on the neurocognitive mechanisms of this memory component that forms the core of episodic memory function. Summary Context recall, an element of episodic memory, refers to remembering the context in which an event has occurred, such as from whom or to whom information has been transmitted. Key Messages Our review raises crucial questions. For example, (1) which context element is more prone to being forgotten in the disease? (2) How do AD patients fail to bind context features together? (3) May distinctiveness heuristic or decisions based on metacognitive expectations improve context retrieval in these patients? (4) How does cueing at retrieval enhance reinstating of encoding context in AD? By addressing these questions, our work contributes to the understanding of the memory deficits in AD. PMID:24403906

Semantic processes leading to true and false memory formation in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Paz-Alonso, Pedro M; Ghetti, Simona; Ramsay, Ian; Solomon, Marjorie; Yoon, Jong; Carter, Cameron S; Ragland, J Daniel

2013-07-01

Encoding semantic relationships between items on word lists (semantic processing) enhances true memories, but also increases memory distortions. Episodic memory impairments in schizophrenia (SZ) are strongly driven by failures to process semantic relations, but the exact nature of these relational semantic processing deficits is not well understood. Here, we used a false memory paradigm to investigate the impact of implicit and explicit semantic processing manipulations on episodic memory in SZ. Thirty SZ and 30 demographically matched healthy controls (HC) studied Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists of semantically associated words. Half of the lists had strong implicit semantic associations and the remainder had low strength associations. Similarly, half of the lists were presented under "standard" instructions and the other half under explicit "relational processing" instructions. After study, participants performed recall and old/new recognition tests composed of targets, critical lures, and unrelated lures. HC exhibited higher true memories and better discriminability between true and false memory compared to SZ. High, versus low, associative strength increased false memory rates in both groups. However, explicit "relational processing" instructions positively improved true memory rates only in HC. Finally, true and false memory rates were associated with severity of disorganized and negative symptoms in SZ. These results suggest that reduced processing of semantic relationships during encoding in SZ may stem from an inability to implement explicit relational processing strategies rather than a fundamental deficit in the implicit activation and retrieval of word meanings from patients' semantic lexicon. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Episodic Visual Learning/Memory and Attentional Flexibility in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder After Clinically Effective Electroconvulsive Therapy.

PubMed

Kalogerakou, Stamatina; Oulis, Panagiotis; Anyfandi, Eleni; Konstantakopoulos, George; Papakosta, Vasiliki-Maria; Kontis, Dimitrios; Theochari, Eirini; Angelopoulos, Elias; Zervas, Ioannis M; Mellon, Robert C; Papageorgiou, Charalambos C; Tsaltas, Eleftheria

2015-12-01

This study is a follow-up of a previous one reporting that the neuropsychological profile of pharmacoresistant patients with major depressive disorder referred for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, ECT group) contrasted with that of their pharmacorespondent counterparts (NECT group). The NECT group exhibited severe visuospatial memory and minor executive deficits; the ECT group presented the reverse pattern. In that same ECT group, the current follow-up study examined the effects of clinically effective ECT on both cognitive domains 2 months later. Fifteen ECT patients were administered Hamilton Depression (HAMD-24), Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA), Mini-Mental State Examination Scales and 5 tests of Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery at intake (pre-ECT), end of ECT course (post-ECT), and 2 months thereafter (follow-up). Electroconvulsive therapy was effective in relieving clinical depression. After a post-ECT decline, the patients exhibited significant improvement in both Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, paired associate learning, and Stockings of Cambridge. By contrast, their major pre-ECT deficit in intra/extradimensional set shifting remained virtually unaffected. Our findings suggest that attentional flexibility deficits may constitute a neuropsychological trait-like feature of pharmacoresistant, ECT-referred major depressive disorder patients. However, this deficit does not seem generalized, given patient improvement in episodic visual learning/memory and some indication of improvement in spatial planning after ECT.

Dissociation of long-term verbal memory and fronto-executive impairment in first-episode psychosis

PubMed Central

Leeson, V. C.; Robbins, T. W.; Franklin, C.; Harrison, M.; Harrison, I.; Ron, M. A.; Barnes, T. R. E.; Joyce, E. M.

2009-01-01

Background Verbal memory is frequently and severely affected in schizophrenia and has been implicated as a mediator of poor clinical outcome. Whereas encoding deficits are well demonstrated, it is unclear whether retention is impaired. This distinction is important because accelerated forgetting implies impaired consolidation attributable to medial temporal lobe (MTL) dysfunction whereas impaired encoding and retrieval implicates involvement of prefrontal cortex. Method We assessed a group of healthy volunteers (n=97) and pre-morbid IQ- and sex-matched first-episode psychosis patients (n=97), the majority of whom developed schizophrenia. We compared performance of verbal learning and recall with measures of visuospatial working memory, planning and attentional set-shifting, and also current IQ. Results All measures of performance, including verbal memory retention, a memory savings score that accounted for learning impairments, were significantly impaired in the schizophrenia group. The difference between groups for delayed recall remained even after the influence of learning and recall was accounted for. Factor analyses showed that, in patients, all variables except verbal memory retention loaded on a single factor, whereas in controls verbal memory and fronto-executive measures were separable. Conclusions The results suggest that IQ, executive function and verbal learning deficits in schizophrenia may reflect a common abnormality of information processing in prefrontal cortex rather than specific impairments in different cognitive domains. Verbal memory retention impairments, however, may have a different aetiology. PMID:19419594

Computerised working-memory focused cognitive remediation therapy for psychosis--A preliminary study.

PubMed

Hargreaves, A; Dillon, R; Anderson-Schmidt, H; Corvin, A; Fitzmaurice, B; Castorina, M; Robertson, I H; Donohoe, G

2015-12-01

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders and are associated with decreased levels of functioning. Behavioural interventions have shown success in remediating these deficits; determining how best to maximise this benefit while minimising the cost is an important next step in optimising this intervention for clinical use. To examine the effects of a novel working-memory focused cognitive remediation (CR) training on cognitive difficulties based on internet delivery of training and weekly telephone support. Participants with a diagnosis of psychosis (n=56) underwent either 8 weeks of CR (approximately 20 h) or 8 weeks of treatment as usual (TAU). General cognitive ability, working memory and episodic memory were measured both pre and post intervention for all participants. In addition to improvements on trained working memory tasks, CR training was associated with significant improvements in two tests of verbal episodic memory. No association between CR and changes in general cognitive ability was observed. Effect sizes for statistically significant changes in memory were comparable to those reported in the literature based primarily on 1:1 training. The cognitive benefits observed in this non-randomised preliminary study indicate that internet-based working memory training can be an effective cognitive remediation therapy. The successes and challenges of an internet-based treatment are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

False Memories for Affective Information in Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Fairfield, Beth; Altamura, Mario; Padalino, Flavia A; Balzotti, Angela; Di Domenico, Alberto; Mammarella, Nicola

2016-01-01

Studies have shown a direct link between memory for emotionally salient experiences and false memories. In particular, emotionally arousing material of negative and positive valence enhanced reality monitoring compared to neutral material since emotional stimuli can be encoded with more contextual details and thereby facilitate the distinction between presented and imagined stimuli. Individuals with schizophrenia appear to be impaired in both reality monitoring and memory for emotional experiences. However, the relationship between the emotionality of the to-be-remembered material and false memory occurrence has not yet been studied. In this study, 24 patients and 24 healthy adults completed a false memory task with everyday episodes composed of 12 photographs that depicted positive, negative, or neutral outcomes. Results showed how patients with schizophrenia made a higher number of false memories than normal controls ( p  < 0.05) when remembering episodes with positive or negative outcomes. The effect of valence was apparent in the patient group. For example, it did not affect the production causal false memories ( p  > 0.05) resulting from erroneous inferences but did interact with plausible, script consistent errors in patients (i.e., neutral episodes yielded a higher degree of errors than positive and negative episodes). Affective information reduces the probability of generating causal errors in healthy adults but not in patients suggesting that emotional memory impairments may contribute to deficits in reality monitoring in schizophrenia when affective information is involved.

False Memories for Affective Information in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Fairfield, Beth; Altamura, Mario; Padalino, Flavia A.; Balzotti, Angela; Di Domenico, Alberto; Mammarella, Nicola

2016-01-01

Studies have shown a direct link between memory for emotionally salient experiences and false memories. In particular, emotionally arousing material of negative and positive valence enhanced reality monitoring compared to neutral material since emotional stimuli can be encoded with more contextual details and thereby facilitate the distinction between presented and imagined stimuli. Individuals with schizophrenia appear to be impaired in both reality monitoring and memory for emotional experiences. However, the relationship between the emotionality of the to-be-remembered material and false memory occurrence has not yet been studied. In this study, 24 patients and 24 healthy adults completed a false memory task with everyday episodes composed of 12 photographs that depicted positive, negative, or neutral outcomes. Results showed how patients with schizophrenia made a higher number of false memories than normal controls (p < 0.05) when remembering episodes with positive or negative outcomes. The effect of valence was apparent in the patient group. For example, it did not affect the production causal false memories (p > 0.05) resulting from erroneous inferences but did interact with plausible, script consistent errors in patients (i.e., neutral episodes yielded a higher degree of errors than positive and negative episodes). Affective information reduces the probability of generating causal errors in healthy adults but not in patients suggesting that emotional memory impairments may contribute to deficits in reality monitoring in schizophrenia when affective information is involved. PMID:27965600

Episodic memory functions in first episode psychosis and clinical high risk individuals.

PubMed

Greenland-White, Sarah E; Ragland, J Daniel; Niendam, Tara A; Ferrer, Emilio; Carter, Cameron S

2017-10-01

Individuals with schizophrenia have disproportionate memory impairments when encoding relational versus item-specific information, and when using recollection versus familiarity during retrieval. It is unclear whether this pattern is unique to people with chronic schizophrenia, or if it occurs in individuals after a first episode of psychosis (FE), or when at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR). We administered the Relational and Item-Specific Memory task (RiSE) to 22 CHR, 101 FE, and 58 typically developing (TD) participants. We examined group differences in item and relational encoding, and familiarity-based and recollection-based retrieval using parametric analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Longitudinal data allowed us to examine relations between baseline RiSE performance and change in clinical symptoms at 1-year follow-up in the FE group. Groups did not differ on familiarity. FE and CHR groups were equally impaired on overall recognition accuracy. Although recollection was impaired in both FE and CHR groups following relational encoding, only the FE group had impaired recollection following item encoding. SEM showed atypical relationships between familiarity and recollection, as well as familiarity and item recognition for both the FE and CHR groups. For FE individuals, better baseline recognition accuracy predicted less severe negative symptoms at 1-year follow-up. Impaired relational and recollective memory may reflect neurodevelopmental abnormalities predating conversion to psychosis. These memory deficits appear related to negative symptom changes. In contrast, item specific recollection deficits appear to occur after the development of full psychosis. Familiarity appears to be a relatively preserved memory function across the psychosis spectrum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Age-related deficits in selective attention during encoding increase demands on episodic reconstruction during context retrieval: An ERP study.

PubMed

James, Taylor; Strunk, Jonathan; Arndt, Jason; Duarte, Audrey

2016-06-01

Previous event-related potential (ERP) and neuroimaging evidence suggests that directing attention toward single item-context associations compared to intra-item features at encoding improves context memory performance and reduces demands on strategic retrieval operations in young and older adults. In everyday situations, however, there are multiple event features competing for our attention. It is not currently known how selectively attending to one contextual feature while attempting to ignore another influences context memory performance and the processes that support successful retrieval in the young and old. We investigated this issue in the current ERP study. Young and older participants studied pictures of objects in the presence of two contextual features: a color and a scene, and their attention was directed to the object's relationship with one of those contexts. Participants made context memory decisions for both attended and unattended contexts and rated their confidence in those decisions. Behavioral results showed that while both groups were generally successful in applying selective attention during context encoding, older adults were less confident in their context memory decisions for attended features and showed greater dependence in context memory accuracy for attended and unattended contextual features (i.e., hyper-binding). ERP results were largely consistent between age groups but older adults showed a more pronounced late posterior negativity (LPN) implicated in episodic reconstruction processes. We conclude that age-related suppression deficits during encoding result in reduced selectivity in context memory, thereby increasing subsequent demands on episodic reconstruction processes when sought after details are not readily retrieved. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurocognitive deficits or stress overload: Why do individuals with schizophrenia show poor performance in neurocognitive tests?

PubMed

Krkovic, Katarina; Moritz, Steffen; Lincoln, Tania M

2017-05-01

Poor performance in neurocognitive tasks is consistently found across studies in all stages of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and is interpreted as an underlying, brain function-related, neurocognitive deficit. However, neurocognitive test performance in schizophrenia might be compromised by patients' increased stress level. We investigated group-differences in neurocognitive performance while accounting for psychophysiological (salivary cortisol, heart rate, skin conductance level) and self-reported stress. We included 35 patients with schizophrenia, 29 participants with attenuated psychotic symptoms, 26 first-degree relatives of individuals with schizophrenia and 28 healthy controls. Participants completed a neurocognitive test battery that assessed processing speed, task switching, attention, working memory, verbal episodic memory, and verbal comprehension. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) were calculated to test for main effects of group on neurocognitive performance thereby not accounting versus accounting for confounding effects of stress. As expected, patients with schizophrenia scored lower than the other groups in all neurocognitive domains. Participants with attenuated psychotic symptoms, first-degree relatives and healthy individuals did not differ from each other in their performance. After accounting for heart rate and self-reported stress, the multivariate effect of group on neurocognition remained significant, but was rendered non-significant for specific domains - working memory capacity, episodic memory, and long-term memory. The findings imply that stress is relevant to neurocognitive performance and this should be taken into account when interpreting the origin of performance deficits in schizophrenia patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alzheimer's Disease Can Spare Local Metacognition Despite Global Anosognosia: Revisiting the Confidence-Accuracy Relationship in Episodic Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallo, David A.; Cramer, Stefanie J.; Wong, Jessica T.; Bennett, David A.

2012-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) can impair metacognition in addition to more basic cognitive functions like memory. However, while global metacognitive inaccuracies are well documented (i.e., low deficit awareness, or anosognosia), the evidence is mixed regarding the effects of AD on local or task-based metacognitive judgments. Here we investigated local…

The Rate of Source Memory Decline across the Adult Life Span

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cansino, Selene; Estrada-Manilla, Cinthya; Hernandez-Ramos, Evelia; Martinez-Galindo, Joyce Graciela; Torres-Trejo, Frine; Gomez-Fernandez, Tania; Ayala-Hernandez, Mariana; Osorio, David; Cedillo-Tinoco, Melisa; Garces-Flores, Lissete; Gomez-Melgarejo, Sandra; Beltran-Palacios, Karla; Guadalupe Garcia-Lazaro, Haydee; Garcia-Gutierrez, Fabiola; Cadena-Arenas, Yadira; Fernandez-Apan, Luisa; Bartschi, Andrea; Resendiz-Vera, Julieta; Rodriguez-Ortiz, Maria Dolores

2013-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that the ability to remember contextual information related to specific episodic experiences declines with advancing age; however, the exact moment in the adult life span when this deficit begins is still controversial. Source memory for spatial information was tested in a life span sample of 1,500 adults between…

Copper chelator induced efficient episodic memory recovery in a non-transgenic Alzheimer's mouse model.

PubMed

Ceccom, Johnatan; Coslédan, Frédéric; Halley, Hélène; Francès, Bernard; Lassalle, Jean Michel; Meunier, Bernard

2012-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative syndrom involving many different biological parameters, including the accumulation of copper metal ions in Aβ amyloid peptides due to a perturbation of copper circulation and homeostasis within the brain. Copper-containing amyloids activated by endogenous reductants are able to generate an oxidative stress that is involved in the toxicity of abnormal amyloids and contribute to the progressive loss of neurons in AD. Since only few drugs are currently available for the treatment of AD, we decided to design small molecules able to interact with copper and we evaluated these drug-candidates with non-transgenic mice, since AD is mainly an aging disease, not related to genetic disorders. We created a memory deficit mouse model by a single icv injection of Aβ(1-42) peptide, in order to mimic the early stage of the disease and the key role of amyloid oligomers in AD. No memory deficit was observed in the control mice with the antisense Aβ(42-1) peptide. Here we report the capacity of a new copper-specific chelating agent, a bis-8-aminoquinoline PA1637, to fully reverse the deficit of episodic memory after three weeks of treatment by oral route on non-transgenic amyloid-impaired mice. Clioquinol and memantine have been used as comparators to validate this fast and efficient mouse model.

Meta-analytic Review of Memory Impairment in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.

PubMed

Poos, Jackie M; Jiskoot, Lize C; Papma, Janne M; van Swieten, John C; van den Berg, Esther

2018-03-19

A meta-analysis of the extent, nature and pattern of memory performance in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Multiple observational studies have challenged the relative sparing of memory in bvFTD as stated in the current diagnostic criteria. We performed a meta-analytic review covering the period 1967 to February 2017 of case-control studies on episodic memory in bvFTD versus control participants (16 studies, 383 patients, 603 control participants), and patients with bvFTD versus those with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (20 studies, 452 bvFTD, 874 AD). Differences between both verbal and non-verbal working memory, episodic memory learning and recall, and recognition memory were examined. Data were extracted from the papers and combined into a common metric measure of effect, Hedges' d. Patients with bvFTD show large deficits in memory performance compared to controls (Hedges' d -1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] [-1.23, -0.95]), but perform significantly better than patients with AD (Hedges' d 0.85; 95% CI [0.69, 1.03]). Learning and recall tests differentiate best between patients with bvFTD and AD (p<.01). There is 37-62% overlap in test scores between the two groups. This study points to memory disorders in patients with bvFTD, with performance at an intermediate level between controls and patients with AD. This indicates that, instead of being an exclusion criterion for bvFTD diagnosis, memory deficits should be regarded as a potential integral part of the clinical spectrum. (JINS, 2018, 24, 1-13).

Insulin-like growth factor 2 rescues aging-related memory loss in rats.

PubMed

Steinmetz, Adam B; Johnson, Sarah A; Iannitelli, Dylan E; Pollonini, Gabriella; Alberini, Cristina M

2016-08-01

Aging is accompanied by declines in memory performance, and particularly affects memories that rely on hippocampal-cortical systems, such as episodic and explicit. With aged populations significantly increasing, the need for preventing or rescuing memory deficits is pressing. However, effective treatments are lacking. Here, we show that the level of the mature form of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2), a peptide regulated in the hippocampus by learning, required for memory consolidation and a promoter of memory enhancement in young adult rodents, is significantly reduced in hippocampal synapses of aged rats. By contrast, the hippocampal level of the immature form proIGF-2 is increased, suggesting an aging-related deficit in IGF-2 processing. In agreement, aged compared to young adult rats are deficient in the activity of proprotein convertase 2, an enzyme that likely mediates IGF-2 posttranslational processing. Hippocampal administration of the recombinant, mature form of IGF-2 rescues hippocampal-dependent memory deficits and working memory impairment in aged rats. Thus, IGF-2 may represent a novel therapeutic avenue for preventing or reversing aging-related cognitive impairments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Visual Memory in Methamphetamine Dependent Individuals: Deficient Strategic Control of Encoding and Retrieval

PubMed Central

Morgan, Erin E.; Woods, Steven Paul; Poquette, Amelia J.; Vigil, Ofilio; Heaton, Robert K.; Grant, Igor

2012-01-01

Objective Chronic use of methamphetamine (MA) has moderate effects on neurocognitive functions associated with frontal systems, including the executive aspects of verbal episodic memory. Extending this literature, the current study examined the effects of MA on visual episodic memory with the hypothesis that a profile of deficient strategic encoding and retrieval processes would be revealed for visuospatial information (i.e., simple geometric designs), including possible differential effects on source versus item recall. Method The sample comprised 114 MA-dependent (MA+) and 110 demographically-matched MA-nondependent comparison participants (MA−) who completed the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test – Revised (BVMT-R), which was scored for standard learning and memory indices, as well as novel item (i.e., figure) and source (i.e., location) memory indices. Results Results revealed a profile of impaired immediate and delayed free recall (p < .05) in the context of preserved learning slope, retention, and recognition discriminability in the MA+ group. The MA+ group also performed more poorly than MA− participants on Item visual memory (p < .05) but not Source visual memory (p > .05), and no group by task-type interaction was observed (p > .05). Item visual memory demonstrated significant associations with executive dysfunction, deficits in working memory, and shorter length of abstinence from MA use (p < 0.05). Conclusions These visual memory findings are commensurate with studies reporting deficient strategic verbal encoding and retrieval in MA users that are posited to reflect the vulnerability of frontostriatal circuits to the neurotoxic effects of MA. Potential clinical implications of these visual memory deficits are discussed. PMID:22311530

Effect of normal aging and of Alzheimer's disease on, episodic memory.

PubMed

Le Moal, S; Reymann, J M; Thomas, V; Cattenoz, C; Lieury, A; Allain, H

1997-01-01

Performances of 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 15 healthy elderly subjects and 20 young healthy volunteers were compared on two episodic memory tests. The first, a learning test of semantically related words, enabled an assessment of the effect of semantic relationships on word learning by controlling the encoding and retrieval processes. The second, a dual coding test, is about the assessment of automatic processes operating during drawings encoding. The results obtained demonstrated quantitative and qualitative differences between the population. Manifestations of episodic memory deficit in AD patients were shown not only by lower performance scores than in elderly controls, but also by the lack of any effect of semantic cues and the production of a large number of extra-list intrusions. Automatic processes underlying dual coding appear to be spared in AD, although more time is needed to process information than in young or elderly subjects. These findings confirm former data and emphasize the preservation of certain memory processes (dual coding) in AD which could be used in future therapeutic approaches.

A case of amnesia at an early age.

PubMed

Brizzolara, Daniela; Casalini, Claudia; Montanaro, Domenico; Posteraro, Federico

2003-01-01

A dissociation between short- and long-term memory (LTM) and between the episodic and the semantic component of LTM is reported in a young girl who became amnesic at the age of 6 after an episode of acute encephalopathy resulting in bilateral frontal, insular, thalamic, ponto-mesencephalic, hippocampal and temporal lesions, as documented by MRI. The girl became amnesic a few months after starting school. A follow-up investigation showed that she was able to learn to read, write and acquire number facts and procedures and to improve her semantic knowledge. Our results show that the features of adult amnesia can also be found in children and that new semantic knowledge can be acquired in spite of an anterograde memory deficit. This dissociation does not agree with theories viewing long-term declarative memory as a unitary process mediated by the hippocampal system, but supports recent hypotheses that the acquisition of semantic knowledge is independent from episodic memory processes, and takes place through spared cortical regions subjacent to the hippocampi (Vargha-Khadem et al., 1997).

Can We Remember Future Actions yet Forget the Last Two Minutes? Study in Transient Global Amnesia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hainselin, Mathieu; Quinette, Peggy; Desgranges, Beatrice; Martinaud, Olivier; Hannequin, Didier; de La Sayette, Vincent; Viader, Fausto; Eustache, Francis

2011-01-01

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the abrupt onset of a massive episodic memory deficit that spares other cognitive functions. If the anterograde dimension is known to be impaired in TGA, researchers have yet to investigate prospective memory (PM)--which involves remembering to perform an intended action at…

Cognitive impairment and medial temporal lobe structure in young adults with a depressive episode.

PubMed

Donix, Markus; Haussmann, Robert; Helling, Franziska; Zweiniger, Anne; Lange, Jan; Werner, Annett; Donix, Katharina L; Brandt, Moritz D; Linn, Jennifer; Bauer, Michael; Buthut, Maria

2018-09-01

Cognitive deficits are common in patients with a depressive episode although the predictors for their development and severity remain elusive. We investigated whether subjective and objective cognitive impairment in young depressed adults would be associated with cortical thinning in medial temporal subregions. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, cortical unfolding data analysis, and comprehensive assessments of subjective and objective cognitive abilities were performed on 27 young patients with a depressive episode (mean age: 29.0 ± 5.8 years) and 23 older participants without a history of a depressive disorder but amnestic mild cognitive impairment (68.5 ± 6.6 years) or normal cognition (65.2 ± 8.7 years). Thickness reductions in parahippocampal, perirhinal and fusiform cortices were associated with subjective memory deficits only among young patients with a depressive episode and a measurable cognitive impairment. Long-term longitudinal data would be desirable to determine the trajectories of cognitive impairment associated with depression in patients with or without cortical structure changes. The presence of clinically significant cognitive deficits in young people with a depressive episode may identify a patient population with extrahippocampal cortical thinning. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Episodic Memory and Regional Atrophy in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

PubMed Central

Söderlund, Hedvig; Black, Sandra E.; Miller, Bruce L.; Freedman, Morris; Levine, Brian

2008-01-01

It has been unclear to what extent memory is affected in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Since patients usually have atrophy in regions implicated in memory function, the frontal and/or temporal lobes, one would expect some memory impairment, and that the degree of atrophy in these regions would be inversely related to memory function. The purposes of this study were 1) to assess episodic memory function in FTLD, and more specifically patients' ability to episodically re-experience an event, and determine its source; 2) to examine whether memory performance is related to quantified regional brain atrophy. FTLD patients (n=18) and healthy comparison subjects (n=14) were assessed with cued recall, recognition, “remember/know” (self-reported re-experiencing) and source recall, at 30 min and 24 hr after encoding. Regional gray matter volumes were assessed with high resolution structural MRI concurrently to testing. Patients performed worse than comparison subjects on all memory measures. Gray matter volume in the left medial temporal lobe was positively correlated with recognition, re-experiencing, and source recall. Gray matter volume in the left posterior temporal lobe correlated significantly with recognition, at 30 min and 24 hr, and with source recall at 30 min. Estimated familiarity at 30 min was positively correlated with gray matter volume in the left inferior parietal lobe. In summary, episodic memory deficits in FTLD may be more common than previously thought, particularly in patients with left medial and posterior temporal atrophy. PMID:17888461

Brain structural, functional, and cognitive correlates of recent versus remote autobiographical memories in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Tomadesso, Clémence; Perrotin, Audrey; Mutlu, Justine; Mézenge, Florence; Landeau, Brigitte; Egret, Stéphanie; de la Sayette, Vincent; Jonin, Pierre-Yves; Eustache, Francis; Desgranges, Béatrice; Chételat, Gaël

2015-01-01

Deficits in autobiographical memory appear earlier for recent than for remote life periods over the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aims to further our understanding of this graded effect by investigating the cognitive and neural substrates of recent versus remote autobiographical memories in patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) thanks to an autobiographical fluency task. 20 aMCI patients and 25 Healthy elderly Controls (HC) underwent neuropsychological tests assessing remote (20-to-30 years old) and recent (the ten last years) autobiographical memory as well as episodic and semantic memory, executive function and global cognition. All patients also had a structural MRI and an FDG-PET scan. Correlations were assessed between each autobiographical memory score and the other tests as well as grey matter volume and metabolism. Within the aMCI, performances for the remote period correlated with personal semantic memory and episodic memory retrieval whereas performances for the recent period only correlated with episodic memory retrieval. Neuroimaging analyses revealed significant correlations between performances for the remote period and temporal pole and temporo-parietal cortex volumes and anterior cingulate gyrus metabolism, while performances for the recent period correlated with hippocampal volume and posterior cingulate, medial prefrontal and hippocampus metabolism. The brain regions related with the retrieval of events from the recent period showed greater atrophy/hypometabolism in aMCI patients compared to HC than those involved in remote memories. Recall of recent memories essentially relies on episodic memory processes and brain network while remote memories also involve other processes such as semantic memory. This is consistent with the semanticization of memories with time and may explain the better resistance of remote memory in AD. PMID:26106572

Brain structural, functional, and cognitive correlates of recent versus remote autobiographical memories in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Tomadesso, Clémence; Perrotin, Audrey; Mutlu, Justine; Mézenge, Florence; Landeau, Brigitte; Egret, Stéphanie; de la Sayette, Vincent; Jonin, Pierre-Yves; Eustache, Francis; Desgranges, Béatrice; Chételat, Gaël

2015-01-01

Deficits in autobiographical memory appear earlier for recent than for remote life periods over the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aims to further our understanding of this graded effect by investigating the cognitive and neural substrates of recent versus remote autobiographical memories in patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) thanks to an autobiographical fluency task. 20 aMCI patients and 25 Healthy elderly Controls (HC) underwent neuropsychological tests assessing remote (20-to-30 years old) and recent (the ten last years) autobiographical memory as well as episodic and semantic memory, executive function and global cognition. All patients also had a structural MRI and an FDG-PET scan. Correlations were assessed between each autobiographical memory score and the other tests as well as grey matter volume and metabolism. Within the aMCI, performances for the remote period correlated with personal semantic memory and episodic memory retrieval whereas performances for the recent period only correlated with episodic memory retrieval. Neuroimaging analyses revealed significant correlations between performances for the remote period and temporal pole and temporo-parietal cortex volumes and anterior cingulate gyrus metabolism, while performances for the recent period correlated with hippocampal volume and posterior cingulate, medial prefrontal and hippocampus metabolism. The brain regions related with the retrieval of events from the recent period showed greater atrophy/hypometabolism in aMCI patients compared to HC than those involved in remote memories. Recall of recent memories essentially relies on episodic memory processes and brain network while remote memories also involve other processes such as semantic memory. This is consistent with the semanticization of memories with time and may explain the better resistance of remote memory in AD.

Neuropsychological deficits in temporal lobe epilepsy: A comprehensive review

PubMed Central

Zhao, Fengqing; Kang, Hai; You, LIbo; Rastogi, Priyanka; Venkatesh, D.; Chandra, Mina

2014-01-01

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent form of complex partial seizures with temporal lobe origin of electrical abnormality. Studies have shown that recurrent seizures affect all aspects of cognitive functioning, including memory, language, praxis, executive functions, and social judgment, among several others. In this article, we will review these cognitive impairments along with their neuropathological correlates in a comprehensive manner. We will see that neuropsychological deficits are prevalent in TLE. Much of the effort has been laid on memory due to the notion that temporal lobe brain structures involved in TLE play a central role in consolidating information into memory. It seems that damage to the mesial structure of the temporal lobe, particularly the amygdale and hippocampus, has the main role in these memory difficulties and the neurobiological plausibility of the role of the temporal lobe in different aspects of memory. Here, we will cover the sub-domains of working memory and episodic memory deficits. This is we will further proceed to evaluate the evidences of executive function deficits in TLE and will see that set-shifting among other EFs is specifically affected in TLE as is social cognition. Finally, critical components of language related deficits are also found in the form of word-finding difficulties. To conclude, TLE affects several of cognitive function domains, but the etiopathogenesis of all these dysfunctions remain elusive. Further well-designed studies are needed for a better understanding of these disorders. PMID:25506156

The effect of hippocampal damage in children on recalling the past and imagining new experiences.

PubMed

Cooper, Janine M; Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh; Gadian, David G; Maguire, Eleanor A

2011-06-01

Compared to adults, relatively little is known about autobiographical memory and the ability to imagine fictitious and future scenarios in school-aged children, despite the importance of these functions for development and subsequent independent living. Even less is understood about the effect of early hippocampal damage on children's memory and imagination abilities. To bridge this gap, we devised a novel naturalistic autobiographical memory task that enabled us to formally assess the memory for recent autobiographical experiences in healthy school-aged children. Contemporaneous with the autobiographical memories being formed, the children also imagined and described fictitious scenarios. Having established the performance of healthy school-aged children on these tasks, we proceeded to make comparisons with children (n=21) who had experienced neonatal hypoxia/ischaemia, and consequent bilateral hippocampal damage. Our results showed that healthy children could recall autobiographical events, including spatiotemporal information and specific episodic details. By contrast, children who had experienced neonatal hypoxia/ischaemia had impaired recall, with the specific details of episodes being lost. Despite this significant memory deficit they were able to construct fictitious scenarios. This is in clear contrast to adults with hippocampal damage, who typically have impaired autobiographical memory and deficits in the construction of fictitious and future scenarios. We speculate that the paediatric patients' relatively intact semantic memory and/or some functionality in their residual hippocampi may underpin their scene construction ability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of aging and divided attention on episodic feeling-of-knowing accuracy.

PubMed

Sacher, Mathilde; Isingrini, Michel; Taconnat, Laurence

2013-10-01

This research investigated the effect of aging on episodic feeling-of-knowing (FOK) using a divided attention (DA) paradigm in order to examine whether DA in younger adults mimics the effects of aging when decreasing either memory encoding or monitoring processes. To that end, four groups of participants were tested on the FOK task: young adults (control group), young adults under DA at encoding, young adults under DA when making FOK judgments, and older adults. Our results showed that DA at encoding in young adults mimicked the effect of aging on memory performance, and also on FOK magnitude and accuracy, supporting the memory-constraint hypothesis (Hertzog et al., 2010). However, our results do not completely contradict the monitoring-deficit hypothesis, as DA during FOK judgments also affected FOK accuracy, but to a lesser extent than the aging effect or DA during encoding. We suggest that the age-related FOK deficit may be due to a lower level of deep encoding, leading to difficulty retrieving target-related contextual details enabling accurate prediction of subsequent recognition. © 2013.

Future decision-making without episodic mental time travel.

PubMed

Kwan, Donna; Craver, Carl F; Green, Leonard; Myerson, Joel; Boyer, Pascal; Rosenbaum, R Shayna

2012-06-01

Deficits in episodic memory are associated with deficits in the ability to imagine future experiences (i.e., mental time travel). We show that K.C., a person with episodic amnesia and an inability to imagine future experiences, nonetheless systematically discounts the value of future rewards, and his discounting is within the range of controls in terms of both rate and consistency. Because K.C. is neither able to imagine personal uses for the rewards nor provide a rationale for selecting larger future rewards over smaller current rewards, this study demonstrates a dissociation between imagining and making decisions involving the future. Thus, although those capable of mental time travel may use it in making decisions about future rewards, these results demonstrate that it is not required for such decisions. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Neuronal histamine and the interplay of memory, reinforcement and emotions.

PubMed

Dere, E; Zlomuzica, A; De Souza Silva, M A; Ruocco, L A; Sadile, A G; Huston, J P

2010-12-31

The biogenic amine histamine is an important neurotransmitter-neuromodulator in the central nervous system that has been implicated in a variety of biological functions including thermo- and immunoregulation, food intake, seizures, arousal, anxiety, reward and memory. The review of the pertinent literature indicates that the majority of findings are compatible with the appraisal that the inhibition of histaminergic neurotransmission impairs learning and memory formation, decreases cortical activation and arousal, has a suppressive effect on behavioral measures of fear and anxiety, exponentiates the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse and intracranial brain stimulation. In contrast, the stimulation of histaminergic neurotransmission can ameliorate learning and memory impairments that are associated with various experimental deficit models and pathological conditions. Clinical investigations with patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease demonstrate pathological alterations in the brain's histaminergic system, which, in some cases are correlated with the severity of cognitive deficits. The role of the brain's histamine system in episodic memory formation and the potential of histamine-related drugs to ameliorate cognitive deficits in early stages of neurodegenerative diseases are discussed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Amnesia and future thinking: Exploring the role of memory in the quantity and quality of episodic future thoughts.

PubMed

Cole, Scott N; Morrison, Catriona M; Barak, Ohr; Pauly-Takacs, Katalin; Conway, Martin A

2016-06-01

To examine the impact of memory accessibility on episodic future thinking. Single-case study of neurological patient HCM and an age-matched comparison group of neurologically Healthy Controls. We administered a full battery of tests assessing general intelligence, memory, and executive functioning. To assess autobiographical memory, the Autobiographical Memory Interview (Kopelman, Wilson, & Baddeley, 1990. The Autobiographical Memory Interview. Bury St. Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company) was administered. The Past Episodic and Future Episodic sections of Dalla Barba's Confabulation Battery (Dalla Barba, 1993, Cogn. Neuropsychol., 1, 1) and a specifically tailored Mental Time Travel Questionnaire were administered to assess future thinking in HCM and age-matched controls. HCM presented with a deficit in forming new memories (anterograde amnesia) and recalling events from before the onset of neurological impairment (retrograde amnesia). HCM's autobiographical memory impairments are characterized by a paucity of memories from Recent Life. In comparison with controls, two features of his future thoughts are apparent: Reduced episodic future thinking and outdated content of his episodic future thoughts. This article suggests neuropsychologists should look beyond popular conceptualizations of the past-future relation in amnesia via focussing on reduced future thinking. Investigating both the quantity and quality of future thoughts produced by amnesic patients may lead to developments in understanding the complex nature of future thinking disorders resulting from memory impairments. We highlight the clinical importance of examining the content of future thoughts in amnesic patients, rather than only its quantitative reduction. We propose an explanation of how quantitative and qualitative aspects of future thinking could be affected by amnesia. This could provide a useful approach to understand clinical cases of impaired prospection. Systematic group investigations are required to fully examine our hypothesis. Although the current study utilized typical future thinking measures, these may be limited and we highlight the need to develop clinically relevant measures of prospection. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Working memory binding and episodic memory formation in aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's dementia.

PubMed

van Geldorp, Bonnie; Heringa, Sophie M; van den Berg, Esther; Olde Rikkert, Marcel G M; Biessels, Geert Jan; Kessels, Roy P C

2015-01-01

Recent studies indicate that in both normal and pathological aging working memory (WM) performance deteriorates, especially when associations have to be maintained. However, most studies typically do not assess the relationship between WM and episodic memory formation. In the present study, we examined WM and episodic memory formation in normal aging and in patients with early Alzheimer's disease (mild cognitive impairment, MCI; and Alzheimer's dementia, AD). In the first study, 26 young adults (mean age 29.6 years) were compared to 18 middle-aged adults (mean age 52.2 years) and 25 older adults (mean age 72.8 years). We used an associative delayed-match-to-sample WM task, which requires participants to maintain two pairs of faces and houses presented on a computer screen for short (3 s) or long (6 s) maintenance intervals. After the WM task, an unexpected subsequent associative memory task was administered (two-alternative forced choice). In the second study, 27 patients with AD and 19 patients with MCI were compared to 25 older controls, using the same paradigm as that in Experiment 1. Older adults performed worse than both middle-aged and young adults. No effect of delay was observed in the healthy adults, and pairs that were processed during long maintenance intervals were not better remembered in the subsequent memory task. In the MCI and AD patients, longer maintenance intervals hampered the task performance. Also, both patient groups performed significantly worse than controls on the episodic memory task as well as the associative WM task. Aging and AD present with a decline in WM binding, a finding that extends similar results in episodic memory. Longer delays in the WM task did not affect episodic memory formation. We conclude that WM deficits are found when WM capacity is exceeded, which may occur during associative processing.

Functional neuroanatomical associations of working memory in early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Kobylecki, Christopher; Haense, Cathleen; Harris, Jennifer M; Stopford, Cheryl L; Segobin, Shailendra H; Jones, Matthew; Richardson, Anna M T; Gerhard, Alexander; Anton-Rodriguez, José; Thompson, Jennifer C; Herholz, Karl; Snowden, Julie S

2018-01-01

To characterize metabolic correlates of working memory impairment in clinically defined subtypes of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Established models of working memory suggest a key role for frontal lobe function, yet the association in Alzheimer's disease between working memory impairment and visuospatial and language symptoms suggests that temporoparietal neocortical dysfunction may be responsible. Twenty-four patients with predominantly early-onset Alzheimer's disease were clinically classified into groups with predominantly amnestic, multidomain or visual deficits. Patients underwent neuropsychological evaluation focused on the domains of episodic and working memory, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and brain fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography data were analysed by using a region-of-interest approach. Patients with multidomain and visual presentations performed more poorly on tests of working memory compared with amnestic Alzheimer's disease. Working memory performance correlated with glucose metabolism in left-sided temporoparietal, but not frontal neocortex. Carriers of the apolipoprotein E4 gene showed poorer episodic memory and better working memory performance compared with noncarriers. Our findings support the hypothesis that working memory changes in early-onset Alzheimer's disease are related to temporoparietal rather than frontal hypometabolism and show dissociation from episodic memory performance. They further support the concept of subtypes of Alzheimer's disease with distinct cognitive profiles due to prominent neocortical dysfunction early in the disease course. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Associative memory and its cerebral correlates in Alzheimer's disease: Evidence for distinct deficits of relational and conjunctive memory

PubMed Central

Bastin, Christine; Bahri, Mohamed Ali; Miévis, Frédéric; Lemaire, Christian; Collette, Fabienne; Genon, Sarah; Simon, Jessica; Guillaume, Bénédicte; Diana, Rachel A.; Yonelinas, Andrew P.; Salmon, Eric

2014-01-01

This study investigated the impact of Alzheimer's disease (AD) on conjunctive and relational binding in episodic memory. Mild AD patients and controls had to remember item-color associations by imagining color either as a contextual association (relational memory) or as a feature of the item to be encoded (conjunctive memory). Patients' performance in each condition was correlated with cerebral metabolism measured by FDG-PET. The results showed that AD patients had an impaired capacity to remember item-color associations, with deficits in both relational and conjunctive memory. However, performance in the two kinds of associative memory varied independently across patients. Partial least square analyses revealed that poor conjunctive memory was related to hypometabolism in an anterior temporal-posterior fusiform brain network, whereas relational memory correlated with metabolism in regions of the default mode network. These findings support the hypothesis of distinct neural systems specialized in different types of associative memory and point to heterogeneous profiles of memory alteration in Alzheimer's disease as a function of damage to the respective neural networks. PMID:25172390

Episodic Memory Dysfunction in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia: A Clinical And FDG-PET Study.

PubMed

Fernández-Matarrubia, Marta; Matías-Guiu, Jordi A; Cabrera-Martín, María Nieves; Moreno-Ramos, Teresa; Valles-Salgado, María; Carreras, José Luis; Matías-Guiu, Jorge

2017-01-01

Episodic memory disturbance is still considered as an exclusion criterion for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), but growing evidence suggests that memory can be impaired. Our main purposes were to assess episodic memory in a group of bvFTD patients comparatively with Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and analyze the relationship between episodic memory and brain metabolism measured using positron emission tomography imaging with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET). Twenty-six bvFTD, 29 AD, and 24 healthy controls were included. Episodic memory was assessed by the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT), which controls for effective encoding and measures memory consolidation processing. All participants underwent FDG-PET brain scans to provide data for voxel-based brain mapping analysis. Half of bvFTD patients had a deficit of total, free delayed, and total free delayed recall as severe as AD patients (amnestic-FTD). The other half had FCSRT scores similar to controls (non-amnestic-FTD). Imaging analyses revealed that amnestic-FTD showed bilateral lower metabolism than non-amnestic-FTD in anterior parahippocampal and inferior temporal gyri. Additionally, FCSRT total and total delayed scores were inversely correlated with parahippocampal metabolism in both bvFTD and AD. Besides, bvFTD showed an inverse association among FCSRT and inferior temporal metabolism. Our findings support that bvFTD could present a genuine amnesia affecting storage and consolidation abilities, which involves structures implicated in the Papez circuit, as occurs in AD, and also inferior temporal regions. These results contribute to understanding the mechanisms underpinning memory dysfunction in bvFTD, and may be relevant to further revisions of the current diagnostic criteria.

Selective Cognitive Dysfunction Is Related to a Specific Pattern of Cerebral Damage in Persons With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Di Paola, Margherita; Phillips, Owen; Costa, Alberto; Ciurli, Paola; Bivona, Umberto; Catani, Sheila; Formisano, Rita; Caltagirone, Carlo; Carlesimo, Giovanni Augusto

2015-01-01

Cognitive dysfunction is a common sequela of traumatic brain injury (TBI); indeed, patients show a heterogeneous pattern of cognitive deficits. This study was aimed at investigating whether patients who show selective cognitive dysfunction after TBI present a selective pattern of cerebral damage. Post-Coma Unit, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. We collected data from 8 TBI patients with episodic memory disorder and without executive deficits, 7 patients with executive function impairment and preserved episodic memory capacities, and 16 healthy controls. We used 2 complementary analyses: (1) an exploratory and qualitative approach in which we investigated the distribution of lesions in the TBI groups, and (2) a hypothesis-driven and quantitative approach in which we calculated the volume of hippocampi of individuals in the TBI and control groups. Neuropsychological scores and hippocampal volumes. We found that patients with TBI and executive functions impairment presented focal lesions involving the frontal lobes, whereas patients with TBI and episodic memory disorders showed atrophic changes of the mesial temporal structure (hippocampus). The complexity of TBI is due to several heterogeneous factors. Indeed, studying patients with TBI and selective cognitive dysfunction should lead to a better understanding of correlations with specific brain impairment and damage, better follow-up of long-term outcome scenarios, and better planning of selective and focused rehabilitation programs.

Impaired MMN/P3a complex in first-episode psychosis: cognitive and psychosocial associations.

PubMed

Hermens, Daniel F; Ward, Philip B; Hodge, M Antoinette Redoblado; Kaur, Manreena; Naismith, Sharon L; Hickie, Ian B

2010-08-16

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a neurophysiological indicator of the brain's ability to extract relevant information from an irrelevant background. The P3a orienting response often accompanies MMN in deviance detection paradigms. Both MMN and P3a have been described as reliable biomarkers of schizophrenia. MMN/P3a impairments are associated with deficits in verbal memory and attentional switching, reflecting dysfunctions in the temporal and frontal systems, respectively. It remains unresolved whether MMN/P3a are robust biomarkers of psychosis in first-episode patients. Thirty-four young people (18 to 30years) were assessed in this study; 17 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients were compared to 17 healthy controls. To elicit MMN/P3a, a two-tone passive auditory oddball paradigm with 8% duration deviants was used; event-related potentials were recorded at frontal, central and temporal (mastoid) sites. Neuropsychological assessments included processing speed, attentional switching, simple attention, and verbal learning and memory. Social functioning and quality of life measures were also obtained. The FEP group showed significantly reduced MMN amplitudes compared to controls. The FEP group also showed significantly reduced P3a amplitudes at frontal and central sites compared with controls. As expected, the FEP group also showed significant deficits in attention and verbal learning/memory. Correlational analyses found strong associations between fronto-central MMN/P3a peak amplitude and cognitive/psychosocial functioning. This study provides evidence of early neurobiological markers in young people with FEP. These findings suggest that MMN/P3a impairments are present at early stages of psychosis and that fundamental pre-attentive/deviance detection deficits may mark the beginning of progressive underlying changes with illness onset. Such deficits in FEP appear to have important links with higher-order cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Temporal context and the organisational impairment of memory search in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Polyn, Sean M; McCluey, Joshua D; Morton, Neal W; Woolard, Austin A; Luksik, Andrew S; Heckers, Stephan

2015-01-01

An influential theory of schizophrenic deficits in executive function suggests that patients have difficulty maintaining and utilising an internal contextual representation, whose function is to ensure that stimuli are processed in a task-appropriate manner. In basic research on episodic memory, retrieved-context theories propose that an internal contextual representation is critically involved in memory search, facilitating the retrieval of task-appropriate memories. This contextual machinery is thought to give rise to temporal organisation during free recall: the tendency for successive recall responses to correspond to items from nearby positions on the study list. If patients with schizophrenia have a generalised contextual deficit, then this leads to the prediction that these patients will exhibit reduced temporal organisation in free recall. Using a combination of classic and recently developed organisational measures, we characterised recall organisation in 75 patients with schizophrenia and 72 nondisordered control participants performing a multi-trial free-recall task. Patients with schizophrenia showed diminished temporal organisation, as well as diminished subjective organisation of their recall sequences relative to control participants. The two groups showed similar amounts of semantic organisation during recall. The observation of reduced temporal organisation in the patient group is consistent with the proposal that the memory deficit in schizophrenia can be characterised as a deficit in contextual processing.

Associations between psychological distress, learning, and memory in spouse caregivers of older adults.

PubMed

Mackenzie, Corey S; Wiprzycka, Ursula J; Hasher, Lynn; Goldstein, David

2009-11-01

Family caregivers of older adults experience high levels of chronic stress and psychological distress, which are known to impair cognition. Very little research, however, has assessed the impact of caregiving on key cognitive outcomes such as learning and memory. This study compared 16 spouse caregivers with 16 matched controls using standardized neuropsychological measures of learning, episodic memory, and working memory. Analyses compared groups on these cognitive outcomes and examined whether psychological distress mediated group differences in cognition. Results indicated that caregivers were significantly more distressed than non-caregivers and exhibited deficits in learning, recall of episodic information after short and long delays, and working memory. Furthermore, the majority of group differences in cognitive outcomes were mediated by psychological distress. This study adds to a small body of literature demonstrating impaired cognitive functioning among family caregivers. It also suggests that distress is one of a number of possible underlying mechanisms leading to disruptions in learning and memory in this population.

What–where–when memory and encoding strategies in healthy aging

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Older adults exhibit disproportionate impairments in memory for item-associations. These impairments may stem from an inability to self-initiate deep encoding strategies. The present study investigates this using the “treasure-hunt task”; a what–where–when style episodic memory test that requires individuals to “hide” items around complex scenes. This task separately assesses memory for item, location, and temporal order, as well as bound what–where–when information. The results suggest that older adults are able to ameliorate integration memory deficits by using self-initiated encoding strategies when these are externally located and therefore place reduced demands on working memory and attentional resources. PMID:26884230

Aberrant prefrontal beta oscillations predict episodic memory encoding deficits in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Meconi, Federica; Anderl-Straub, Sarah; Raum, Heidelore; Landgrebe, Michael; Langguth, Berthold; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T; Hanslmayr, Simon

Verbal episodic memory is one of the core cognitive functions affected in patients with schizophrenia (SZ). Although this verbal memory impairment in SZ is a well-known finding, our understanding about its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms is rather scarce. Here we address this issue by recording brain oscillations during a memory task in a sample of healthy controls and patients with SZ. Brain oscillations represent spectral fingerprints of specific neurocognitive operations and are therefore a promising tool to identify neurocognitive mechanisms that are affected by SZ. Healthy controls showed a prominent suppression of left prefrontal beta oscillatory activity during successful memory formation, which replicates several previous oscillatory memory studies. In contrast, patients failed to exhibit such a left prefrontal beta power suppression. Utilizing a new topographical pattern similarity approach, we further demonstrate that the degree of similarity between a patient's beta power decrease to that of the controls reliably predicted memory performance. This relationship between beta power decreases and memory was such that the patients' memory performance improved as they showed a more similar topographical beta desynchronization pattern compared to that of healthy controls. Together, these findings support left prefrontal beta desynchronization as the spectral fingerprint of verbal episodic memory formation, likely indicating deep semantic processing of verbal material. These findings also demonstrate that left prefrontal beta power suppression (or lack thereof) during memory encoding are a reliable biomarker for the observed encoding impairments in SZ in verbal memory.

Genetic Interaction Is Associated with Lower Metabolic Connectivity and Memory Impairment in Clinically Mild Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Chang, Ya-Ting; Huang, Chi-Wei; Huang, Shu-Hua; Hsu, Shih-Wei; Chang, Wen-Neng; Lee, Jun-Jun; Chang, Chiung-Chih

2018-06-08

Metabolic connectivity as revealed by [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography reflects neuronal connectivity. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic impact on metabolic connectivity in default mode subnetworks and its clinical-pathological relationships in patients with Alzheimer's disease. We separately investigated the modulation of two default mode subnetworks, as identified with independent component analysis, by comparing APOE-ε4 carriers to non-carriers with Alzheimer's disease. We further analyzed the interaction effects of APOE (APOE-ε4 carriers versus non-carriers) with PICALM (rs3851179-GG versus rs3851179-A-allele carriers) on episodic memory deficits, reduction in cerebral metabolic rate for glucose, and decreased metabolic connectivity in default mode subnetworks. The metabolic connectivity in the ventral default mode network was positively correlated with episodic memory scores (β= 0.441, p< 0.001). The APOE-ε4 carriers had significantly lower metabolic connectivity in the ventral default mode network than the APOE-ε4 carriers (t(96)= -2.233, P= 0.028). There was an effect of the APOE-PICALM (rs3851179) interactions on reduced cerebral metabolic rate for glucose in regions of ventral default mode network (p< 0.001), and on memory deficits (F3,93= 5.568, p= 0.020). This study identified that PICALM may modulates memory deficits, reduced cerebral metabolic rate for glucose, and decreased metabolic connectivity in the ventral default mode network in APOE-ε4 carriers. [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-based metabolic connectivity may serve a useful tool to elucidate the neural networks underlying clinical-pathological relationships in Alzheimer's disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Cognitive functioning in the first-episode of major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Ahern, Elayne; Semkovska, Maria

2017-01-01

Cognitive deficits are frequently observed in major depression. Yet, when these deficits emerge and how they relate to the depressed state is unclear. The aim of this 2-part systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine the pattern and extent of cognitive deficits during a first-episode of depression (FED) and their persistence following FED remission. Published, peer-reviewed articles on cognitive function in FED patients through October 2015 were searched. Meta-analyses with random-effects modeling were conducted. Part 1 assessed weighted, mean effect sizes of cognitive function in FED patients relative to healthy controls. Moderator analyses of clinical and demographical variables effects were conducted. Part 2 assessed weighted, mean effect sizes of change in cognitive function at remission compared with acute FED performance in longitudinal studies. Thirty-one studies including 994 FED patients were retained in Part 1. Relative to healthy controls, small to large impairments were observed across most cognitive domains. Remission was associated with a normalization of function in processing speed, learning and memory, autobiographical memory, shifting, and IQ. Lower FED age was associated with higher IQ, but more impairment in word-list delayed memory. Four studies including 92 FED patients were retained in Part 2. Following remission, FED patients showed small improvements in processing speed and shifting but persistent impairment in inhibition and verbal fluency. Significant cognitive deficits are already identifiable during a FED, with some functions showing persistent impairment upon remission. Clinicians must consider cognitive impairment alongside mood symptoms to ensure functional recovery from the FED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Episodic simulation of future events is impaired in mild Alzheimer's disease

PubMed Central

Addis, Donna Rose; Sacchetti, Daniel C.; Ally, Brandon A.; Budson, Andrew E.; Schacter, Daniel L.

2009-01-01

Recent neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that both remembering the past and simulating the future activate a core neural network including the medial temporal lobes. Regions of this network, in particular the medial temporal lobes, are prime sites for amyloid deposition and are structurally and functionally compromised in Alzheimer's disease (AD). While we know some functions of this core network, specifically episodic autobiographical memory, are impaired in AD, no study has examined whether future episodic simulation is similarly impaired. We tested the ability of sixteen AD patients and sixteen age-matched controls to generate past and future autobiographical events using an adapted version of the Autobiographical Interview. Participants also generated five remote autobiographical memories from across the lifespan. Event transcriptions were segmented into distinct details, classified as either internal (episodic) or external (non-episodic). AD patients exhibited deficits in both remembering past events and simulating future events, generating fewer internal and external episodic details than healthy older controls. The internal and external detail scores were strongly correlated across past and future events, providing further evidence of the close linkages between the mental representations of past and future. PMID:19497331

Accelerated long-term forgetting in resected and seizure-free temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

PubMed

Visser, M; Forn, C; Gómez-Ibáñez, A; Rosell-Negre, P; Villanueva, V; Ávila, C

2018-03-12

Episodic memory impairments caused by temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are well documented in the literature. Standard clinical episodic memory tests typically include a 30-min delayed recall test. However, in the past decade, it has become apparent that this standard test does not capture the full range of memory problems in TLE patients. Some patients perform well on a standard 30-min delayed recall test, but show Accelerated Long-term Forgetting (ALF) after 24 h. Although ALF has been investigated in patients with different types of epilepsy, current research on resected TLE patients is missing. In the present study, resected TLE patients were compared to a control group matched on initial learning. They showed normal performance on verbal recall after 30 min, but impairments became apparent after one week. Moreover, the significant interaction between participant group and memory test delay demonstrated that the patients indeed showed an acceleration in forgetting. Furthermore, ALF was present in both left and right resected TLE patients, which contradicts the presence of material-specific hemispheric differences in ALF. In addition, ALF was observed in seizure-free resected TLE patients, thereby demonstrating that this factor is not crucial for long-term memory deficits. The outcome shows that clinicians are likely to underestimate memory deficits in resected TLE patients and, therefore, advocates for the inclusion of ALF tests in standard clinical batteries for both pre- and post-surgery testing sessions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Histamine H1 receptor antagonist cetirizine impairs working memory processing speed, but not episodic memory.

PubMed

van Ruitenbeek, P; Vermeeren, A; Riedel, W J

2010-09-01

The histaminergic neurotransmitter system is currently under investigation as a target for drug treatment of cognitive deficits in clinical disorders. The therapeutic potential of new drugs may initially be screened using a model of histaminergic dysfunction, for example, as associated with the use of centrally active antihistamines. Of the selective second generation antihistamines, cetirizine has been found to have central nervous system effects. The aim of the present study was to determine whether cetirizine can be used as a tool to model cognitive deficits associated with histaminergic hypofunction. The study was conducted according to a three-way, double-blind, cross-over design. Treatments were single oral doses of cetirizine 10 and 20 mg and placebo. Effects on cognition were assessed using tests of word learning, memory scanning, vigilance, divided attention, tracking and visual information processing speed. Cetirizine 10 mg impaired tracking performance and both doses impaired memory scanning speed. None of the other measures indicated impaired performance. Cetirizine affects information processing speed, but these effects were not sufficient to serve as a model for cognitive deficits in clinical disorders.

CB1 Cannabinoid Receptors Mediate Cognitive Deficits and Structural Plasticity Changes During Nicotine Withdrawal.

PubMed

Saravia, Rocio; Flores, África; Plaza-Zabala, Ainhoa; Busquets-Garcia, Arnau; Pastor, Antoni; de la Torre, Rafael; Di Marzo, Vincenzo; Marsicano, Giovanni; Ozaita, Andrés; Maldonado, Rafael; Berrendero, Fernando

2017-04-01

Tobacco withdrawal is associated with deficits in cognitive function, including attention, working memory, and episodic memory. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms involved in these effects is crucial because cognitive deficits during nicotine withdrawal may predict relapse in humans. We investigated in mice the role of CB 1 cannabinoid receptors (CB 1 Rs) in memory impairment and spine density changes induced by nicotine withdrawal precipitated by the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine. Drugs acting on the endocannabinoid system and genetically modified mice were used. Memory impairment during nicotine withdrawal was blocked by the CB 1 R antagonist rimonabant or the genetic deletion of CB 1 R in forebrain gamma-aminobutyric acidergic (GABAergic) neurons (GABA-CB 1 R). An increase of 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), but not anandamide, was observed during nicotine withdrawal. The selective inhibitor of 2-AG biosynthesis O7460 abolished cognitive deficits of nicotine abstinence, whereas the inhibitor of 2-AG enzymatic degradation JZL184 did not produce any effect in cognitive impairment. Moreover, memory impairment was prevented by the selective mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor temsirolimus and the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin. Mature dendritic spines on CA1 pyramidal hippocampal neurons decreased 4 days after the precipitation of nicotine withdrawal, when the cognitive deficits were still present. Indeed, a correlation between memory performance and mature spine density was found. Interestingly, these structural plasticity alterations were normalized in GABA-CB 1 R conditional knockout mice and after subchronic treatment with rimonabant. These findings underline the interest of CB 1 R as a target to improve cognitive performance during early nicotine withdrawal. Cognitive deficits in early abstinence are associated with increased relapse risk. Copyright © 2016 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anterograde episodic memory in Korsakoff syndrome.

PubMed

Fama, Rosemary; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Sullivan, Edith V

2012-06-01

A profound anterograde memory deficit for information, regardless of the nature of the material, is the hallmark of Korsakoff syndrome, an amnesic condition resulting from severe thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. Since the late nineteenth century when the Russian physician, S. S. Korsakoff, initially described this syndrome associated with "polyneuropathy," the observed global amnesia has been a primary focus of neuroscience and neuropsychology. In this review we highlight the historical studies that examined anterograde episodic memory processes in KS, present a timeline and evidence supporting the myriad theories proffered to account for this memory dysfunction, and summarize what is known about the neuroanatomical correlates and neural systems presumed affected in KS. Rigorous study of KS amnesia and associated memory disorders of other etiologies provide evidence for distinct mnemonic component processes and neural networks imperative for normal declarative and nondeclarative memory abilities and for mnemonic processes spared in KS, from whence emerged the appreciation that memory is not a unitary function. Debate continues regarding the qualitative and quantitative differences between KS and other amnesias and what brain regions and neural pathways are necessary and sufficient to produce KS amnesia.

Anterograde Episodic Memory in Korsakoff Syndrome

PubMed Central

Fama, Rosemary; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Sullivan, Edith V.

2016-01-01

A profound anterograde memory deficit for information, regardless of the nature of the material, is the hallmark of Korsakoff syndrome, an amnesic condition resulting from severe thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. Since the late nineteenth century when the Russian physician, S. S. Korsakoff, initially described this syndrome associated with “polyneuropathy,” the observed global amnesia has been a primary focus of neuroscience and neuropsychology. In this review we highlight the historical studies that examined anterograde episodic memory processes in KS, present a timeline and evidence supporting the myriad theories proffered to account for this memory dysfunction, and summarize what is known about the neuroanatomical correlates and neural systems presumed affected in KS. Rigorous study of KS amnesia and associated memory disorders of other etiologies provide evidence for distinct mnemonic component processes and neural networks imperative for normal declarative and nondeclarative memory abilities and for mnemonic processes spared in KS, from whence emerged the appreciation that memory is not a unitary function. Debate continues regarding the qualitative and quantitative differences between KS and other amnesias and what brain regions and neural pathways are necessary and sufficient to produce KS amnesia. PMID:22644546

Associative memory and its cerebral correlates in Alzheimer׳s disease: evidence for distinct deficits of relational and conjunctive memory.

PubMed

Bastin, Christine; Bahri, Mohamed Ali; Miévis, Frédéric; Lemaire, Christian; Collette, Fabienne; Genon, Sarah; Simon, Jessica; Guillaume, Bénédicte; Diana, Rachel A; Yonelinas, Andrew P; Salmon, Eric

2014-10-01

This study investigated the impact of Alzheimer׳s disease (AD) on conjunctive and relational binding in episodic memory. Mild AD patients and controls had to remember item-color associations by imagining color either as a contextual association (relational memory) or as a feature of the item to be encoded (conjunctive memory). Patients׳ performance in each condition was correlated with cerebral metabolism measured by FDG-PET. The results showed that AD patients had an impaired capacity to remember item-color associations, with deficits in both relational and conjunctive memory. However, performance in the two kinds of associative memory varied independently across patients. Partial Least Square analyses revealed that poor conjunctive memory was related to hypometabolism in an anterior temporal-posterior fusiform brain network, whereas relational memory correlated with metabolism in regions of the default mode network. These findings support the hypothesis of distinct neural systems specialized in different types of associative memory and point to heterogeneous profiles of memory alteration in Alzheimer׳s disease as a function of damage to the respective neural networks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Delayed-matching-to-place Task in a Dry Maze to Measure Spatial Working Memory in Mice.

PubMed

Feng, Xi; Krukowski, Karen; Jopson, Timothy; Rosi, Susanna

2017-07-05

The delayed-matching-to-place (DMP) dry maze test is a variant of DMP water maze (Steele and Morris, 1999; Faizi et al. , 2012) which measures spatial working/episodic-like learning and memory that depends on both hippocampal and cortical functions (Wang and Morris, 2010; Euston et al. , 2012). Using this test we can detect normal aging related spatial working memory decline, as well as trauma induced working memory deficits. Furthermore, we recently reported that fractionated whole brain irradiation does not affect working memory in mice (Feng et al. , 2016). Here we describe the experimental setup and procedures of this behavioral test.

Amnesia as an impairment of detail generation and binding: evidence from personal, fictional, and semantic narratives in K.C.

PubMed

Rosenbaum, R Shayna; Gilboa, Asaf; Levine, Brian; Winocur, Gordon; Moscovitch, Morris

2009-09-01

Autobiographical episodic recall involves active simultaneous generation and binding of various elements that were present during the initial experience. Deficits in this reconstructive process may account for some aspects of retrograde amnesia (RA) for personally experienced events. Constructive and reconstructive processes may involve similar mechanisms. If so, patients with extensive anterograde amnesia (AA) and RA should show deficits in non-recollective cognitive domains, such as imagining events that had never been experienced and recounting non-personal narratives, that presumably rely on constructive and re-constructive processes, respectively. To test these possibilities, patient K.C., who has severe AA and RA for personal episodes, was asked to generate fictional events and to recall and recognize details of well-known fairy tales and bible stories. K.C.'s performance on both tasks was better than expected given his severely impaired autobiographical episodic memory (AM), but significantly worse than that of control participants. K.C. was able to create a skeletal outline for both types of narratives, providing sufficient information to convey their gist, but the narratives were fragmented and lacking in detail. This deficit cannot be explained as resulting entirely from deficient stored semantic knowledge, because K.C. was able to discriminate between true and false details of non-personal semantic narratives on a recognition test, which he cannot do for personal events [Gilboa, A., Winocur, G., Rosenbaum, R.S., Poreh, A., Gao, F., Black, S.E., Westmacott, R., & Moscovitch, M. (2006a). Hippocampal contributions to recollection in retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Hippocampus, 16, 966-980]. Thus, retrograde AM impairment may be viewed as both a loss of information as well as a deficit in reconstructive processes that hamper or prevent the binding of information to generate a cohesive, detail-rich memory.

Acute transient cognitive dysfunction and acute brain injury induced by systemic inflammation occur by dissociable IL-1-dependent mechanisms.

PubMed

Skelly, Donal T; Griffin, Éadaoin W; Murray, Carol L; Harney, Sarah; O'Boyle, Conor; Hennessy, Edel; Dansereau, Marc-Andre; Nazmi, Arshed; Tortorelli, Lucas; Rawlins, J Nicholas; Bannerman, David M; Cunningham, Colm

2018-06-06

Systemic inflammation can impair cognition with relevance to dementia, delirium and post-operative cognitive dysfunction. Episodes of delirium also contribute to rates of long-term cognitive decline, implying that these acute events induce injury. Whether systemic inflammation-induced acute dysfunction and acute brain injury occur by overlapping or discrete mechanisms remains unexplored. Here we show that systemic inflammation, induced by bacterial LPS, produces both working-memory deficits and acute brain injury in the degenerating brain and that these occur by dissociable IL-1-dependent processes. In normal C57BL/6 mice, LPS (100 µg/kg) did not affect working memory but impaired long-term memory consoliodation. However prior hippocampal synaptic loss left mice selectively vulnerable to LPS-induced working memory deficits. Systemically administered IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) was protective against, and systemic IL-1β replicated, these working memory deficits. Dexamethasone abolished systemic cytokine synthesis and was protective against working memory deficits, without blocking brain IL-1β synthesis. Direct application of IL-1β to ex vivo hippocampal slices induced non-synaptic depolarisation and irrevesible loss of membrane potential in CA1 neurons from diseased animals and systemic LPS increased apoptosis in the degenerating brain, in an IL-1RI -/- -dependent fashion. The data suggest that LPS induces working memory dysfunction via circulating IL-1β but direct hippocampal action of IL-1β causes neuronal dysfunction and may drive neuronal death. The data suggest that acute systemic inflammation produces both reversible cognitive deficits, resembling delirium, and acute brain injury contributing to long-term cognitive impairment but that these events are mechanistically dissociable. These data have significant implications for management of cognitive dysfunction during acute illness.

Imaging evidence for disturbances in multiple learning and memory systems in persons with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Goh, Suzanne; Peterson, Bradley S

2012-03-01

The aim of this article is to review neuroimaging studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that examine declarative, socio-emotional, and procedural learning and memory systems. We conducted a search of PubMed from 1996 to 2010 using the terms 'autism,''learning,''memory,' and 'neuroimaging.' We limited our review to studies correlating learning and memory function with neuroimaging features of the brain. The early literature supports the following preliminary hypotheses: (1) abnormalities of hippocampal subregions may contribute to autistic deficits in episodic and relational memory; (2) disturbances to an amygdala-based network (which may include the fusiform gyrus, superior temporal cortex, and mirror neuron system) may contribute to autistic deficits in socio-emotional learning and memory; and (3) abnormalities of the striatum may contribute to developmental dyspraxia in individuals with ASD. Characterizing the disturbances to learning and memory systems in ASD can inform our understanding of the neural bases of autistic behaviors and the phenotypic heterogeneity of ASD. © The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2012 Mac Keith Press.

Visual associations to retrieve episodic memory across healthy elderly, mild cognitive impairment, and patients with Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Meyer, Sascha R A; De Jonghe, Jos F M; Schmand, Ben; Ponds, Rudolf W H M

2018-05-16

Episodic memory tests need to determine the degree to which patients with moderate to severe memory deficits can still benefit from retrieval support. Especially in the case of Alzheimer's disease (AD), this may support health care to be more closely aligned with patients' memory capacities. We investigated whether the different measures of episodic memory of the Visual Association Test-Extended (VAT-E) can provide a more detailed and informative assessment on memory disturbances across a broad range of cognitive decline, from normal to severe impairment as seen in AD, by examining differences in floor effects. The VAT-E consists of 24 pairs of black-and-white line drawings. In a within-group design, we compared score distributions of VAT-E subtests in healthy elderly controls, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD (n = 144), as well as in relation to global cognitive impairment. Paired associate recall showed a floor effect in 41% of MCI patients and 62% of AD patients. Free recall showed a floor effect in 73% of MCI patients and 84% of AD patients. Multiple-choice cued recognition did not show a floor effect in either of the patient groups. We conclude that the VAT-E covers a broad range of episodic memory decline in patients. As expected, paired associate recall was of intermediate difficulty, free recall was most difficult, and multiple-choice cued recognition was least difficult for patients. These varying levels of difficulty enable a more accurate determination of the level of retrieval support that can still benefit patients across a broad range of cognitive decline.

Some Surprising Findings on the Involvement of the Parietal Lobe in Human Memory

PubMed Central

Olson, Ingrid R.; Berryhill, Marian

2009-01-01

The posterior parietal lobe is known to play some role in a far-flung list of mental processes: linking vision to action (saccadic eye movements, reaching, grasping), attending to visual space, numerical calculation, and mental rotation. Here we review findings from humans and monkeys that illuminate an untraditional function of this region: memory. Our review draws on neuroimaging findings that have repeatedly identified parietal lobe activations associated with short-term or working memory and episodic memory. We also discuss recent neuropsychological findings showing that individuals with parietal lobe damage exhibit both working memory and long-term memory deficits. These deficits are not ubiquitous; they are only evident under certain retrieval demands. Our review elaborates on these findings and evaluates various theories about the mechanistic role of the posterior parietal lobe in memory. The available data point towards the conclusion that the posterior parietal lobe plays an important role in memory retrieval irrespective of elapsed time. The two models that are best supported by existing data are the Attention to Memory Model and the Subjective Memory Model. We conclude by formalizing several open questions that are intended to encourage future research. PMID:18848635

The Contribution of Mediator-Based Deficiencies to Age Differences in Associative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunlosky, John; Hertzog, Christopher; Powell-Moman, Amy

2005-01-01

Production, mediational, and utilization deficiencies, which describe how strategy use may contribute to developmental trends in episodic memory, have been intensively investigated. Using a mediator report-and-retrieval method, the authors present evidence concerning the degree to which 2 previously unexplored mediator-based deficits--retrieval…

Chronic and acute adenosine A2A receptor blockade prevents long-term episodic memory disruption caused by acute cannabinoid CB1 receptor activation.

PubMed

Mouro, Francisco M; Batalha, Vânia L; Ferreira, Diana G; Coelho, Joana E; Baqi, Younis; Müller, Christa E; Lopes, Luísa V; Ribeiro, Joaquim A; Sebastião, Ana M

2017-05-01

Cannabinoid-mediated memory impairment is a concern in cannabinoid-based therapies. Caffeine exacerbates cannabinoid CB 1 receptor (CB 1 R)-induced memory deficits through an adenosine A 1 receptor-mediated mechanism. We now evaluated how chronic or acute blockade of adenosine A 2A receptors (A 2A Rs) affects long-term episodic memory deficits induced by a single injection of a selective CB 1 R agonist. Long-term episodic memory was assessed by the novel object recognition (NOR) test. Mice received an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of the CB 1 /CB 2 receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 (1 mg/kg) immediately after the NOR training, being tested for novelty recognition 24 h later. Anxiety levels were assessed by the Elevated Plus Maze test, immediately after the NOR. Mice were also tested for exploratory behaviour at the Open Field. For chronic A 2A R blockade, KW-6002 (istradefylline) (3 mg/kg/day) was administered orally for 30 days; acute blockade of A 2A Rs was assessed by i.p. injection of SCH 58261 (1 mg/kg) administered either together with WIN 55,212-2 or only 30 min before the NOR test phase. The involvement of CB 1 Rs was assessed by using the CB 1 R antagonist, AM251 (3 mg/kg, i.p.). WIN 55,212-2 caused a disruption in NOR, an action absent in mice also receiving AM251, KW-6002 or SCH 58261 during the encoding/consolidation phase; SCH 58251 was ineffective if present during retrieval only. No effects were detected in the Elevated Plus maze or Open Field Test. The finding that CB 1 R-mediated memory disruption is prevented by antagonism of adenosine A 2A Rs, highlights a possibility to prevent cognitive side effects when therapeutic application of CB 1 R drugs is desired. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neuropsychology, autobiographical memory, and hippocampal volume in "younger" and "older" patients with chronic schizophrenia.

PubMed

Herold, Christina Josefa; Lässer, Marc Montgomery; Schmid, Lena Anna; Seidl, Ulrich; Kong, Li; Fellhauer, Iven; Thomann, Philipp Arthur; Essig, Marco; Schröder, Johannes

2015-01-01

Despite a wide range of studies on neuropsychology in schizophrenia, autobiographical memory (AM) has been scarcely investigated in these patients. Hence, less is known about AM in older patients and hippocampal contribution to autobiographical memories of varying remoteness. Therefore, we investigated hippocampal volume and AM along with important neuropsychological domains in patients with chronic schizophrenia and the respective relationships between these parameters. We compared 25 older patients with chronic schizophrenia to 23 younger patients and an older healthy control group (N = 21) with respect to AM, additional neuropsychological parameters, and hippocampal volume. Personal episodic and semantic memory was investigated using a semi-structured interview. Additional neuropsychological parameters were assessed by using a battery of standard neuropsychological tests. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed with an automated region-of-interest procedure. While hippocampal volume reduction and neuropsychological impairment were more pronounced in the older than in the younger patients, both groups showed equivalent reduced AM performance for recent personal episodes. In the patient group, significant correlations between left hippocampal volume and recent autobiographical episodes as well as personal semantic memories arose. Verbal memory and working memory were significantly correlated with right hippocampal volume; executive functions, however, were associated with bilateral hippocampal volumes. These findings underline the complexity of AM and its impairments in the course of schizophrenia in comparison to rather progressive neuropsychological deficits and address the importance of hippocampal contribution.

Appetite Loss and Neurocognitive Deficits in Late-Life Depression

PubMed Central

Potter, Guy G.; McQuoid, Douglas R.; Steffens, David C.

2015-01-01

Objectives Examine association of appetite loss symptoms to neurocognitive performance in late-life depression (LLD). Methods Cross-sectional data from individuals aged 60+ with Major Depressive Disorder (N =322). Participants received clinical assessment of depression and neuropsychological testing. Factor analysis was used to characterize depression symptom factors, and composite scales were developed for episodic memory, psychomotor executive functions, verbal fluency, and working memory span. Results Factor analysis produced a five-factor solution: (1) Anhedonia/Sadness, (2) Suicidality/Guilt, (3) Appetite/Weight Loss, (4) Sleep Disturbance, and (5) Anxiety/Tension. In separate multivariate models for each neurocognitive domain and including all 5 depression factors, higher appetite-loss-related symptoms were associated with lower performance in episodic memory, psychomotor executive functions, and verbal fluency; results were significant with covariates of age, education, race, sex, age of depression onset, and illness burden. No other depression factors were associated with neurocognitive performance in these models. In an additional set of models, the Appetite factor mediated the association between global depression severity and neurocognitive performance. Discussion A factor of appetite and weight loss symptoms in LLD was uniquely associated with neurocognitive performance, in contrast to lack of association among other depression symptom factors. Conclusion Cognitive deficits are a major adverse outcome of LLD, and prominent appetite loss during acute depression may be a marker for these deficits, independent of overall depression severity. Research is needed to understand the mechanisms that may explain this association, and how it is related to the cognitive and symptomatic course of LLD. PMID:25315155

Preserved re-experience of discrete emotions: Amnesia and executive function.

PubMed

Stanciu, Marian Andrei; Rafal, Robert D; Turnbull, Oliver H

2018-02-07

Amnesic patients can re-experience emotions elicited by forgotten events, suggesting that brain systems for episodic and emotional memory are independent. However, the range of such emotional memories remains under-investigated (most studies employing just positive-negative emotion dyads), and executive function may also play a role in the re-experience of emotions. This is the first investigation of the intensity of the emotional re-experience of a range of discrete emotions (anger, fear, sadness, and happiness) for a group of amnesic patients. Twenty Korsakoff syndrome (KS) patients and 20 neurologically normal controls listened to four novel emotional vignettes selectively eliciting the four basic emotions. Emotional experience was measured using pen-and-paper Visual Analogue Mood Scales and episodic memory using verbal recollections. After 30 min, the recollection of stories was severely impaired for the patient group, but the emotional re-experience was no different from that of controls. Notably, there was no relationship between episodic recall and the intensity of the four emotions, such that even profoundly amnesic patients reported moderate levels of the target emotion. Exploratory analyses revealed negative correlations between the intensity of basic emotions and executive functions (e.g., cognitive flexibility and response inhibition) for controls but not patients. The results suggest that discrete emotions can be re-experienced independently of episodic memory, and that the re-experience of certain discrete emotions appears to be dampened by executive control. KS patients with absent or mild cognitive symptoms should benefit from emotion-regulation interventions aimed at reducing the recognized affective burden associated with their episodic memory deficit. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Strategic retrieval and the frontal lobes: evidence from confabulation and amnesia.

PubMed

Moscovitch, M; Melo, B

1997-07-01

Confabulation and amnesia are considered disorders of episodic but not of semantic memory. To test the limits of this view, retrieval from episodic and semantic memory was investigated in eight confabulating and nine non-confabulating amnesic subjects, and in 17 matched control subjects, by using a personal and an historical version of the Crovitz [Unconstrained search in long-term memory, Paper presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St Louis, MO, 1973] cue-word test. In response to cue words such as letter or battle subjects had to describe in detail, respectively, a related event from their personal lives or from history before their birth. We found that a subset of amnesic subjects, those with presumed damage or dysfunction in the region of the ventromedial frontal cortex, would confabulate in response to these cues. Their confabulations involved semantic, historical memories, as much as episodic, personal ones: and that distortions of content were at least as common as those of time. Even when not confabulating, they had much more difficulty than other amnesic subjects in recovering memories related to these cues. In confabulating, as compared to non-confabulating, amnesic subjects, prompting led to an increase in confabulations but also to greater recovery of veridical memories. By comparison, non-confabulating amnesic subjects whose memory loss was as severe as that of the confabulators, had a milder deficit on the personal as well as the historical cue-word test. They benefited from prompting somewhat more than matched control subjects. These results suggest that confabulation is associated with impaired strategic retrieval processes resulting from damage in the region of the ventromedial frontal cortex. These strategic retrieval processes help initiate and guide search in episodic and in semantic memory and they help monitor and organize the output from those systems.

[Autobiographical memory in depressive disorders].

PubMed

Żuchowicz, Paulina; Jasionowska, Justyna; Gałecki, Piotr; Talarowska, Monika

2017-08-21

Contemporary research studies regarding autobiographical memory (AM) indicate that its deficits have a significant impact on the development of mental disorders. We find particularly many reports regarding the comorbidity of AM deficits and depressive disorders. The characteristic feature of AM in the people suffering from depressive disorders is the presence of overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM), i.e. the reminiscences which contain a summary of many emotion-laden situations, yet without significant detail. This type of reminiscences is observed in the patients with depressive disorders and the ones susceptible to the disease but not experiencing presently an episode of depression, as well as the ones being in the phase of disease remission. In recent years, the interest in the significance of negative thinking processes, such as ruminations, as risk factors in the development of depression has been growing. It is emphasized that they are significantly associated with the occurrence of OGM. Research shows that people suffering from OGM and characterised by a rumination-based style of processing experience a greater number of depressive episodes. There are also research studies which confirm that the activities aimed at reducing the number of ruminations influence an improvement of the detail level of reminiscences. These data may serve as valuable therapeutic advice in depression disorders. The aim of the paper is to present results of contemporary research regarding mutual interrelations between autobiographical memory dysfunctions and the occurrence of symptoms of depression and its course.

Cognitive functions in first-episode depression and recurrent depressive disorder.

PubMed

Talarowska, Monika; Zajączkowska, Marlena; Gałecki, Piotr

2015-03-01

Cognitive deficits in the course of depressive disorders affect mainly memory, attention and the frontal functions. They are associated with both an earlier onset of symptoms and prolonged episodes. The main aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis of differences in the effectiveness of cognitive processes between patients with a first episode of depression (ED-I) and recurrent depressive disorders (rDD). The study comprised 210 subjects: patients with ED-I (n=60) and patients with rDD (n=150). The assessment of cognitive functions was based on performance of the Trail Making Test, the Stroop Test, the Verbal Fluency Test, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and the digit span from WAIS-R. There were no statistically significant differences between the analysed groups in the severity of depressive symptoms. The negative impact of depressive symptoms on the effectiveness of cognitive functions was observed. The ED-I group recorded better results compared to the rDD group in terms of the speed of information processing, visual-spatial and auditory-verbal memory and executive functions, auditory-verbal immediate and delayed memory, ability to learn and verbal fluency. The same differences were observed with respect to the patients from the ED-I group and the patients with the second episode of depression (ED-II) in the course of rDD. There are significant differences in cognitive functioning of patients with a depressive episode and recurrent depressive disorders. These differences are already visible from the second episode of a major depressive disorder. Memory, verbal fluency and frontal functions are reduced.

Theory of mind in a first-episode psychosis population using the Hinting Task.

PubMed

Lindgren, Maija; Torniainen-Holm, Minna; Heiskanen, Inkeri; Voutilainen, Greta; Pulkkinen, Ulla; Mehtälä, Tuukka; Jokela, Markus; Kieseppä, Tuula; Suvisaari, Jaana; Therman, Sebastian

2018-05-01

Deficiencies in theory of mind (ToM) are common in psychosis and may largely explain impaired social functioning. Currently, it is unclear whether impairments in ToM are explained by the more general cognitive deficits related to psychosis or whether ToM is impaired in psychosis independently of other cognitive deficits. This study examined ToM using the Hinting Task in young adults (n = 66) with first-episode psychosis and matched controls (n = 62). The participants were administered a broad neuropsychological assessment. Participants with psychosis performed worse than controls on the Hinting Task. However, 75% of the variance between the groups was explained by general cognitive deficits, especially impaired processing speed and episodic memory. Hinting Task performance of the best functioning patient group did not differ from that of the control group. When the psychosis group was divided according to diagnosis, the Hinting Task difference between individuals with schizophrenia and controls remained significant even when general cognitive performance was controlled for, suggesting specific verbal ToM deficits in schizophrenia. In contrast, those with other psychotic disorders did not differ from controls. Our results suggest that ToM deficits can be seen in early phases of psychotic disorders, schizophrenia in particular, and are partly independent of other cognitive functions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

State orientation and memory load impair prospective memory performance in older compared to younger persons.

PubMed

Kaschel, Reiner; Kazén, Miguel; Kuhl, Julius

2017-07-01

A modified event-based paradigm of prospective memory was applied to investigate intention initiation in older and younger participants under high versus low memory load (subsequent episodic word recall vs. recognition). State versus action orientation, a personality dimension related to intention enactment, was also measured. State-oriented persons show a superiority effect for the storage of intentions in an explicit format but have a paradoxical deficit in their actual enactment. We predicted an interaction between aging, personality, and memory load, with longer intention-initiation latencies and higher omission rates for older state-oriented participants under high memory load. Results were consistent with predictions and are interpreted according to current personality and prospective memory models of aging.

Executive functions deficit in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Traykov, Latchezar; Raoux, Nadine; Latour, Florence; Gallo, Livia; Hanon, Olivier; Baudic, Sophie; Bayle, Catherine; Wenisch, Emilie; Remy, Philippe; Rigaud, Anne-Sophie

2007-12-01

To investigate whether patients diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have also impairment in attention/executive functions, and therefore to clarify whether all subcomponents of executive control are equally affected in MCI. MCI refers to the transitional state between normal aging and dementia. Amnestic MCI is characterized by impaired episodic memory, although subtle impairment of executive functions has been noted on neuropsychologic tests. We investigated 20 MCI patients and 20 normal controls using episodic memory, attention/executive functions, language, and praxis tests. MCI patients had significantly lower scores on all measures of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (P<0.05 to 0.01) than controls. Furthermore, MCI had a greater number of perseverations (P<0.01) on Modified Card Sorting Test and the lowest performance on the Stroop Test (P<0.02). Our findings showed impairment in episodic memory performance in MCI as compared with that of controls. In addition, MCI patients had problems with response inhibition, switching, and cognitive flexibility, which encompass various aspects of executive functions. This suggests that MCI may be identified by using a more detailed procedure for the assessment of cognitive decline than the evaluation of memory alone.

Spatial working memory in heavy cannabis users: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Kanayama, Gen; Rogowska, Jadwiga; Pope, Harrison G; Gruber, Staci A; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah A

2004-11-01

Many neuropsychological studies have documented deficits in working memory among recent heavy cannabis users. However, little is known about the effects of cannabis on brain activity. We assessed brain function among recent heavy cannabis users while they performed a working memory task. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine brain activity in 12 long-term heavy cannabis users, 6-36 h after last use, and in 10 control subjects while they performed a spatial working memory task. Regional brain activation was analyzed and compared using statistical parametric mapping techniques. Compared with controls, cannabis users exhibited increased activation of brain regions typically used for spatial working memory tasks (such as prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate). Users also recruited additional regions not typically used for spatial working memory (such as regions in the basal ganglia). These findings remained essentially unchanged when re-analyzed using subjects' ages as a covariate. Brain activation showed little or no significant correlation with subjects' years of education, verbal IQ, lifetime episodes of cannabis use, or urinary cannabinoid levels at the time of scanning. Recent cannabis users displayed greater and more widespread brain activation than normal subjects when attempting to perform a spatial working memory task. This observation suggests that recent cannabis users may experience subtle neurophysiological deficits, and that they compensate for these deficits by "working harder"-calling upon additional brain regions to meet the demands of the task.

ANOSOGNOSIA FOR MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN ADDICTION: INSIGHTS FROM NEUROIMAGING AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF METAMEMORY

PubMed Central

Le Berre, Anne-Pascale; Sullivan, Edith V.

2016-01-01

In addiction, notably, Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), patients often have a tendency to fail to acknowledge the reality of the disease and to minimize the physical, psychological, and social difficulties attendant to chronic alcohol consumption. This lack of awareness can reduce the chances of initiating and maintaining sobriety. Presented here is a model focusing on compromised awareness in individuals with AUD of mild to moderate cognitive deficits, in particular, for episodic memory impairment—the ability to learn new information, such as recent personal experiences. Early in abstinence, alcoholics can be unaware of their memory deficits and overestimate their mnemonic capacities, which can be investigated with metamemory paradigms. Relevant neuropsychological and neuroimaging results considered suggest that the alcoholics’ impairment of awareness of their attenuated memory function can be a clinical manifestation explained mechanistically by neurobiological factors, including compromise of brain systems that result in a mild form of mnemonic anosognosia. Specifically, unawareness of memory impairment in AUD may result from a lack of personal knowledge updating attributable to damage in brain regions or connections supporting conscious recollection in episodic memory. Likely candidates are posterior parietal and medial frontal regions known to be integral part of the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the insula leading to an impaired switching mechanism between the DMN and the Central-Executive Control (i.e., Lateral Prefronto-Parietal) Network. The cognitive concepts and neural substrates noted for addictive disorders may also be relevant for problems in self-identification of functional impairment resulting from injury following war-related blast, sport-related concussion, and insidiously occurring dementia. PMID:27447979

The dynamic time course of memory recovery in transient global amnesia.

PubMed

Guillery-Girard, B; Desgranges, B; Urban, C; Piolino, P; de la Sayette, V; Eustache, F

2004-11-01

To investigate the dynamic time course of transient global amnesia (TGA)--that is, the process of recovery and the interindividual variability--by testing four patients during the day of TGA itself (on three occasions) and at follow up (on two occasions). A specially designed protocol focusing on semantic (both conceptual and autobiographical knowledge) and episodic (both anterograde and retrograde components) memory. Every patient showed marked impairment of both anterograde and retrograde episodic memory during the acute phase, with a relative preservation of personal and conceptual semantic knowledge. During the following phase, the authors observed similarities and differences among the patients' patterns of recovery. In general, retrograde amnesia recovered before the anterograde amnesia and anterograde episodic memory was recovered gradually in every case. In contrast, shrinkage of retrograde amnesia was more heterogeneous. In two of the patients, this shrinkage followed a chronological gradient and the most remote events were recovered first. In the two other patients, it depended more on the strength of the trace, and there was no temporal gradient. For the latter, an executive deficit could account for difficulties in accessing both conceptual knowledge and autobiographical memories. This profile of recovery suggests a "neocortical to medial temporal" process in every case, and the possibility of an additional frontal dysfunction in some cases. Hence, the acute phase seems to be characterised by a common episodic impairment. This variability between subjects appears in the recovery phase with two different patterns of impairment.

Delayed-matching-to-place Task in a Dry Maze to Measure Spatial Working Memory in Mice

PubMed Central

Feng, Xi; Krukowski, Karen; Jopson, Timothy; Rosi, Susanna

2017-01-01

The delayed-matching-to-place (DMP) dry maze test is a variant of DMP water maze (Steele and Morris, 1999; Faizi et al., 2012) which measures spatial working/episodic-like learning and memory that depends on both hippocampal and cortical functions (Wang and Morris, 2010; Euston et al., 2012). Using this test we can detect normal aging related spatial working memory decline, as well as trauma induced working memory deficits. Furthermore, we recently reported that fractionated whole brain irradiation does not affect working memory in mice (Feng et al., 2016). Here we describe the experimental setup and procedures of this behavioral test. PMID:28944261

Behavioral profiles in frontal lobe epilepsy: Autobiographic memory versus mood impairment.

PubMed

Rayner, Genevieve; Jackson, Graeme D; Wilson, Sarah J

2015-02-01

Autobiographic memory encompasses the encoding and retrieval of episodes, people, and places encountered in everyday life. It can be impaired in both epilepsy and frontal lobe damage. Here, we performed an initial investigation of how autobiographic memory is impacted by chronic frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) together with its underlying pathology. We prospectively studied a series of nine consecutive patients with medically refractory FLE, relative to 24 matched healthy controls. Seven of the nine patients had frontal lobe structural abnormalities. Episodic and semantic autobiographic memory functioning was profiled, and factors associated with impaired autobiographic memory were identified among epileptologic, neuroimaging, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive variables including auditory-verbal and visual memory, and the executive function of cognitive control. Results showed that the FLE group experienced significantly higher rates of autobiographic memory and mood disturbance (p < 0.001), with detailed assessment of individual patients revealing two profiles of impairment, primarily characterized by cognitive or mood disturbance. Five of the patients (56%) exhibited significant episodic autobiographic memory deficits, whereas in three of these, knowledge of semantic autobiographic facts was preserved. Four of them also had reduced cognitive control. Mood disorder was largely unrelated to poor autobiographic memory. In contrast, the four cases with preserved autobiographic memory were notable for their past or current depressive symptoms. These findings provide preliminary data that frontal lobe seizure activity with its underlying pathology may selectively disrupt large-scale cognitive or affective networks, giving rise to different neurobehavioral profiles that may be used to inform clinical management. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 International League Against Epilepsy.

Acquisition of generic memory in amnesia.

PubMed

Verfaellie, M; Cermak, L S

1994-06-01

Amnesic patients' ability to acquire generic, semantic information was assessed relative to their own level of episodic memory. Patients studied a list of words in which some items were presented twice and others once. Upon each presentation, the words were tagged episodically by presenting them in a unique color. Recall of the colors in which words were presented suggested that individual presentations of repeated items were less likely to be recalled than presentations of nonrepeated items; however, actual recall of repeated items exceeded that of nonrepeated items. This outcome demonstrated that amnesics can recall some items generically without recalling either of their individual presentations. However, amnesics' recall of twice-presented items remained far below that of the control group, even when their recall of once-presented items was matched by testing the control group after a delay. This finding suggests that amnesic patients can acquire new generic knowledge but do so much less efficiently than do normal individuals. Furthermore, this deficit occurs independently of the amnesics' episodic memory impairments, reflecting instead a disruption in semantic learning per se.

Children's Use of Retrieval Cues to "Describe" Episodic Information in Memory: Problems of Constructability and Discriminability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ackerman, Brian P.

1985-01-01

Four experiments were conducted to extend the "descriptions" approach to differences in using retrieval cues among second and fourth graders and college adults. Results indicate that deficits in discriminability and constructability contribute independently to developmental differences in using retrieval cues and suggest reasons for such…

Neural Substrates of Semantic Prospection – Evidence from the Dementias

PubMed Central

Irish, Muireann; Eyre, Nadine; Dermody, Nadene; O’Callaghan, Claire; Hodges, John R.; Hornberger, Michael; Piguet, Olivier

2016-01-01

The ability to envisage personally relevant events at a future time point represents an incredibly sophisticated cognitive endeavor and one that appears to be intimately linked to episodic memory integrity. Far less is known regarding the neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning the capacity to envisage non-personal future occurrences, known as semantic future thinking. Moreover the degree of overlap between the neural substrates supporting episodic and semantic forms of prospection remains unclear. To this end, we sought to investigate the capacity for episodic and semantic future thinking in Alzheimer’s disease (n = 15) and disease-matched behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (n = 15), neurodegenerative disorders characterized by significant medial temporal lobe (MTL) and frontal pathology. Participants completed an assessment of past and future thinking across personal (episodic) and non-personal (semantic) domains, as part of a larger neuropsychological battery investigating episodic and semantic processing, and their performance was contrasted with 20 age- and education-matched healthy older Controls. Participants underwent whole-brain T1-weighted structural imaging and voxel-based morphometry analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between gray matter integrity and episodic and semantic future thinking. Relative to Controls, both patient groups displayed marked future thinking impairments, extending across episodic and semantic domains. Analyses of covariance revealed that while episodic future thinking deficits could be explained solely in terms of episodic memory proficiency, semantic prospection deficits reflected the interplay between episodic and semantic processing. Distinct neural correlates emerged for each form of future simulation with differential involvement of prefrontal, lateral temporal, and medial temporal regions. Notably, the hippocampus was implicated irrespective of future thinking domain, with the suggestion of lateralization effects depending on the type of information being simulated. Whereas episodic future thinking related to right hippocampal integrity, semantic future thinking was found to relate to left hippocampal integrity. Our findings support previous observations of significant MTL involvement for semantic forms of prospection and point to distinct neurocognitive mechanisms which must be functional to support future-oriented forms of thought across personal and non-personal contexts. PMID:27252632

The effects of a subpsychotic dose of ketamine on recognition and source memory for agency: implications for pharmacological modelling of core symptoms of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Honey, Garry D; O'loughlin, Chris; Turner, Danielle C; Pomarol-Clotet, Edith; Corlett, Philip R; Fletcher, Paul C

2006-02-01

Ketamine is increasingly used to model the cognitive deficits and symptoms of schizophrenia. We investigated the extent to which ketamine administration in healthy volunteers reproduces the deficits in episodic recognition memory and agency source monitoring reported in schizophrenia. Intravenous infusions of placebo or 100 ng/ml ketamine were administered to 12 healthy volunteers in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, within-subjects study. In response to presented words, the subject or experimenter performed a deep or shallow encoding task, providing a 2(drug) x 2(depth of processing) x 2(agency) factorial design. At test, subjects discriminated old/new words, and recalled the sources (task and agent). Data were analyzed using multinomial modelling to identify item recognition, source memory for agency and task, and guessing biases. Under ketamine, item recognition and cued recall of deeply encoded items were impaired, replicating previous findings. In contrast to schizophrenia, there was a reduced tendency to externalize agency source guessing biases under ketamine. While the recognition memory deficit observed with ketamine is consistent with previous work and with schizophrenia, the changes in source memory differ from those reported in schizophrenic patients. This difference may account for the pattern of psychopathology induced by ketamine.

(A)phantasia and severely deficient autobiographical memory: Scientific and personal perspectives.

PubMed

Watkins, Nicholas W

2017-11-07

I address two interlinked aspects of the diversity in our experiences of memory and the mind's eye. I summarise the long-appreciated role of imagery in mathematics and the physical sciences, and contrast it with the evidence that some scientists have had limited or zero imagery. I then recount the story of how I became aware of my own lack of mental imagery, and the accompanying deficit in my episodic memory, how I have sought scientific understanding of these conditions, and how they have affected my life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Developmental amnesia as a focal cognitive sequela of a neonatal pathology].

PubMed

Sans, Anna; Colomé, Roser; López-Sala, Anna; Boix, Cristina; Muchart, Jordi; Rebollo, Mónica; Guitet, Montse; Callejón-Póo, Laura; Campistol, Jaume

2011-03-01

The developmental amnesia is a recently known entity that occurs as a consequence of hypoxic-ischemic events in the perinatal period. This is a specific deficit of episodic memory with greater preservation of semantic memory and other memory components such as the immediate and working memory. It occurs in patients without apparent neurological sequelae, with normal psychomotor development and general intelligence. The developmental amnesia has been associated with bilateral involvement of the hippocampus, which is evident in some cases on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as signal disturbance and signs of atrophy, or reduced size of the hippocampus in brain volumetric studies. We present six observations of developmental amnesia, their clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings. All of them show impaired episodic memory with preservation of semantic memory, have a normal general intelligence and follow a regular school with special educational needs. It is necessary to keep in mind this entity in monitoring risk newborns by their perinatal history and include the exploration of memory in neuropsychological study of these subjects. On the other hand, we highlight the specificity of the clinical and neuropsychological profile for the diagnosis of developmental amnesia even in the absence of hippocampal lesions on conventional MRI.

Persistent impairment in working memory following severe hyperglycemia in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

PubMed

Cerasuolo, Joseph; Izzo, Anthony

2017-01-01

Acute hyperglycemia has been shown to cause cognitive impairments in animal models. There is growing appreciation of the numerous effects of hyperglycemia on neuronal function as well as blood-brain barrier function. In humans, hypoglycemia is well known to cause cognitive deficits acutely, but hyperglycemia has been less well studied. We present a case of selective neurocognitive deficits in the setting of acute hyperglycemia. A 60-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for an episode of acute hyperglycemia in the setting of newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus precipitated by steroid use. He was managed with insulin therapy and discharged home, and later, presented with complaints of memory impairment. Deficits included impairment in his declarative and working memory, to the point of significant impairment in his overall functioning. The patient had no structural lesions on MRI imaging of the brain or other systemic illnesses to explain his specific deficits. We suggest that his acute hyperglycemia may have caused neurological injury, and may be responsible for our patient's memory complaints. Acute hyperglycemia has been associated with poor outcomes in several different central nervous system injuries including cerebrovascular accident and hypoxic injury.Hyperglycemia is responsible for accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the brain, resulting in advanced glycosylated end products and a proinflammatory response that may lead to cellular injury.Further research is needed to define the impact of both acute and chronic hyperglycemia on cognitive impairment and memory.

Rapamycin Reverses Status Epilepticus-Induced Memory Deficits and Dendritic Damage

PubMed Central

Brewster, Amy L.; Lugo, Joaquin N.; Patil, Vinit V.; Lee, Wai L.; Qian, Yan; Vanegas, Fabiola; Anderson, Anne E.

2013-01-01

Cognitive impairments are prominent sequelae of prolonged continuous seizures (status epilepticus; SE) in humans and animal models. While often associated with dendritic injury, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway is hyperactivated following SE. This pathway modulates learning and memory and is associated with regulation of neuronal, dendritic, and glial properties. Thus, in the present study we tested the hypothesis that SE-induced mTORC1 hyperactivation is a candidate mechanism underlying cognitive deficits and dendritic pathology seen following SE. We examined the effects of rapamycin, an mTORC1 inhibitor, on the early hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and memory deficits associated with an episode of pilocarpine-induced SE. Rapamycin-treated SE rats performed significantly better than the vehicle-treated rats in two spatial memory tasks, the Morris water maze and the novel object recognition test. At the molecular level, we found that the SE-induced increase in mTORC1 signaling was localized in neurons and microglia. Rapamycin decreased the SE-induced mTOR activation and attenuated microgliosis which was mostly localized within the CA1 area. These findings paralleled a reversal of the SE-induced decreases in dendritic Map2 and ion channels levels as well as improved dendritic branching and spine density in area CA1 following rapamycin treatment. Taken together, these findings suggest that mTORC1 hyperactivity contributes to early hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and memory deficits and dendritic dysregulation associated with SE. PMID:23536771

Neuropsychology, Autobiographical Memory, and Hippocampal Volume in “Younger” and “Older” Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Herold, Christina Josefa; Lässer, Marc Montgomery; Schmid, Lena Anna; Seidl, Ulrich; Kong, Li; Fellhauer, Iven; Thomann, Philipp Arthur; Essig, Marco; Schröder, Johannes

2015-01-01

Despite a wide range of studies on neuropsychology in schizophrenia, autobiographical memory (AM) has been scarcely investigated in these patients. Hence, less is known about AM in older patients and hippocampal contribution to autobiographical memories of varying remoteness. Therefore, we investigated hippocampal volume and AM along with important neuropsychological domains in patients with chronic schizophrenia and the respective relationships between these parameters. We compared 25 older patients with chronic schizophrenia to 23 younger patients and an older healthy control group (N = 21) with respect to AM, additional neuropsychological parameters, and hippocampal volume. Personal episodic and semantic memory was investigated using a semi-structured interview. Additional neuropsychological parameters were assessed by using a battery of standard neuropsychological tests. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed with an automated region-of-interest procedure. While hippocampal volume reduction and neuropsychological impairment were more pronounced in the older than in the younger patients, both groups showed equivalent reduced AM performance for recent personal episodes. In the patient group, significant correlations between left hippocampal volume and recent autobiographical episodes as well as personal semantic memories arose. Verbal memory and working memory were significantly correlated with right hippocampal volume; executive functions, however, were associated with bilateral hippocampal volumes. These findings underline the complexity of AM and its impairments in the course of schizophrenia in comparison to rather progressive neuropsychological deficits and address the importance of hippocampal contribution. PMID:25954208

HIV-infected persons with bipolar disorder are less aware of memory deficits than HIV-infected persons without bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Blackstone, Kaitlin; Tobin, Alexis; Posada, Carolina; Gouaux, Ben; Grant, Igor; Moore, David J; The Hiv Neurobehavioral Research Program Hnrp

2012-01-01

Episodic memory deficits are common in HIV infection and bipolar disorder, but patient insight into such deficits remains unclear. Thirty-four HIV-infected individuals without bipolar disorder (HIV+/BD-) and 47 HIV+ individuals with comorbid bipolar disorder (HIV+/BD+) were administered the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised to examine objective learning/memory functioning. Subjective memory complaints were assessed via the memory subscale of the Patient's Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory. HIV+/BD+ individuals performed poorer on tests of visual learning and visual/verbal recall than did HIV+/BD- participants (ps < .05). Memory complaints only predicted verbal learning (at a trend level, p = .10) and recall (p = .03) among the HIV+/BD- individuals. Memory complaints were not associated with memory performance within the HIV+/BD+ group (ps > .10). Memory complaints were associated with depressive symptoms in both groups (ps < 0.05). These complaints were also predictive of immunosuppression, higher unemployment, and greater dependence on activities of daily living among the HIV+/BD+ individuals (ps < .05). Awareness of memory abilities was particularly poor among HIV+/BD+ individuals (i.e., objective learning/memory did not correspond to reported complaints), which has important implications for the capacity of these individuals to engage in error-monitoring and compensatory strategies in daily life. Memory complaints are associated with depressed mood regardless of group membership. Among HIV+/BD+ individuals, these complaints may also signify worse HIV disease status and problems with everyday functioning. Clinicians and researchers should be cognizant of what these complaints indicate in order to lead treatment most effectively; use of objective neurocognitive assessments may still be warranted when working with these populations.

Destination Memory in Korsakoff's Syndrome.

PubMed

El Haj, Mohamad; Kessels, Roy P C; Matton, Christian; Bacquet, Jean-Eudes; Urso, Laurent; Cool, Gaëlle; Guidez, Florence; Potier, Stéphanie; Nandrino, Jean-Louis; Antoine, Pascal

2016-06-01

Context memory, or the ability to remember the context in which an episodic event has occurred (e.g., where and when an event took place), has been found to be compromised in Korsakoff's syndrome. This study examined whether a similar deficit would be observed for destination memory, that is, the ability to remember to whom an information was previously transmitted. Patients with Korsakoff's syndrome and healthy controls were instructed to tell proverbs to pictures of celebrities. In a subsequent recognition test, they had to indicate to which celebrity they had previously told the proverbs. Participants also completed a neuropsychological battery including a binding task in which they were required to associate letters with their correspondent locations to assess context memory. Results showed worse binding and destination memory in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome than in controls. In the Korsakoff group, destination memory was significantly correlated with and predicted by performances on the binding task. The binding process seems to be impaired in Korsakoff's syndrome, a deficit that may account for the destination memory compromise in the syndrome, and probably, for the difficulty to retrieve the "where and when" of an encountered event. Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Persistent non-verbal memory impairment in remitted major depression - caused by encoding deficits?

PubMed

Behnken, Andreas; Schöning, Sonja; Gerss, Joachim; Konrad, Carsten; de Jong-Meyer, Renate; Zwanzger, Peter; Arolt, Volker

2010-04-01

While neuropsychological impairments are well described in acute phases of major depressive disorders (MDD), little is known about the neuropsychological profile in remission. There is evidence for episodic memory impairments in both acute depressed and remitted patients with MDD. Learning and memory depend on individuals' ability to organize information during learning. This study investigates non-verbal memory functions in remitted MDD and whether nonverbal memory performance is mediated by organizational strategies whilst learning. 30 well-characterized fully remitted individuals with unipolar MDD and 30 healthy controls matching in age, sex and education were investigated. Non-verbal learning and memory were measured by the Rey-Osterrieth-Complex-Figure-Test (RCFT). The RCFT provides measures of planning, organizational skills, perceptual and non-verbal memory functions. For assessing the mediating effects of organizational strategies, we used the Savage Organizational Score. Compared to healthy controls, participants with remitted MDD showed more deficits in their non-verbal memory function. Moreover, participants with remitted MDD demonstrated difficulties in organizing non-verbal information appropriately during learning. In contrast, no impairments regarding visual-spatial functions in remitted MDD were observed. Except for one patient, all the others were taking psychopharmacological medication. The neuropsychological function was solely investigated in the remitted phase of MDD. Individuals with MDD in remission showed persistent non-verbal memory impairments, modulated by a deficient use of organizational strategies during encoding. Therefore, our results strongly argue for additional therapeutic interventions in order to improve these remaining deficits in cognitive function. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Age-Related Differences in Prior Knowledge and Attentional Refreshing Opportunities on Episodic Memory.

PubMed

Loaiza, Vanessa M; Rhodes, Matthew G; Anglin, Julia

2015-09-01

The assumption that working memory (WM) is embedded within long-term memory suggests that the effectiveness of switching information between activated states in WM (i.e., attentional refreshing) may depend on whether that information is semantically relevant. Given that older adults often have greater general knowledge than younger adults, age-related deficits in episodic memory (EM) could be ameliorated by studying information that has existing semantic representations compared with unknown information. Younger and older adults completed a modified operation span task that varied the number of refreshing opportunities. The memoranda used were equally known to younger and older adults (neutral words; e.g., father), better known to older adults than younger adults (dated words; e.g., mirth), or unknown to both groups (unknown words; e.g., cobot). Results for immediate and delayed recall indicated an age-related improvement for dated memoranda and no age difference for unknown memoranda. Furthermore, refreshing opportunities predicted delayed recall of neutral memoranda more strongly for younger adults than older adults, whereas older adults' recall advantage for dated memoranda was explained by their prior knowledge and not refreshing opportunities. The results suggest that older adults' EM deficits could potentially be ameliorated by incorporating their superior knowledge to supplement relatively ineffective attentional refreshing in WM. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

General and social cognition in remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients: a comparative study.

PubMed

Caldiroli, Alice; Buoli, Massimiliano; Serati, Marta; Cahn, Wiepke; Altamura, A Carlo

2016-10-01

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether both neurocognitive and social cognitive performances were different between remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients, non-remitters and healthy controls (HC). We assessed social cognition (Degraded Facial Affect Recognition Task-DFAR and Emotional Mentalizing Task-EMT) and neurocognition (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Word Learning Test-WLT) in 174 remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients, 110 non-remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients and 320 HC. Multivariate analyses of variance with age, gender and IQ as covariates (MANCOVA) were performed to compare mean cognitive test scores between the three groups. Remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients performed significantly worse than HC only in one verbal memory task (WLT immediate recall; p = 0.004); in the same test, they were significantly better than non-remitters (p = 0.027). Non-remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients, differently from remitters, performed significantly worse than HC in terms of social cognition (EMT-p < 0.05 and DFAR-p < 0.05). Remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients presented worse cognitive performance than HC in verbal memory tasks, but not in facial affect recognition and in ToM, while non-remitters did; these results suggest that neurocognitive deficits are the core hallmark of schizophrenia and that social cognition is relatively unaffected in remitted patients after their first episode.

Classic and recent advances in understanding amnesia.

PubMed

Allen, Richard J

2018-01-01

Neurological amnesia has been and remains the focus of intense study, motivated by the drive to understand typical and atypical memory function and the underlying brain basis that is involved. There is now a consensus that amnesia associated with hippocampal (and, in many cases, broader medial temporal lobe) damage results in deficits in episodic memory, delayed recall, and recollective experience. However, debate continues regarding the patterns of preservation and impairment across a range of abilities, including semantic memory and learning, delayed recognition, working memory, and imagination. This brief review highlights some of the influential and recent advances in these debates and what they may tell us about the amnesic condition and hippocampal function.

Recognition memory probes affect what is remembered in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Schwartz, Barbara L; Parker, Elizabeth S; Rosse, Richard B; Deutsch, Stephen I

2009-05-15

Cognitive psychology offers tools to localize the memory processes most vulnerable to disruption in schizophrenia and to identify how patients with schizophrenia best remember. In this research, we used the University of Southern California Repeatable Episodic Memory Test (USC-REMT; Parker, E.S., Landau, S.M., Whipple, S.C., Schwartz, B.L., 2004. Aging, recall, and recognition: A study on the sensitivity of the University of Southern California Repeatable Episodic Memory Test (USC-REMT). Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 26(3), 428-440.) to examine how two different recognition memory probes affect memory performance in patients with schizophrenia and matched controls. Patients with schizophrenia studied equivalent word lists and were tested by yes-no recognition and forced-choice recognition following identical encoding and storage conditions. Compared with controls, patients with schizophrenia were particularly impaired when tested by yes-no recognition relative to forced-choice recognition. Patients had greatest deficits on hits in yes-no recognition but did not exhibit elevated false alarms. The data point to the importance of retrieval processes in schizophrenia, and highlight the need for further research on ways to help patients with schizophrenia access what they have learned.

Learning and serial effects on verbal memory in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Campos-Magdaleno, María; Díaz-Bóveda, Rosalía; Juncos-Rabadán, Onésimo; Facal, David; Pereiro, Arturo X

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine different patterns of learning and episodic memory in 3 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) groups and a control group by administering the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and using serial position effect as a principal variable. The study sample included 3 groups of patients with MCI (n = 90) divided into single-domain amnestic, multiple-domain amnestic, and multiple-domain nonamnestic MCI and a group of healthy controls (n = 60). We compared the performance of each group on several CVLT measures used in previous research, and we included a new measure that provides specific information about the serial effect. Data showed a similar pattern of learning and memory impairment in both amnestic MCI groups (i.e., no differences between the multiple-domain and single-domain subtypes); the recency effect was significantly higher in both amnestic MCI groups than in all other groups, and the primacy effect was only lower in the multiple-domain amnestic MCI subtype. Verbal learning and memory profiles of patients with amnestic MCI were very similar, independent of the presence of deficits in cognitive domains other than episodic memory. Results are discussed in light of the unitary-store model of memory.

Physical frailty in late-life depression is associated with deficits in speed-dependent executive functions

PubMed Central

Potter, Guy G.; McQuoid, Douglas R.; Whitson, Heather E.; Steffens, David C.

2015-01-01

Objective To examine the association between physical frailty and neurocognitive performance in late-life depression (LLD). Methods Cross-sectional design using baseline data from a treatment study of late-life depression. Individuals aged 60 and older diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder at time of assessment (N = 173). All participants received clinical assessment of depression and completed neuropsychological testing during a depressive episode. Physical frailty was assessed using an adaptation of the FRAIL scale. Neuropsychological domains were derived from a factor analysis that yielded three factors: 1) Speeded Executive and Fluency, Episodic Memory, and Working Memory. Associations were examined with bivariate tests and multivariate models. Results Depressed individuals with a FRAIL score >1 had worse performance than nonfrail depressed across all three factors; however, Speeded Executive and Fluency was the only factor that remained significant after controlling for depression symptom severity and demographic characteristics. Conclusions Although physical frailty is associated with broad neurocognitive deficits in LLD, it is most robustly associated with deficits in speeded executive functions and verbal fluency. Causal inferences are limited by the cross-sectional design, and future research would benefit from a comparison group of nondepressed older adults with similar levels of frailty. Research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying associations among depression symptoms, physical frailty, and executive dysfunction, and how they are related to the cognitive and symptomatic course of LLD. PMID:26313370

Severely deficient autobiographical memory (SDAM) in healthy adults: A new mnemonic syndrome.

PubMed

Palombo, Daniela J; Alain, Claude; Söderlund, Hedvig; Khuu, Wayne; Levine, Brian

2015-06-01

Recollection of previously experienced events is a key element of human memory that entails recovery of spatial, perceptual, and mental state details. While deficits in this capacity in association with brain disease have serious functional consequences, little is known about individual differences in autobiographical memory (AM) in healthy individuals. Recently, healthy adults with highly superior autobiographical capacities have been identified (e.g., LePort, A.K., Mattfeld, A.T., Dickinson-Anson, H., Fallon, J.H., Stark, C.E., Kruggel, F., McGaugh, J.L., 2012. Behavioral and neuroanatomical investigation of Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). Neurobiol. Learn. Mem. 98(1), 78-92. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2012.05.002). Here we report data from three healthy, high functioning adults with the reverse pattern: lifelong severely deficient autobiographical memory (SDAM) with otherwise preserved cognitive function. Their self-reported selective inability to vividly recollect personally experienced events from a first-person perspective was corroborated by absence of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potential (ERP) biomarkers associated with naturalistic and laboratory episodic recollection, as well as by behavioral evidence of impaired episodic retrieval, particularly for visual information. Yet learning and memory were otherwise intact, as long as these tasks could be accomplished by non-episodic processes. Thus these individuals function normally in day-to-day life, even though their past is experienced in the absence of recollection. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Age-related individual variability in memory performance is associated with amygdala-hippocampal circuit function and emotional pattern separation.

PubMed

Leal, Stephanie L; Noche, Jessica A; Murray, Elizabeth A; Yassa, Michael A

2017-01-01

While aging is generally associated with episodic memory decline, not all older adults exhibit memory loss. Furthermore, emotional memories are not subject to the same extent of forgetting and appear preserved in aging. We conducted high-resolution fMRI during a task involving pattern separation of emotional information in older adults with and without age-related memory impairment (characterized by performance on a word-list learning task: low performers: LP vs. high performers: HP). We found signals consistent with emotional pattern separation in hippocampal dentate (DG)/CA3 in HP but not in LP individuals, suggesting a deficit in emotional pattern separation. During false recognition, we found increased DG/CA3 activity in LP individuals, suggesting that hyperactivity may be associated with overgeneralization. We additionally observed a selective deficit in basolateral amygdala-lateral entorhinal cortex-DG/CA3 functional connectivity in LP individuals during pattern separation of negative information. During negative false recognition, LP individuals showed increased medial temporal lobe functional connectivity, consistent with overgeneralization. Overall, these results suggest a novel mechanistic account of individual differences in emotional memory alterations exhibited in aging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age-related individual variability in memory performance is associated with amygdala-hippocampal circuit function and emotional pattern separation

PubMed Central

Leal, Stephanie L.; Noche, Jessica A.; Murray, Elizabeth A.; Yassa, Michael A.

2018-01-01

While aging is generally associated with episodic memory decline, not all older adults exhibit memory loss. Furthermore, emotional memories are not subject to the same extent of forgetting and appear preserved in aging. We conducted high-resolution fMRI during a task involving pattern separation of emotional information in older adults with and without age-related memory impairment (characterized by performance on a word-list learning task: low performers: LP vs. high performers: HP). We found signals consistent with emotional pattern separation in hippocampal dentate (DG)/CA3 in HP but not in LP individuals, suggesting a deficit in emotional pattern separation. During false recognition, we found increased DG/CA3 activity in LP individuals, suggesting that hyperactivity may be associated with overgeneralization. We additionally observed a selective deficit in basolateral amygdala—lateral entorhinal cortex—DG/CA3 functional connectivity in LP individuals during pattern separation of negative information. During negative false recognition, LP individuals showed increased medial temporal lobe functional connectivity, consistent with overgeneralization. Overall, these results suggest a novel mechanistic account of individual differences in emotional memory alterations exhibited in aging. PMID:27723500

Analysis of memory deficits following chemotherapy in breast cancer survivors: evidence from the doors and people test.

PubMed

Prokasheva, Svetlana; Faran, Yifat; Cwikel, Julie; Geffen, David B

2011-01-01

Studies of cognitive effects of chemotherapy among breast cancer patients show that not all women who are exposed to chemotherapy develop cognitive dysfunction and that the observed declines in cognitive functioning may be quite subtle. The use of measures that are sensitive to subtle cognitive decline are recommended yet rarely used among clinical populations. The purpose of this study is to specify the types of memory changes observed among breast cancer survivors treated with chemotherapy and tamoxifen, by using an analytic test of memory, the Doors and People test, which uses age-adjusted norms. The participants were 40 women who were survivors of breast cancer, 20 of whom had completed chemotherapy treatment and 20 women who were treated only with tamoxifen. There were no significant differences between the two groups in overall scores and in all four subtests: visual memory, verbal memory, recall, and recognition measured by age-adjusted scores. Forty percent of patients in both of the groups were classified as having mild impairment in episodic memory. No between-group differences were found in the frequency of subjective, cognitive complaints. Subjective complaints were reported by 69% of patients but were unrelated to objective performance. Memory deficits were observed in breast cancer patients who receive either chemotherapy or tamoxifen alone compared to age-adjusted norms. The Doors and People Test is a sensitive measure of memory deficits that is feasible for use with clinical populations of breast cancer patients in order to monitor changes in cognitive function.

Disentangling Working Memory Functioning in Mood States of Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Soraggi-Frez, Carolina; Santos, Flávia H.; Albuquerque, Pedro B.; Malloy-Diniz, Leandro F.

2017-01-01

Working memory (WM) deficits are often reported in patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD). However, it is not clear about the nature of these WM deficits (update or serial order processes) and their association with each BD states (euthymic, mania, and depressive). This review investigated the association between BD patient's states and the functioning of WM components. For this purpose, we carried out a systematic review fulfilling a search in the databases Medline, Scopus, SciELO, and Web of Science using specific terms in the abstracts of the articles that generated 212 outcomes in the restricted period from 2005 to 2016. Twenty-three papers were selected, completely read, and analyzed using PICOS strategy. The mood episodes predicted deficits in different components of WM in BD patients (the phonological loop or visuospatial sketchpad) and were associated with different WM processes (updating and serial recall). Lower cognitive scores persist even in remission of symptoms. This result suggests that WM deficit apparently is stage-independent in BD patients. Furthermore, findings suggest that the neutral point on Hedonic Detector component of WM could be maladjusted by BD. PMID:28491042

Thalamic pathology and memory loss in early Alzheimer’s disease: moving the focus from the medial temporal lobe to Papez circuit

PubMed Central

Pralus, Agathe; Nelson, Andrew J. D.; Hornberger, Michael

2016-01-01

Abstract It is widely assumed that incipient protein pathology in the medial temporal lobe instigates the loss of episodic memory in Alzheimer’s disease, one of the earliest cognitive deficits in this type of dementia. Within this region, the hippocampus is seen as the most vital for episodic memory. Consequently, research into the causes of memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease continues to centre on hippocampal dysfunction and how disease-modifying therapies in this region can potentially alleviate memory symptomology. The present review questions this entrenched notion by bringing together findings from post-mortem studies, non-invasive imaging (including studies of presymptomatic, at-risk cases) and genetically modified animal models. The combined evidence indicates that the loss of episodic memory in early Alzheimer’s disease reflects much wider neurodegeneration in an extended mnemonic system (Papez circuit), which critically involves the limbic thalamus. Within this system, the anterior thalamic nuclei are prominent, both for their vital contributions to episodic memory and for how these same nuclei appear vulnerable in prodromal Alzheimer’s disease. As thalamic abnormalities occur in some of the earliest stages of the disease, the idea that such changes are merely secondary to medial temporal lobe dysfunctions is challenged. This alternate view is further strengthened by the interdependent relationship between the anterior thalamic nuclei and retrosplenial cortex, given how dysfunctions in the latter cortical area provide some of the earliest in vivo imaging evidence of prodromal Alzheimer’s disease. Appreciating the importance of the anterior thalamic nuclei for memory and attention provides a more balanced understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, this refocus on the limbic thalamus, as well as the rest of Papez circuit, would have significant implications for the diagnostics, modelling, and experimental treatment of cognitive symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease. PMID:27190025

Tool use in neurodegenerative diseases: Planning or technical reasoning?

PubMed

Baumard, Josselin; Lesourd, Mathieu; Remigereau, Chrystelle; Jarry, Christophe; Etcharry-Bouyx, Frédérique; Chauviré, Valérie; Osiurak, François; Le Gall, Didier

2017-04-29

Recent works showed that tool use can be impaired in stroke patients because of either planning or technical reasoning deficits, but these two hypotheses have not yet been compared in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this study was to address the relationships between real tool use, mechanical problem-solving, and planning skills in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 32), semantic dementia (SD, n = 16), and corticobasal syndrome (CBS, n = 9). Patients were asked to select and use ten common tools, to solve three mechanical problems, and to complete the Tower of London test. Motor function and episodic memory were controlled using the Purdue Pegboard Test and the BEC96 questionnaire, respectively. A data-transformation method was applied to avoid ceiling effects, and single-case analysis was performed based on raw scores and completion time. All groups demonstrated either impaired or slowed tool use. Planning deficits were found only in the AD group. Mechanical problem-solving deficits were observed only in the AD and CBS groups. Performance in the Tower of London test was the best predictor of tool use skills in the AD group, suggesting these patients had general rather than mechanical problem-solving deficits. Episodic memory seemed to play little role in performance. Motor dysfunction tended to be associated with tool use skills in CBS patients, while tool use disorders are interpreted as a consequence of the semantic loss in SD in line with previous works. These findings may encourage caregivers to set up disease-centred interventions. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Associative visual agnosia: a case study.

PubMed

Charnallet, A; Carbonnel, S; David, D; Moreaud, O

2008-01-01

We report a case of massive associative visual agnosia. In the light of current theories of identification and semantic knowledge organization, a deficit involving both levels of structural description system and visual semantics must be assumed to explain the case. We suggest, in line with a previous case study, an alternative account in the framework of (non abstractive) episodic models of memory.

A short cut to the past: Cueing via concrete objects improves autobiographical memory retrieval in Alzheimer's disease patients.

PubMed

Kirk, Marie; Berntsen, Dorthe

2018-02-01

Older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have difficulties accessing autobiographical memories. However, this deficit tends to spare memories dated to earlier parts of their lives, and may partially reflect retrieval deficits rather than complete memory loss. Introducing a novel paradigm, the present study examines whether autobiographical memory recall can be improved in AD by manipulating the sensory richness, concreteness and cultural dating of the memory cues. Specifically, we examine whether concrete everyday objects historically dated to the participants' youth (e.g., a skipping rope), relative to verbal cues (i.e., the verbal signifiers for the objects) facilitate access to autobiographical memories. The study includes 49 AD patients, and 50 healthy, older matched control participants, all tested on word versus object-cued recall. Both groups recalled significantly more memories, when cued by objects relative to words, but the advantage was significantly larger in the AD group. In both groups, memory descriptions were longer and significantly more episodic in nature in response to object-cued recall. Together these findings suggest that the multimodal nature of the object cues (i.e. vision, olfaction, audition, somatic sensation) along with specific cue characteristics, such as time reference, texture, shape, may constrain the retrieval search, potentially minimizing executive function demands, and hence strategic processing requirements, thus easing access to autobiographical memories in AD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fractionation of visuo-spatial memory processes in bipolar depression: a cognitive scaffolding account.

PubMed

Gallagher, P; Gray, J M; Kessels, R P C

2015-02-01

Previous studies of neurocognitive performance in bipolar disorder (BD) have demonstrated impairments in visuo-spatial memory. The aim of the present study was to use an object-location memory (OLM) paradigm to assess specific, dissociable processes in visuo-spatial memory and examine their relationship with broader neurocognitive performance. Fifty participants (25 patients with BD in a current depressive episode and 25 matched healthy controls) completed the OLM paradigm which assessed three different aspects of visuo-spatial memory: positional memory, object-location binding, and a combined process. Secondary neurocognitive measures of visuo-spatial memory, verbal memory, attention and executive function were also administered. BD patients were significantly impaired on all three OLM processes, with the largest effect in exact positional memory (d = 1.18, p < 0.0001). General deficits were also found across the secondary neurocognitive measures. Using hierarchical regression, verbal learning was found to explain significant variance on the OLM measures where object-identity was present (the object-location binding and combined processes) and accounted for the group difference. The group difference in precise positional memory remained intact. This study demonstrates that patients with bipolar depression manifest deficits in visuo-spatial memory, with substantial impairment in fine-grain, positional memory. The differential profile of processes underpinning the visuo-spatial memory impairment suggests a form of 'cognitive scaffolding', whereby performance on some measures can be supported by verbal memory. These results have important implications for our understanding of the functional cognitive architecture of mood disorder.

Recovery of high speed memory scanning after transient global amnesia: a case report.

PubMed

Okura, M; Tomotake, M; Mori, K; Ikuta, T

1996-12-01

We described the case of a 59 year old female with transient global amnesia (TGA) who had been examined neuropsychologically using Sternberg's paradigm and a random number generation (RNG) task on the following day, 1 week and 4 weeks after a TGA episode. The slope value of the linear function, a measure of cognitive memory scanning speed, decreased with time and showed a marked decrease 1 week after TGA, suggesting that the stage of serial and exhaustive scanning recovered within 1 week. The zero-intercept value, on the other hand, increased during 1 week but decreased 4 weeks later and was not related directly to recovery from TGA. The performance in RNG task improved 1 week later, but deteriorated 4 weeks after the episode. Such a change in RNG was in accordance with that of the zero-intercept value, predicting a relationship. It is concluded that the subclinical memory deficit, detected with these tasks, persisted longer than clinical recovery from TGA.

MEDIAL TEMPORAL LOBE CONTRIBUTIONS TO FUTURE THINKING: EVIDENCE FROM NEUROIMAGING AND AMNESIA.

PubMed

Verfaellie, Mieke; Race, Elizabeth; Keane, Margaret M

2012-09-01

Following early amnesic case reports, there is now considerable evidence suggesting a link between remembering the past and envisioning the future. This link is evident in the overlap in neural substrates as well as cognitive processes involved in both kinds of tasks. While constructing a future narrative requires multiple processes, neuroimaging and lesion data converge on a critical role for the medial temporal lobes (MTL) in retrieving and recombining details from memory in the service of novel simulations. Deficient detail retrieval and recombination may lead to impairments not only in episodic, but also in semantic prospection. MTL contributions to scene construction and mental time travel may further compound impairments in amnesia on tasks that pose additional demands on these processes, but are unlikely to form the core deficit underlying amnesics' cross-domain future thinking impairment. Future studies exploring the role of episodic memory in other forms of self-projection or future-oriented behaviour may elucidate further the adaptive role of memory.

Older adults encode--but do not always use--perceptual details: intentional versus unintentional effects of detail on memory judgments.

PubMed

Koutstaal, Wilma

2003-03-01

Investigations of memory deficits in older individuals have concentrated on their increased likelihood of forgetting events or details of events that were actually encountered (errors of omission). However, mounting evidence demonstrates that normal cognitive aging also is associated with an increased propensity for errors of commission--shown in false alarms or false recognition. The present study examined the origins of this age difference. Older and younger adults each performed three types of memory tasks in which details of encountered items might influence performance. Although older adults showed greater false recognition of related lures on a standard (identical) old/new episodic recognition task, older and younger adults showed parallel effects of detail on repetition priming and meaning-based episodic recognition (decreased priming and decreased meaning-based recognition for different relative to same exemplars). The results suggest that the older adults encoded details but used them less effectively than the younger adults in the recognition context requiring their deliberate, controlled use.

MEDIAL TEMPORAL LOBE CONTRIBUTIONS TO FUTURE THINKING: EVIDENCE FROM NEUROIMAGING AND AMNESIA

PubMed Central

Verfaellie, Mieke; Race, Elizabeth; Keane, Margaret M.

2013-01-01

Following early amnesic case reports, there is now considerable evidence suggesting a link between remembering the past and envisioning the future. This link is evident in the overlap in neural substrates as well as cognitive processes involved in both kinds of tasks. While constructing a future narrative requires multiple processes, neuroimaging and lesion data converge on a critical role for the medial temporal lobes (MTL) in retrieving and recombining details from memory in the service of novel simulations. Deficient detail retrieval and recombination may lead to impairments not only in episodic, but also in semantic prospection. MTL contributions to scene construction and mental time travel may further compound impairments in amnesia on tasks that pose additional demands on these processes, but are unlikely to form the core deficit underlying amnesics’ cross-domain future thinking impairment. Future studies exploring the role of episodic memory in other forms of self-projection or future-oriented behaviour may elucidate further the adaptive role of memory. PMID:23447709

Functional brain imaging in 14 patients with dissociative amnesia reveals right inferolateral prefrontal hypometabolism.

PubMed

Brand, Matthias; Eggers, Carsten; Reinhold, Nadine; Fujiwara, Esther; Kessler, Josef; Heiss, Wolf-Dieter; Markowitsch, Hans J

2009-10-30

Dissociative amnesia is a condition usually characterized by severely impaired retrograde memory functioning in the absence of structural brain damage. Recent case studies nevertheless found functional brain changes in patients suffering from autobiographical-episodic memory loss in the cause of dissociative amnesia. Functional changes were demonstrated in both resting state and memory retrieval conditions. In addition, some but not all cases also showed other neuropsychological impairments beyond retrograde memory deficits. However, there is no group study available that examined potential functional brain abnormalities and accompanying neuropsychological deteriorations in larger samples of patients with dissociative retrograde amnesia. We report functional imaging and neuropsychological data acquired in 14 patients with dissociative amnesia following stressful or traumatic events. All patients suffered from autobiographical memory loss. In addition, approximately half of the patients had deficits in anterograde memory and executive functioning. Accompanying functional brain changes were measured by [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Regional glucose utilization of the patients was compared with that of 19 healthy subjects, matched for age and gender. We found significantly decreased glucose utilization in the right inferolateral prefrontal cortex in the patients. Hypometabolism in this brain region, known to be involved in retrieval of autobiographical memories and self-referential processing, may be a functional brain correlate of dissociative amnesia.

Short-term prospective memory deficits in chronic back pain patients.

PubMed

Ling, Jonathan; Campbell, Carol; Heffernan, Thomas M; Greenough, Charles G

2007-01-01

Chronic pain, particularly low back pain, is widespread. Although a great deal is known about the impact that this has on quality of life and physical activity, relatively little has been established regarding the more cognitive effects of pain. This study aims to find out whether individuals with chronic pain experience memory deficits in prospective memory (PM), the process of remembering to do things at some future point in time. Examples of PM include remembering to keep an appointment, such as a visit to a clinic, or to perform a particular task, such as paying a bill on time. The PM of 50 participants with chronic pain was compared with 50 pain-free participants. Each participant completed the Prospective Memory Questionnaire, which assesses three aspects of prospective memory (short-term habitual, long-term episodic, and internally cued), and records the use of strategies to aid remembering. In comparison to those not in pain, participants with chronic pain had significantly impaired short-term prospective memory, an effect which was evident even after co-varying use of analgesics and other drugs. These findings provide new insights into prospective memory dysfunction in people with chronic pain. Possible mechanisms for this dysfunction are discussed and suggestions for future research given.

Altered hippocampal replay is associated with memory impairment in mice heterozygous for the Scn2a gene.

PubMed

Middleton, Steven J; Kneller, Emily M; Chen, Shuo; Ogiwara, Ikuo; Montal, Mauricio; Yamakawa, Kazuhiro; McHugh, Thomas J

2018-06-04

An accumulating body of experimental evidence has implicated hippocampal replay occurring within sharp wave ripples (SPW-Rs) as crucial for learning and memory in healthy subjects. This raises speculation that neurological disorders impairing memory disrupt either SPW-Rs or their underlying neuronal activity. We report that mice heterozygous for the gene Scn2a, a site of frequent de novo mutations in humans with intellectual disability, displayed impaired spatial memory. While we observed no changes during encoding, to either single place cells or cell assemblies, we identified abnormalities restricted to SPW-R episodes that manifest as decreased cell assembly reactivation strengths and truncated hippocampal replay sequences. Our results suggest that alterations to hippocampal replay content may underlie disease-associated memory deficits.

Role of phosphoinositide 3-kinase in ischemic postconditioning-induced attenuation of cerebral ischemia-evoked behavioral deficits in mice.

PubMed

Rehni, Ashish K; Singh, Nirmal

2007-01-01

The present study has been designed to pharmacologically investigate the role of phosphoinositide 3-kinase in ischemic postconditioning-induced reversal of global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion-induced behavioral dysfunction in mice. Bilateral carotid artery occlusion for 10 min followed by reperfusion for 24 h was employed in the present study to produce ischemia and reperfusion-induced cerebral injury in mice. Short-term memory was evaluated using the elevated plus maze test. The inclined beam walking test was employed to assess motor incoordination. Bilateral carotid artery occlusion followed by reperfusion produced impaired short-term memory, motor co-ordination and lateral push response. Three episodes of carotid artery occlusion for a period of 10 s and reperfusion of 10 s (ischemic postconditioning) significantly prevented ischemia-reperfusion-induced behavioral deficit measured in terms of loss of short-term memory, motor coordination and lateral push response. Wortmannin (2 mg/kg, iv), a phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor given 10 min before ischemia attenuated the beneficial effects of ischemic postconditioning. It may be concluded that beneficial effects of ischemic postconditioning on global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion-induced behavioral deficits may involve activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase-linked pathway.

Chronic 5-HT4 receptor agonist treatment restores learning and memory deficits in a neuroendocrine mouse model of anxiety/depression.

PubMed

Darcet, Flavie; Gardier, Alain M; David, Denis J; Guilloux, Jean-Philippe

2016-03-11

Cognitive disturbances are often reported as serious invalidating symptoms in patients suffering from major depression disorders (MDD) and are not fully corrected by classical monoaminergic antidepressant drugs. If the role of 5-HT4 receptor agonists as cognitive enhancers is well established in naïve animals or in animal models of cognitive impairment, their cognitive effects in the context of stress need to be examined. Using a mouse model of anxiety/depression (CORT model), we reported that a chronic 5-HT4 agonist treatment (RS67333, 1.5mg/kg/day) restored chronic corticosterone-induced cognitive deficits, including episodic-like, associative and spatial learning and memory impairments. On the contrary, a chronic monoaminergic antidepressant drug treatment with fluoxetine (18mg/kg/day) only partially restored spatial learning and memory deficits and had no effect in the associative/contextual task. These results suggest differential mechanisms underlying cognitive effects of these drugs. Finally, the present study highlights 5-HT4 receptor stimulation as a promising therapeutic mechanism to alleviate cognitive symptoms related to MDD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temporally graded semantic memory loss in amnesia and semantic dementia: Further evidence for opposite gradients.

PubMed

Estmacott, Robyn W; Moscovitch, Morris

2002-03-01

The consolidation theory of long-term memory (e.g., Squire, 1992) predicts that damage to the medial temporal lobes will result in temporally graded retrograde memory loss, with a disproportionate impairment of recent relative to remote knowledge; in contrast, severe atrophy of the temporal neocortex is predicted to result in the reverse temporally graded pattern, with a selective sparing of recent memory (K.S. Graham & Hodges, 1997). Previously, we reported evidence that autobiographical episodic memory does not follow this temporal pattern (Westmacott, Leach, Freedman, & Moscovitch, 2001). In the present study, we found evidence suggesting that semantic memory loss does follow the predicted temporal pattern. We used a set of tasks that tap implicit and explicit memory for famous names and English vocabulary terms from across the 20th century. KC, a person with medial temporal amnesia, consistently demonstrated across tasks a selective deficit for famous names and vocabulary terms from the 5-year period just prior to injury; this deficit was particularly profound for elaborated semantic knowledge (e.g., word definitions, occupation of famous person). However, when asked to guess on unfamiliar items, KC's performance for names and words from this 5-year time period increased substantially, suggesting that he retains some of this knowledge at an implicit or rudimentary level. Conversely, EL, a semantic dementia patient with temporal neocortical atrophy and relative sparing of the medial temporal lobe, demonstrated a selective sparing of names and words from the most recent time period. However, this selective sparing of recent semantic memory was demonstrated in the implicit tasks only; performance on explicit tasks suggested an equally severe impairment of semantics across all time periods. Unlike the data from our previous study of autobiographical episodic memory, these findings are consistent with the predictions both of consolidation theory (Hodges & Graham, 1998; Squire, 1992) and multiple trace theory (Nadel & Moscovitch, 1999) that the hippocampus plays a timelimited role in the acquisition and representation of long-term semantic memories. Moreover, our findings suggest that tasks requiring minimal verbal production and explicit recall may provide a more sensitive and comprehensive assessment of intact memory capacity in brain-damaged individuals.

Neuropsychological function and suicidal behavior: attention control, memory and executive dysfunction in suicide attempt.

PubMed

Keilp, J G; Gorlyn, M; Russell, M; Oquendo, M A; Burke, A K; Harkavy-Friedman, J; Mann, J J

2013-03-01

Executive dysfunction, distinct from other cognitive deficits in depression, has been associated with suicidal behavior. However, this dysfunction is not found consistently across samples. Medication-free subjects with DSM-IV major depressive episode (major depressive disorder and bipolar type I disorder) and a past history of suicidal behavior (n = 72) were compared to medication-free depressed subjects with no history of suicidal behavior (n = 80) and healthy volunteers (n = 56) on a battery of tests assessing neuropsychological functions typically affected by depression (motor and psychomotor speed, attention, memory) and executive functions reportedly impaired in suicide attempters (abstract/contingent learning, working memory, language fluency, impulse control). All of the depressed subjects performed worse than healthy volunteers on motor, psychomotor and language fluency tasks. Past suicide attempters, in turn, performed worse than depressed non-attempters on attention and memory/working memory tasks [a computerized Stroop task, the Buschke Selective Reminding Task (SRT), the Benton Visual Retention Test (VRT) and an N-back task] but not on other executive function measures, including a task associated with ventral prefrontal function (Object Alternation). Deficits were not accounted for by current suicidal ideation or the lethality of past attempts. A small subsample of those using a violent method in their most lethal attempt showed a pattern of poor executive performance. Deficits in specific components of attention control, memory and working memory were associated with suicidal behavior in a sample where non-violent attempt predominated. Broader executive dysfunction in depression may be associated with specific forms of suicidal behavior, rather than suicidal behavior per se.

A virtual reality task based on animal research – spatial learning and memory in patients after the first episode of schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Fajnerová, Iveta; Rodriguez, Mabel; Levčík, David; Konrádová, Lucie; Mikoláš, Pavol; Brom, Cyril; Stuchlík, Aleš; Vlček, Kamil; Horáček, Jiří

2014-01-01

Objectives: Cognitive deficit is considered to be a characteristic feature of schizophrenia disorder. A similar cognitive dysfunction was demonstrated in animal models of schizophrenia. However, the poor comparability of methods used to assess cognition in animals and humans could be responsible for low predictive validity of current animal models. In order to assess spatial abilities in schizophrenia and compare our results with the data obtained in animal models, we designed a virtual analog of the Morris water maze (MWM), the virtual Four Goals Navigation (vFGN) task. Methods: Twenty-nine patients after the first psychotic episode with schizophrenia symptoms and a matched group of healthy volunteers performed the vFGN task. They were required to find and remember four hidden goal positions in an enclosed virtual arena. The task consisted of two parts. The Reference memory (RM) session with a stable goal position was designed to test spatial learning. The Delayed-matching-to-place (DMP) session presented a modified working memory protocol designed to test the ability to remember a sequence of three hidden goal positions. Results: Data obtained in the RM session show impaired spatial learning in schizophrenia patients compared to the healthy controls in pointing and navigation accuracy. The DMP session showed impaired spatial memory in schizophrenia during the recall of spatial sequence and a similar deficit in spatial bias in the probe trials. The pointing accuracy and the quadrant preference showed higher sensitivity toward the cognitive deficit than the navigation accuracy. Direct navigation to the goal was affected by sex and age of the tested subjects. The age affected spatial performance only in healthy controls. Conclusions: Despite some limitations of the study, our results correspond well with the previous studies in animal models of schizophrenia and support the decline of spatial cognition in schizophrenia, indicating the usefulness of the vFGN task in comparative research. PMID:24904329

Prospective memory impairment in multiple sclerosis: a review.

PubMed

Rouleau, Isabelle; Dagenais, Emmanuelle; Tremblay, Alexandra; Demers, Mélanie; Roger, Élaine; Jobin, Céline; Duquette, Pierre

2017-08-04

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease of the central nervous system affecting information processing speed, episodic memory, attention, and executive functions. MS patients also often report prospective memory (PM) failures that directly impact their functional autonomy, including professional and social life. The purpose of this paper was to review the literature concerning the assessment and remediation of PM deficits in MS. The literature pertaining to PM impairment in MS was carefully reviewed using PubMed, PsyINFO, and Google Scholar, as well as cross-references from the articles published on this topic. Since PM rehabilitation in MS patients is still in its infancy, this review mainly focuses on studies that have directly assessed PM through various measures including questionnaires, standardized clinical tests, and experimental procedures. This literature review confirms the presence of PM deficits in MS patients, even in the early stages of the disease. A further need for controlled studies on PM assessment and PM interventions in patients with MS is stressed.

Semantic Knowledge for Famous Names in Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Seidenberg, Michael; Guidotti, Leslie; Nielson, Kristy A.; Woodard, John L.; Durgerian, Sally; Zhang, Qi; Gander, Amelia; Antuono, Piero; Rao, Stephen M.

2008-01-01

Person identification represents a unique category of semantic knowledge that is commonly impaired in Alzheimer's Disease (AD), but has received relatively little investigation in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The current study examined the retrieval of semantic knowledge for famous names from three time epochs (recent, remote, and enduring) in two participant groups; 23 aMCI patients and 23 healthy elderly controls. The aMCI group was less accurate and produced less semantic knowledge than controls for famous names. Names from the enduring period were recognized faster than both recent and remote names in both groups, and remote names were recognized more quickly than recent names. Episodic memory performance was correlated with greater semantic knowledge particularly for recent names. We suggest that the anterograde memory deficits in the aMCI group interferes with learning of recent famous names and as a result produces difficulties with updating and integrating new semantic information with previously stored information. The implications of these findings for characterizing semantic memory deficits in MCI are discussed. PMID:19128524

Revisiting the continuum hypothesis: toward an in-depth exploration of executive functions in korsakoff syndrome.

PubMed

Brion, Mélanie; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Beaunieux, Hélène; Maurage, Pierre

2014-01-01

Korsakoff syndrome (KS) is a neurological state mostly caused by alcohol-dependence and leading to disproportionate episodic memory deficits. KS patients present more severe anterograde amnesia than Alcohol-Dependent Subjects (ADS), which led to the continuum hypothesis postulating a progressive increase in brain and cognitive damages during the evolution from ADS to KS. This hypothesis has been extensively examined for memory but is still debated for other abilities, notably executive functions (EF). EF have up to now been explored by unspecific tasks in KS, and few studies explored their interactions with memory. Exploring EF in KS by specific tasks based on current EF models could thus renew the exploration of the continuum hypothesis. This paper will propose a research program aiming at: (1) clarifying the extent of executive dysfunctions in KS by tasks focusing on specific EF subcomponents; (2) determining the differential EF deficits in ADS and KS; (3) exploring EF-memory interactions in KS with innovative tasks. At the fundamental level, this exploration will test the continuum hypothesis beyond memory. At the clinical level, it will propose new rehabilitation tools focusing on the EF specifically impaired in KS.

Revisiting the Continuum Hypothesis: Toward an In-Depth Exploration of Executive Functions in Korsakoff Syndrome

PubMed Central

Brion, Mélanie; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Beaunieux, Hélène; Maurage, Pierre

2014-01-01

Korsakoff syndrome (KS) is a neurological state mostly caused by alcohol-dependence and leading to disproportionate episodic memory deficits. KS patients present more severe anterograde amnesia than Alcohol-Dependent Subjects (ADS), which led to the continuum hypothesis postulating a progressive increase in brain and cognitive damages during the evolution from ADS to KS. This hypothesis has been extensively examined for memory but is still debated for other abilities, notably executive functions (EF). EF have up to now been explored by unspecific tasks in KS, and few studies explored their interactions with memory. Exploring EF in KS by specific tasks based on current EF models could thus renew the exploration of the continuum hypothesis. This paper will propose a research program aiming at: (1) clarifying the extent of executive dysfunctions in KS by tasks focusing on specific EF subcomponents; (2) determining the differential EF deficits in ADS and KS; (3) exploring EF-memory interactions in KS with innovative tasks. At the fundamental level, this exploration will test the continuum hypothesis beyond memory. At the clinical level, it will propose new rehabilitation tools focusing on the EF specifically impaired in KS. PMID:25071526

Memory for sequences of events impaired in typical aging.

PubMed

Allen, Timothy A; Morris, Andrea M; Stark, Shauna M; Fortin, Norbert J; Stark, Craig E L

2015-03-01

Typical aging is associated with diminished episodic memory performance. To improve our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying this age-related memory deficit, we previously developed an integrated, cross-species approach to link converging evidence from human and animal research. This novel approach focuses on the ability to remember sequences of events, an important feature of episodic memory. Unlike existing paradigms, this task is nonspatial, nonverbal, and can be used to isolate different cognitive processes that may be differentially affected in aging. Here, we used this task to make a comprehensive comparison of sequence memory performance between younger (18-22 yr) and older adults (62-86 yr). Specifically, participants viewed repeated sequences of six colored, fractal images and indicated whether each item was presented "in sequence" or "out of sequence." Several out of sequence probe trials were used to provide a detailed assessment of sequence memory, including: (i) repeating an item from earlier in the sequence ("Repeats"; e.g., AB A: DEF), (ii) skipping ahead in the sequence ("Skips"; e.g., AB D: DEF), and (iii) inserting an item from a different sequence into the same ordinal position ("Ordinal Transfers"; e.g., AB 3: DEF). We found that older adults performed as well as younger controls when tested on well-known and predictable sequences, but were severely impaired when tested using novel sequences. Importantly, overall sequence memory performance in older adults steadily declined with age, a decline not detected with other measures (RAVLT or BPS-O). We further characterized this deficit by showing that performance of older adults was severely impaired on specific probe trials that required detailed knowledge of the sequence (Skips and Ordinal Transfers), and was associated with a shift in their underlying mnemonic representation of the sequences. Collectively, these findings provide unambiguous evidence that the capacity to remember sequences of events is fundamentally affected by typical aging. © 2015 Allen et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Memory for sequences of events impaired in typical aging

PubMed Central

Allen, Timothy A.; Morris, Andrea M.; Stark, Shauna M.; Fortin, Norbert J.

2015-01-01

Typical aging is associated with diminished episodic memory performance. To improve our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying this age-related memory deficit, we previously developed an integrated, cross-species approach to link converging evidence from human and animal research. This novel approach focuses on the ability to remember sequences of events, an important feature of episodic memory. Unlike existing paradigms, this task is nonspatial, nonverbal, and can be used to isolate different cognitive processes that may be differentially affected in aging. Here, we used this task to make a comprehensive comparison of sequence memory performance between younger (18–22 yr) and older adults (62–86 yr). Specifically, participants viewed repeated sequences of six colored, fractal images and indicated whether each item was presented “in sequence” or “out of sequence.” Several out of sequence probe trials were used to provide a detailed assessment of sequence memory, including: (i) repeating an item from earlier in the sequence (“Repeats”; e.g., ABADEF), (ii) skipping ahead in the sequence (“Skips”; e.g., ABDDEF), and (iii) inserting an item from a different sequence into the same ordinal position (“Ordinal Transfers”; e.g., AB3DEF). We found that older adults performed as well as younger controls when tested on well-known and predictable sequences, but were severely impaired when tested using novel sequences. Importantly, overall sequence memory performance in older adults steadily declined with age, a decline not detected with other measures (RAVLT or BPS-O). We further characterized this deficit by showing that performance of older adults was severely impaired on specific probe trials that required detailed knowledge of the sequence (Skips and Ordinal Transfers), and was associated with a shift in their underlying mnemonic representation of the sequences. Collectively, these findings provide unambiguous evidence that the capacity to remember sequences of events is fundamentally affected by typical aging. PMID:25691514

Contribution of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors to attention and episodic spatial memory during senescence

PubMed Central

Guidi, Michael; Rani, Asha; Karic, Semir; Severance, Barrett; Kumar, Ashok; Foster, Thomas C.

2015-01-01

A decrease in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) function is associated with age-related cognitive impairments. However, NMDAR antagonists are prescribed for cognitive decline associated with age-related neurodegenerative disease, raising questions as to the role of NMDAR activity in cognitive function during aging. The current studies examined effects of NMDAR blockade on cognitive task that are sensitive to aging. Young and middle-age rats were trained on the five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) and challenged with MK-801 (0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 mg/kg or vehicle). Attention deficits were apparent in middle-age and performance of young and middle-age rats was enhanced for low doses of MK-801 (0.025 and 0.05). The beneficial effects on attention were reversed by the highest dose of MK-801. Older animals exhibited a delay-dependent impairment of episodic spatial memory examined on a delayed-matching to place water maze task. Similarly, a low dose of MK-801 (0.05 mg/kg) impaired performance with increasing delay and aged animals were more susceptible to disruption by NMDAR blockade. Despite MK-801 impairment of episodic spatial memory, MK-801 had minimal effects on spatial reference memory. Our results confirm that NMDARs contribute to rapidly acquired and flexible spatial memory and support the idea that a decline in NMDAR function contributes to the age-related impairments in cognition. PMID:26234588

Contribution of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors to attention and episodic spatial memory during senescence.

PubMed

Guidi, Michael; Rani, Asha; Karic, Semir; Severance, Barrett; Kumar, Ashok; Foster, Thomas C

2015-11-01

A decrease in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) function is associated with age-related cognitive impairments. However, NMDAR antagonists are prescribed for cognitive decline associated with age-related neurodegenerative disease, raising questions as to the role of NMDAR activity in cognitive function during aging. The current studies examined effects of NMDAR blockade on cognitive task that are sensitive to aging. Young and middle-age rats were trained on the five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) and challenged with MK-801 (0.025, 0.05, and 0.1mg/kg or vehicle). Attention deficits were apparent in middle-age and performance of young and middle-age rats was enhanced for low doses of MK-801 (0.025 and 0.05). The beneficial effects on attention were reversed by the highest dose of MK-801. Older animals exhibited a delay-dependent impairment of episodic spatial memory examined on a delayed-matching to place water maze task. Similarly, a low dose of MK-801 (0.05mg/kg) impaired performance with increasing delay and aged animals were more susceptible to disruption by NMDAR blockade. Despite MK-801 impairment of episodic spatial memory, MK-801 had minimal effects on spatial reference memory. Our results confirm that NMDARs contribute to rapidly acquired and flexible spatial memory and support the idea that a decline in NMDAR function contributes to the age-related impairments in cognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-reported and informant-reported memory functioning and awareness in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer´s disease.

PubMed

Silva, Martina Rios; Moser, Doris; Pflüger, Melanie; Pusswald, Gisela; Stögmann, Elisabeth; Dal-Bianco, Peter; Auff, Eduard; Lehrner, Johann

2016-06-01

Awareness of subjective memory is an important factor for adequate treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study served to find out whether awareness of subjective memory complies with objective performance, if differences in awareness are observed longitudinally and whether decrease of awareness can serve as a predictor of AD in MCI patients. Thirty-four patients with MCI seeking help in a memory outpatient clinic were included. All participants underwent thorough neuropsychological examination. Awareness of subjective memory was obtained by calculating difference scores between patient and informant ratings on a 16-item questionnaire concerning complaints about loss of memory in every-day life. Retesting was performed after a mean follow-up period of 24 months. Whole group analyses showed that awareness remained relatively stable across time. Self-reported memory complaints correlated with episodic memory at baseline and with performance on a language task at follow-up. Retests displayed decrease of awareness. At group level differences in awareness between both times of assessment were not significant for MCI and MCI patients converting to mild AD at follow-up. The predictive value of awareness was low. Awareness of subjective memory deficit is linked to episodic memory function and decreases with decline of cognitive ability. Further studies evaluating predictive power of awareness of subjective memory should include a larger patient sample.

48. Associations Between Electrophysiological Measures of Selective Attention and Neurocognitive Measures of Working Memory and Attention in Antipsychotic-Naive, First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients

PubMed Central

Kruiper, Caitlyn; Fagerlund, Birgitte; Nielsen, Mette Ø.; Düring, Signe; Jensen, Maria H.; Ebdrup, Bjørn H.; Glenthøj, Birte Y.; Oranje, Bob

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Deficits in attention and working memory are already present in early stages of schizophrenia. The P3a and b event related brain potentials (ERPs) are believed to underlie processes of attention and working memory, but, only limited research has been performed on the associations between these psychophysiological and cognitive deficits, particularly in the early stages of schizophrenia. We aimed to investigate associations between P3a and P3b amplitudes and measures of attention and working memory in a large cohort of antipsychotic-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients (AN-FES) and age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). Methods: Eighty-three AN-FES patients and 108 HC, matched for age and gender, were assessed for their P3a and b amplitude and latency with the selective attention paradigm from the Copenhagen Psychophysiological Test Battery (CPTB). In addition, the Spatial Working Memory (SWM) and Rapid Visual Information Processing test (RVP) from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) were used to assess working memory and attention. Outcome measure for the SWM was Strategy, wherein a low score represents a more effective strategy. For the RVP, we used the A’ measure as outcome. This measure represents how well the participant is able to detect target sequences. Results: P3a and P3b amplitudes were significantly reduced in our AN-FES patients compared to HC. In addition, the P3a peak latency was earlier in the AN-FES patients than in HC, while P3b latency did not differ between the groups. Furthermore, AN-FES patients scored significantly lower on the SWM task and the RVP compared to HC. A positive association was found between RVP and P3b in our total group. However, this effect disappeared when split into the two subgroups. In contrast, SWM was positively associated with P3b in HC, while this effect was neither present in AN-FES nor in the total group. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence for P3a and P3b amplitude reductions as well as neurocognitive deficits in AN-FES patients compared to age and gender matched HC. This supports previous data that electrophysiological and neurocognitive deficits already exist in early stages of schizophrenia, and are not due to use of antipsychotics. Our data support significant yet rather weak associations between P3b amplitude and both working memory and attention, although the association between working memory and P3b was only found in HC and not in AN-FES.

The effects of the soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat on memory performance in healthy volunteers with a biperiden-induced memory impairment.

PubMed

Borghans, Laura G J M; Sambeth, Anke; Prickaerts, Jos; Ramaekers, Johannes G; Blokland, Arjan

2018-06-07

After stimulation with nitric oxide, soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) produces cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which stimulates an important signalling pathway for long-term potentiation (LTP). By upregulating cGMP, LTP could be stimulated and thereby enhancing memory processes. The present study investigated the effects of the sGC stimulator riociguat on cognition in healthy volunteers. Participants were pre-treated with and without biperiden, which impairs memory performance, to investigate the memory-enhancing effects of riociguat. Twenty volunteers participated in a double-blind placebo-controlled six-way crossover design with a cognitive test battery including the verbal learning task (VLT), n-back task, spatial memory test, the attention network test, and a reaction time task. Treatments were placebo and riociguat 0.5 mg, placebo and riociguat 1.0 mg, biperiden 2.0 mg and placebo, biperiden 2.0 mg and riociguat 0.5 mg and biperiden 2.0 mg and riociguat 1.0 mg. Blood pressure was found to be decreased and heart rate to be increased after administration of riociguat. Cognitive performance was not enhanced after administration of riociguat. Biperiden decreased episodic memory on the VLT, yet this deficit was not reversed by riociguat. This supports the notion that biperiden might be a valuable pharmacological model to induce episodic memory impairments as observed in AD/MCI.

Permanent global amnesia: case report.

PubMed

Bertolucci, Paulo H F; Siviero, Marilena O; Bueno, Orlando F A; Okamoto, Ivan H; Camargo, Candida H P; Santos, Ruth F

2004-04-01

To present a case of permanent global amnesia related to hippocampal damage. Permanent global amnesia is a very rare condition of unknown etiology; lesions restricted to the hippocampus are uncommon, which hinders investigations of this pattern of memory loss. This case is unusually well documented, as the patient underwent extensive neuropsychological evaluations. A cheerful right-handed, 83-year-old retired electrician was first evaluated in 1990 for progressive difficulty in learning new information and in recalling events over the preceding 3-4 years. Tests over the next 5 years showed that the impairment was confined to episodic declarative memory. New verbal information could be stored only in episodic memory in a restricted manner, limited by short-term memory capacity. A relatively mild retrograde amnesia was detected. Semantic and implicit memory was spared, as were other functions evaluated. The patient's language and executive function were strikingly efficient. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed bilateral atrophy of the hippocampi and amygdalae, ruling out conditions such as tumour growth. A diagnosis of permanent global amnesia was made. In the ensuing years, the retrograde amnesia worsened, but no new deficits were identified. This case, the first with a detailed cognitive examination, is evidence of a relatively pure hippocampal pattern for memory loss in permanent global amnesia.

Ketamine Disrupts Frontal and Hippocampal Contribution to Encoding and Retrieval of Episodic Memory: An fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Honey, G.D.; Honey, R.A.E.; O’Loughlin, C.; Sharar, S.R.; Kumaran, D.; Suckling, J.; Menon, D.K.; Sleator, C.; Bullmore, E.T.; Fletcher, P.C.

2012-01-01

The N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine produces episodic memory deficits. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize the effects of ketamine on frontal and hippocampal responses to memory encoding and retrieval in healthy volunteers using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, within-subjects comparison of two doses of intravenous ketamine. Dissociation of the effects of ketamine on encoding and retrieval processes was achieved using two study-test cycles: in the first, items were encoded prior to drug infusion and retrieval tested, during scanning, on drug; in the second, encoding was scanned on drug, and retrieval tested once ketamine plasma levels had declined. We additionally determined the interaction of ketamine with the depth of processing that occurred at encoding. A number of effects upon task-dependent activations were seen. Overall, our results suggest that left frontal activation is augmented by ketamine when elaborative semantic processing is required at encoding. In addition, successful encoding on ketamine is supplemented by additional non-verbal processing that is incidental to task demands. The effects of ketamine at retrieval are consistent with impaired access to accompanying contextual features of studied items. Our findings show that, even when overt behaviour is unimpaired, ketamine has an impact upon the recruitment of key regions in episodic memory task performance. PMID:15537676

Structural Anatomical Investigation of Long-Term Memory Deficit in Behavioral Frontotemporal Dementia.

PubMed

Bertoux, Maxime; Flanagan, Emma C; Hobbs, Matthew; Ruiz-Tagle, Amparo; Delgado, Carolina; Miranda, Marcelo; Ibáñez, Agustín; Slachevsky, Andrea; Hornberger, Michael

2018-01-01

Although a growing body of work has shown that behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) could present with severe amnesia in approximately half of cases, memory assessment is currently the clinical standard to distinguish bvFTD from Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, the concept of "relatively preserved episodic memory" in bvFTD remains the basis of its clinical distinction from AD and a criterion for bvFTD's diagnosis. This view is supported by the idea that bvFTD is not characterized by genuine amnesia and hippocampal degeneration, by contrast to AD. In this multicenter study, we aimed to investigate the neural correlates of memory performance in bvFTD as assessed by the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT). Imaging explorations followed a two-step procedure, first relying on a visual rating of atrophy of 35 bvFTD and 34 AD patients' MRI, contrasted with 29 controls; and then using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in a subset of bvFTD patients. Results showed that 43% of bvFTD patients presented with a genuine amnesia. Data-driven analysis on visual rating data showed that, in bvFTD, memory recall & storage performances were significantly predicted by atrophy in rostral prefrontal and hippocampal/perihippocampal regions, similar to mild AD. VBM results in bvFTD (pFWE<0.05) showed similar prefrontal and hippocampal regions in addition to striatal and lateral temporal involvement. Our findings showed the involvement of prefrontal as well as medial/lateral temporal atrophy in memory deficits of bvFTD patients. This contradicts the common view that only frontal deficits explain memory impairment in this disease and plead for an updated view on memory dysfunctions in bvFTD.

Associative Visual Agnosia: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Charnallet, A.; Carbonnel, S.; David, D.; Moreaud, O.

2008-01-01

We report a case of massive associative visual agnosia. In the light of current theories of identification and semantic knowledge organization, a deficit involving both levels of structural description system and visual semantics must be assumed to explain the case. We suggest, in line with a previous case study [1], an alternative account in the framework of (non abstractive) episodic models of memory [4]. PMID:18413915

Episodic memory impairments in bipolar disorder are associated with functional and structural brain changes.

PubMed

Oertel-Knöchel, Viola; Reinke, Britta; Feddern, Richard; Knake, Annika; Knöchel, Christian; Prvulovic, David; Pantel, Johannes; Linden, David E J

2014-12-01

We combined multimodal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and structural magnetic resonance imaging to probe abnormalities in brain circuits underpinning episodic memory performance deficits in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). We acquired whole-brain fMRI data in 21 patients with BD and a matched group of 20 healthy controls during a non-verbal episodic memory task, using abstract shapes. We also examined density of gray matter, using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and integrity of connecting fiber tracts, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tract-based spatial statistics, for areas with significant activation differences. Patients with BD remembered less well than controls which shapes they had seen and had lower activation levels during the encoding stage of the task in the anterior cingulate gyrus, the precuneus/cuneus bilaterally, and the left lingual gyrus, and higher activation levels during the retrieval stage in the left temporo-parietal junction. Patients with BD showed reduced gray matter volumes in the left anterior cingulate, the precuneus/cuneus bilaterally, and the left temporo-parietal region in comparison with controls. DTI revealed increased radial, axial, and mean diffusivity in the left superior longitudinal fascicle in patients with BD compared with controls. Changes in task-related activation in frontal and parietal areas were associated with poorer episodic memory in patients with BD. Compared with data from single imaging modalities, integration of multimodal neuroimaging data enables the building of more complete neuropsychological models of mental disorders. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Confabulation in healthy aging is related to poor encoding and retrieval of over-learned information.

PubMed

Attali, Eve; Dalla Barba, Gianfranco

2013-01-01

Normal aging is characterized by deficits that cross multiple cognitive domains including episodic memory and attention. Compared to young adults (YA), older adults (OA) not only show reduction in true memories, but also an increase in false memories. In this study we aim to elucidate how the production of confabulation is influenced by encoding and retrieval processes. We hypothesized that in OA, compared to YA, over-learned information interferes with the recall of specific, unique past episodes and this interference should be more prominent when a concurrent task perturbs the encoding of the episodes to be recalled. We tested this hypothesis using an experimental paradigm in which a group of OA and a group of YA had to recall three different types of story: a previously unknown story, a well-known fairy tale (Snow White), and a modified well-known fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood is not eaten by the wolf), in three different experimental conditions: (1) free encoding and free retrieval; (2) Divided attention (DA) at encoding and free retrieval; and (3) free encoding and DA at retrieval. Results showed that OA produced significantly more confabulations than YA, particularly, in the recall of the modified fairy tale. Moreover, DA at encoding markedly increased the number of confabulations, whereas DA at retrieval had no effect on confabulation. Our findings reveal the implications of two phenomena in the production of confabulation in normal aging: the effect of poor encoding and the interference of strongly represented, over-learned information in episodic memory recall.

The role of decision-making in cannabis-related problems among young adults

PubMed Central

Gonzalez, Raul; Schuster, Randi M.; Mermelstein, Robin M.; Diviak, Kathleen R.

2015-01-01

Background Deficits in decision-making and episodic memory are often reported among heavy cannabis users, yet little is known on how they influence negative consequences from cannabis use. Individual differences in decision-making may explain, in part, why some individuals experience significant problems from their cannabis use whereas others do not. We hypothesized that poor decision-making would moderate relationships between amount of cannabis use and problems from cannabis use whereas episodic memory performance would not. Method Young adult cannabis users (n = 52) with cannabis as their drug of choice and with minimal comorbidities completed semi-structured interviews, self-report questionnaires, and measures of neurocognitive functioning, with decision-making accessed via the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), episodic memory via the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised (HVLT) and problems from cannabis use with the Marijuana Problems Scale. Results Strong relationships were observed between amount of cannabis use (lifetime, 12-month, and 30-day) and problems reported from use, but only among participants with Low (impaired) decision-making (R2 = .39 to .51; p < .01). No significant relationships were observed among those with better (low average to high average) decision-making performance (p > .05). In contrast, episodic memory performance was not a significant moderator of the relationship between amount of cannabis use and cannabis problems (p > .05). Conclusions Cannabis users with poor decision-making may be at greater risk for experiencing significant negative consequences from their cannabis use. Our results lend further support to emerging evidence of decision-making as a risk factor for addiction and extend these findings to cannabis users. PMID:26199058

Older adults' use of metacognitive knowledge in source monitoring: spared monitoring but impaired control.

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Beatrice G; Touron, Dayna R

2011-03-01

While episodic memory declines with age, metacognitive monitoring is spared. The current study explored whether older adults can use their preserved metacognitive knowledge to make source guesses in the absence of source memory. Through repetition, words from two sources (italic vs. bold text type) differed in memorability. There were no age differences in monitoring this difference despite an age difference in memory. Older adults used their metacognitive knowledge to make source guesses but showed a deficit in varying their source guessing based on word recognition. Therefore, older adults may not fully benefit from metacognitive knowledge about sources in source monitoring. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

A systematic review of cognitive performance in patients with childhood craniopharyngioma.

PubMed

Özyurt, Jale; Müller, Hermann L; Thiel, Christiane M

2015-10-01

Craniopharyngiomas are rare brain tumors of the sellar/suprasellar region, often adversely affecting patients' physical and psychosocial functioning. Until a few years ago, knowledge on cognitive deficits in craniopharyngioma patients was based on little valid evidence, with considerable inconsistencies across studies. Findings from recent research, with partly larger sample sizes, add to existing evidence to provide a more clear and reliable picture. The current review aims to summarize and systemize current findings on cognitive deficits in childhood craniopharyngioma, taking account of patient- and treatment-related variables where possible. Those studies were included that reported results of childhood craniopharyngioma patients tested with formalized neuropsychological tests (irrespective of their age at study, group size ≥10). A systematic assignment of test results to subcomponents of broader cognitive domains (e.g. to specific memory systems and processes) allows for a first comprehensive overview of patterns of spared and impaired cognitive functions. We show that episodic memory recall in particular is impaired, largely sparing other memory components. In accordance with recent knowledge on mammillary function, patients with hypothalamic involvement appear to be at particular risk. Deficits in higher cognitive processes, relying on the integrity of the prefrontal cortex and its subcortical pathways, may also occur, but results are still inconsistent. To gain deeper insight into the pattern of deficits and their association with patient- and treatment-related variables, further multi-site research with larger cohorts is needed.

Everyday memory impairment in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy caused by hippocampal sclerosis.

PubMed

Rzezak, Patrícia; Lima, Ellen Marise; Gargaro, Ana Carolina; Coimbra, Erica; de Vincentiis, Silvia; Velasco, Tonicarlo Rodrigues; Leite, João Pereira; Busatto, Geraldo F; Valente, Kette D

2017-04-01

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy caused by hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS) have episodic memory impairment. Memory has rarely been evaluated using an ecologic measure, even though performance on these tests is more related to patients' memory complaints. We aimed to measure everyday memory of patients with TLE-HS to age- and gender-matched controls. We evaluated 31 patients with TLE-HS and 34 healthy controls, without epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, using the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (RBMT), Visual Reproduction (WMS-III) and Logical Memory (WMS-III). We evaluated the impact of clinical variables such as the age of onset, epilepsy duration, AED use, history of status epilepticus, and seizure frequency on everyday memory. Statistical analyses were performed using MANCOVA with years of education as a confounding factor. Patients showed worse performance than controls on traditional memory tests and in the overall score of RBMT. Patients had more difficulties to recall names, a hidden belonging, to deliver a message, object recognition, to remember a story full of details, a previously presented short route, and in time and space orientation. Clinical epilepsy variables were not associated with RBMT performance. Memory span and working memory were correlated with worse performance on RBMT. Patients with TLE-HS demonstrated deficits in everyday memory functions. A standard neuropsychological battery, designed to assess episodic memory, would not evaluate these impairments. Impairment in recalling names, routes, stories, messages, and space/time disorientation can adversely impact social adaptation, and we must consider these ecologic measures with greater attention in the neuropsychological evaluation of patients with memory complaints. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prospective memory performance in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia: a controlled study.

PubMed

Zhou, Fu-Chun; Hou, Wei-Min; Wang, Chuan-Yue; Ungvari, Gabor S; Chiu, Helen F K; Correll, Christoph U; Shum, David H K; Man, David; Liu, Deng-Tang; Xiang, Yu-Tao

2014-01-01

We aimed at investigating prospective memory and its socio-demographic and neurocognitive correlates in non-psychotic, first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with schizophrenia compared to patients with first episode schizophrenia (FES), and healthy controls (HCs). Forty-seven FES patients, 50 non-psychotic FDRs (23 offspring and 27 siblings) of patients with chronic schizophrenia (unrelated to the FES group) and 51 HCs were studied. The Chinese version of the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (C-CAMPROMPT) was used to measure time-based prospective memory (TBPM) and event-based prospective memory (EBPM) performance. Other cognitive functions (involving respective memory and executive functions) were evaluated with standardized tests. After controlling for basic demographic characteristics including age, gender and educational level, there was a significant difference between FDRs, FES and HCs with respect to both TBPM (F(2,142) = 10.4, p<0.001) and EBPM (F(2,142) = 10.8, p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that lower scores of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) and the STROOP Word-Color Test (SWCT) contributed to TBPM impairment, while lower educational level and higher scores of the Color Trails Test-2 (CTT-2) contributed to EBPM deficit in FDRs. FDRs share similar but attenuated prospective memory impairments with schizophrenia patients, suggesting that prospective memory deficits may represent an endophenotype of schizophrenia.

Progression of hippocampal degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with or without memory impairment: distinction from Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Takeda, Takahiro; Uchihara, Toshiki; Arai, Nobutaka; Mizutani, Toshio; Iwata, Makoto

2009-01-01

The hippocampal involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients has been known for more than a decade, however, its relationship to clinical manifestations including memory deficits and topographical differentiation from Alzheimer disease (AD) remain unclear. In order to clarify the anatomopathological features in the hippocampus and their relevance to disease-specific memory deficits in ALS patients, topography and cytopathology of the hippocampal lesions along the perforant pathway were quantitatively and semiquantitatively surveyed in 14 ALS patients with extramotor involvement. These pathological findings were compared with clinical characteristics assessed from their clinical records. Cytoplasmic inclusions initially appear in the granular cells of the dentate gyrus (DG) and superficial small neurons of the transentorhinal cortex (TEC) with mild subicular degeneration (stage I: inclusion stage). Subsequent gliosis and neuronal loss of the TEC, concomitant with presynaptic degeneration of the outer molecular layer of the DG, suggests an extension of the degeneration through the perforant pathway (stage II: early perforant stage). In a more advanced stage, the presynaptic degeneration is more evident with moderate to severe neuronal loss in the TEC (stage III: advanced perforant stage). This advanced stage was associated with episodic memory deficits mimicking AD in some ALS patients. This ALS pathology initiated by cytoplasmic inclusions and neuronal loss in layer II-III of the TEC is different from neurofibrillary tangles of AD, dominant in layer II-III of the entorhinal cortex. Because this involvement of the TEC-molecular DG projection and subiculum is specific to ALS, it will provide a basis for clinical characterization of memory deficits of ALS, which could be distinct from those of AD.

The self-reference effect on episodic memory recollection in young and older adults and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Lalanne, Jennifer; Rozenberg, Johanna; Grolleau, Pauline; Piolino, Pascale

2013-12-01

The Self-reference effect (SRE) on long-term episodic memory and autonoetic consciousness has been investigated in young adults, scarcely in older adults, but never in Alzheimer's patients. Is the functional influence of Selfreference still present when the individual's memory and identity are impaired? We investigated this issue in 60 young subjects, 41 elderly subjects, and 28 patients with Alzheimer's disease, by using 1) an incidental learning task of personality traits in three encoding conditions, inducing variable degrees of depth of processing and personal involvement, 2) a 2- minute retention interval free recall task, and 3) a 20-minute delayed recognition task, combined with a remember-know paradigm. Each recorded score was corrected for errors (intrusions in free recall, false alarms in recognition, and false source memory in remember responses). Compared with alternative encodings, the Self-reference significantly enhanced performance on the free recall task in the young group, and on the recognition task both in the young and older groups but not in the Alzheimer group. The most important finding in the Alzheimer group is that the Self-reference led the most often to a subjective sense of remembering (especially for the positive words) with the retrieval of the correct encoding source. This Self-reference recollection effect in patients was related to independent subjective measures of a positive and definite sense of Self (measured by the Tennessee Self Concept Scale), and to memory complaints in daily life. In conclusion, these results demonstrated the power and robustness of the Self-reference effect on recollection in long-term episodic memory in Alzheimer's disease, albeit the retrieval is considerably reduced. These results should open new perspectives for the development of rehabilitation programs for memory deficits.

Impaired processing speed and attention in first-episode drug naive schizophrenia with deficit syndrome.

PubMed

Chen, Ce; Jiang, Wenhui; Zhong, Na; Wu, Jin; Jiang, Haifeng; Du, Jiang; Li, Ye; Ma, Xiancang; Zhao, Min; Hashimoto, Kenji; Gao, Chengge

2014-11-01

Although first-episode drug naive patients with schizophrenia are known to show cognitive impairment, the cognitive performances of these patients, who suffer deficit syndrome, compared with those who suffer non-deficit syndrome is undetermined. The aim of this study was to compare cognitive performances in first-episode drug-naive schizophrenia with deficit syndrome or non-deficit syndrome. First-episode drug naive patients (n=49) and medicated patients (n=108) with schizophrenia, and age, sex, and education matched healthy controls (n=57 for the first-episode group, and n=128 for the medicated group) were enrolled. Patients were divided into deficit or non-deficit syndrome groups, using the Schedule for Deficit Syndrome. Cognitive performance was assessed using the CogState computerized cognitive battery. All cognitive domains in first-episode drug naive and medicated patients showed significant impairment compared with their respective control groups. Furthermore, cognitive performance in first-episode drug naive patients was significantly worse than in medicated patients. Interestingly, the cognitive performance markers of processing speed and attention, in first-episode drug naive patients with deficit syndrome, were both significantly worse than in equivalent patients without deficit syndrome. In contrast, no differences in cognitive performance were found between the two groups of medicated patients. In conclusion, this study found that first-episode drug naive schizophrenia with deficit syndrome showed significantly impaired processing speed and attention, compared with patients with non-deficit syndrome. These findings highlight processing speed and attention as potential targets for pharmacological and psychosocial interventions in first-episode schizophrenia with deficit syndrome, since these domains are associated with social outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sleep, Torpor and Memory Impairment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palchykova, S.; Tobler, I.

It is now well known that daily torpor induces a sleep deficit. Djungarian hamsters emerging from this hypometabolic state spend most of the time in sleep. This sleep is characterized by high initial values of EEG slow-wave activity (SWA) that monotonically decline during recovery sleep. These features resemble the changes seen in numerous species during recovery after prolonged wakefulness or sleep deprivation (SD). When hamsters are totally or partially sleep deprived immediately after emerging from torpor, an additional increase in SWA can be induced. It has been therefore postulated, that these slow- waves are homeostatically regulated, as predicted by the two-process model of sleep regulation, and that during daily torpor a sleep deficit is accumulated as it is during prolonged waking. The predominance of SWA in the frontal EEG observed both after SD and daily torpor provides further evidence for the similarity of these conditions. It has been shown in several animal and human studies that sleep can enhance memory consolidation, and that SD leads to memory impairment. Preliminary data obtained in the Djungarian hamster showed that both SD and daily torpor result in object recognition deficits. Thus, animals subjected to SD immediately after learning, or if they underwent an episode of daily torpor between learning and retention, displayed impaired recognition memory for complex object scenes. The investigation of daily torpor can reveal mechanisms that could have important implications for hypometabolic state induction in other mammalian species, including humans.

Does risk for bipolar disorder heighten the disconnect between objective and subjective appraisals of cognition?

PubMed

Rodriguez, Crystal; Ruggero, Camilo J; Callahan, Jennifer L; Kilmer, Jared N; Boals, Adriel; Banks, Jonathan B

2013-06-01

Deficits in cognitive functioning have been associated with bipolar disorder during episodes of depression and mania, as well as during periods of symptomatic remission. Separate evidence suggests that patients may lack awareness of these deficits and may even be overly confident with self-appraisals. The extent to which these separately or together represent prodromes of the disorder versus a consequence of the disorder remains unclear. The present study sought to test whether risk for bipolar disorder in a younger, college-aged cohort of individuals would be associated with lower performance in cognitive ability yet higher self-appraisal of cognitive functioning. Participants (N=128) completed an objective measure of working memory, a self-report measure of everyday cognitive deficits, and a measure associated with risk for bipolar disorder. Contrary to expectation, risk for bipolar disorder did not significantly predict poorer working memory. However, a person's risk for bipolar disorder was associated with higher self-appraisal of cognitive functioning relative to those with lower risk despite there being no indication of a difference in ability on the working memory task. Participant recruitment relied on an analog sample; moreover, assessment of cognitive functioning was limited to working memory. Results add to a growing body of evidence indicating that overconfidence may be part of the cognitive profile of individuals at risk for bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selective deficit of spatial short-term memory: Role of storage and rehearsal mechanisms.

PubMed

Bonnì, Sonia; Perri, Roberta; Fadda, Lucia; Tomaiuolo, Francesco; Koch, Giacomo; Caltagirone, Carlo; Carlesimo, Giovanni Augusto

2014-10-01

We report the neuropsychological and MRI investigation of a patient (GP) who developed a selective impairment of spatial short-term memory (STM) following damage to the dorso-mesial areas of the right frontal lobe. We assessed in this patient spatial STM with an experimental procedure that evaluated immediate and 5-20 s delayed recall of verbal, visual and spatial stimuli. The patient scored significantly worse than normal controls on tests that required delayed recall of spatial data. This could not be ascribed to a deficit of spatial episodic long-term memory because amnesic patients performed normally on these tests. Conversely, the patient scored in the normal range on tests of immediate recall of verbal, visual and spatial data and tests of delayed recall of verbal and visual data. Comparison with a previously described patient who had a selective deficit in immediate spatial recall and an ischemic lesion that affected frontal and parietal dorso-mesial areas in the right hemisphere (Carlesimo GA, Perri R, Turriziani P, Tomaiuolo F, Caltagirone C. Remembering what but not where: independence of spatial and visual working memory in the human brain. Cortex. 2001 Sep; 37(4):519-34) suggests that the right parietal areas are involved in the short-term storage of spatial information and that the dorso-mesial regions of the right frontal underlie mechanisms for the delayed maintenance of the same data.

A Diffusion Model Analysis of Episodic Recognition in Individuals with a Family History for Alzheimer Disease: The Adult Children Study

PubMed Central

Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Balota, David A.; Gordon, Brian A.; Ratcliff, Roger; Morris, John C.

2015-01-01

Objective A family history of Alzheimer disease (AD) increases the risk of developing AD and can influence the accumulation of well-established AD biomarkers. There is some evidence that family history can influence episodic memory performance even in cognitively normal individuals. We attempted to replicate the effect of family history on episodic memory and used a specific computational model of binary decision making (the diffusion model) to understand precisely how family history influences cognition. Finally, we assessed the sensitivity of model parameters to family history controlling for standard neuropsychological test performance. Method Across two experiments, cognitively healthy participants from the Adult Children Study completed an episodic recognition test consisting of high and low frequency words. The diffusion model was applied to decompose accuracy and reaction time into latent parameters which were analyzed as a function of family history. Results In both experiments, individuals with a family history of AD exhibited lower recognition accuracy and this occurred in the absence of an apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele. The diffusion model revealed this difference was due to changes in the quality of information accumulation (the drift rate) and not differences in response caution or other model parameters. This difference remained after controlling for several standard neuropsychological tests. Conclusions These results confirm that the presence of a family history of AD confers a subtle cognitive deficit in episodic memory as reflected by decreased drift rate that cannot be attributed to APOE. This measure may serve as a novel cognitive marker of preclinical AD. PMID:26192539

[Role of context recall in destination memory decline in normal aging].

PubMed

El Haj, Mohamad; Allain, Philippe

2014-12-01

Until recently, little was known about destination memory, or memory for the destination of outputted information. In the present work, this memory was evaluated in 32 older adults and 36 younger adults, who had to associate proverbs to pictures of famous people and decide, on a subsequent recognition task, whether they had previously told that proverb to that face or not. When deciding about the destination, participants had to provide contextual judgment, that is, whether each picture had been previously exposed in color or in black and white. Participants also performed a neuropsychological battery tapping episodic memory and executive functions. Findings showed poor destination recall in older participants. Destination recall in older adults was reliably predicted by with their context recall. Destination memory seems to be particularly affected by aging, a deterioration that can be related to deficits in processing contextual features during encoding.

Infantile Amnesia: A Critical Period of Learning to Learn and Remember

PubMed Central

Travaglia, Alessio

2017-01-01

Infantile amnesia, the inability of adults to recollect early episodic memories, is associated with the rapid forgetting that occurs in childhood. It has been suggested that infantile amnesia is due to the underdevelopment of the infant brain, which would preclude memory consolidation, or to deficits in memory retrieval. Although early memories are inaccessible to adults, early-life events, such as neglect or aversive experiences, can greatly impact adult behavior and may predispose individuals to various psychopathologies. It remains unclear how a brain that rapidly forgets, or is not yet able to form long-term memories, can exert such a long-lasting and important influence. Here, with a particular focus on the hippocampal memory system, we review the literature and discuss new evidence obtained in rats that illuminates the paradox of infantile amnesia. We propose that infantile amnesia reflects a developmental critical period during which the learning system is learning how to learn and remember. PMID:28615475

An Event Related Potentials Study of Semantic Coherence Effect during Episodic Encoding in Schizophrenia Patients

PubMed Central

Blanchet, Alain; Lockman, Hazlin

2018-01-01

The objective of this electrophysiological study was to investigate the processing of semantic coherence during encoding in relation to episodic memory processes promoted at test, in schizophrenia patients, by using the N400 paradigm. Eighteen schizophrenia patients and 15 healthy participants undertook a recognition memory task. The stimuli consisted of pairs of words either semantically related or unrelated to a given category name (context). During encoding, both groups exhibited an N400 external semantic coherence effect. Healthy controls also showed an N400 internal semantic coherence effect, but this effect was not present in patients. At test, related stimuli were accompanied by an FN400 old/new effect in both groups and by a parietal old/new effect in the control group alone. In the patient group, external semantic coherence effect was associated with FN400, while, in the control group, it was correlated to the parietal old/new effect. Our results indicate that schizophrenia patients can process the contextual information at encoding to enhance familiarity process for related stimuli at test. Therefore, cognitive rehabilitation therapies targeting the implementation of semantic encoding strategies can mobilize familiarity which in turn can overcome the recollection deficit, promoting successful episodic memory performance in schizophrenia patients. PMID:29535872

Efficacy of a Computer-Assisted Cognitive Rehabilitation Intervention in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Kosmidis, Mary H.; Zampakis, Petros; Malefaki, Sonia; Ntoskou, Katerina; Nousia, Anastasia; Bakirtzis, Christos; Papathanasopoulos, Panagiotis

2017-01-01

Cognitive impairment is frequently encountered in multiple sclerosis (MS) affecting between 40–65% of individuals, irrespective of disease duration and severity of physical disability. In the present multicenter randomized controlled trial, fifty-eight clinically stable RRMS patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment and relatively low disability status were randomized to receive either computer-assisted (RehaCom) functional cognitive training with an emphasis on episodic memory, information processing speed/attention, and executive functions for 10 weeks (IG; n = 32) or standard clinical care (CG; n = 26). Outcome measures included a flexible comprehensive neuropsychological battery of tests sensitive to MS patient deficits and feedback regarding personal benefit gained from the intervention on four verbal questions. Only the IG group showed significant improvements in verbal and visuospatial episodic memory, processing speed/attention, and executive functioning from pre - to postassessment. Moreover, the improvement obtained on attention was retained over 6 months providing evidence on the long-term benefits of this intervention. Group by time interactions revealed significant improvements in composite cognitive domain scores in the IG relative to the demographically and clinically matched CG for verbal episodic memory, processing speed, verbal fluency, and attention. Treated patients rated the intervention positively and were more confident about their cognitive abilities following treatment. PMID:29463950

Accuracy of episodic autobiographical memory in children with early thyroid hormone deficiency using a staged event.

PubMed

Willoughby, Karen A; McAndrews, Mary Pat; Rovet, Joanne F

2014-07-01

Autobiographical memory (AM) is a highly constructive cognitive process that often contains memory errors. No study has specifically examined AM accuracy in children with abnormal development of the hippocampus, a crucial brain region for AM retrieval. Thus, the present study investigated AM accuracy in 68 typically and atypically developing children using a staged autobiographical event, the Children's Autobiographical Interview, and structural magnetic resonance imaging. The atypically developing group consisted of 17 children (HYPO) exposed during gestation to insufficient maternal thyroid hormone (TH), a critical substrate for hippocampal development, and 25 children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH), who were compared to 26 controls. Groups differed significantly in the number of accurate episodic details recalled and proportion accuracy scores, with controls having more accurate recollections of the staged event than both TH-deficient groups. Total hippocampal volumes and anterior hippocampal volumes were positively correlated with proportion accuracy scores, but not total accurate episodic details, in HYPO and CH. In addition, greater severity of TH deficiency predicted lower proportion accuracy scores in both HYPO and CH. Overall, these results indicate that children with early TH deficiency have deficits in AM accuracy and that the anterior hippocampus may play a particularly important role in accurate AM retrieval. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The influence of seizure frequency on anterograde and remote memory in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Voltzenlogel, Virginie; Vignal, Jean-Pierre; Hirsch, Edouard; Manning, Liliann

2014-10-01

Seizure frequency, although considered as an important factor in memory impairment in mesial temporal epilepsy (mTLE), is mostly confounded with other clinical variables, making it unclear to what extent recurrent seizures actually interfere with memory. The present study focuses on the influence of seizure frequency, studied as a main variable, on anterograde and remote memory. Seventy-one patients with unilateral mTLE were divided into two subgroups, as a function of their seizure frequency (monthly versus weekly seizures). Other seizure-related variables were controlled, namely, lateralisation and type of lesion, age at onset, years of ongoing seizures, etiologic factors, and number of AED. A comprehensive neuropsychological examination, including anterograde memory (verbal and non verbal recognition memory and free recall) tasks together with a large range of tests exploring different domains of remote memory, was carried out. Despite similar results on IQ, executive functions and attention, the low seizure-frequency group performed significantly better than the high seizure-frequency group on anterograde memory tests. Loss of autobiographical episodes and public-events memory, concomitant with spared personal semantic knowledge, was observed in both patient groups compared with healthy subjects. A worsening effect of high seizure frequency was recorded for autobiographical incidents and news-events memory, but unexpectedly, not for memory for famous people. The study of seizure frequency as the main variable leads us to suggest that high seizure frequency, itself, potentiates the effects of mesial temporal lobe damage on episodic memory deficits. Copyright © 2014 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Replay of Episodic Memories in the Rat.

PubMed

Panoz-Brown, Danielle; Iyer, Vishakh; Carey, Lawrence M; Sluka, Christina M; Rajic, Gabriela; Kestenman, Jesse; Gentry, Meredith; Brotheridge, Sydney; Somekh, Isaac; Corbin, Hannah E; Tucker, Kjersten G; Almeida, Bianca; Hex, Severine B; Garcia, Krysten D; Hohmann, Andrea G; Crystal, Jonathon D

2018-05-21

Vivid episodic memories in people have been characterized as the replay of multiple unique events in sequential order [1-3]. The hippocampus plays a critical role in episodic memories in both people and rodents [2, 4-6]. Although rats remember multiple unique episodes [7, 8], it is currently unknown if animals "replay" episodic memories. Therefore, we developed an animal model of episodic memory replay. Here, we show that rats can remember a trial-unique stream of multiple episodes and the order in which these events occurred by engaging hippocampal-dependent episodic memory replay. We document that rats rely on episodic memory replay to remember the order of events rather than relying on non-episodic memories. Replay of episodic memories survives a long retention-interval challenge and interference from the memory of other events, which documents that replay is part of long-term episodic memory. The chemogenetic activating drug clozapine N-oxide (CNO), but not vehicle, reversibly impairs episodic memory replay in rats previously injected bilaterally in the hippocampus with a recombinant viral vector containing an inhibitory designer receptor exclusively activated by a designer drug (DREADD; AAV8-hSyn-hM4Di-mCherry). By contrast, two non-episodic memory assessments are unaffected by CNO, showing selectivity of this hippocampal-dependent impairment. Our approach provides an animal model of episodic memory replay, a process by which the rat searches its representations in episodic memory in sequential order to find information. Our findings using rats suggest that the ability to replay a stream of episodic memories is quite old in the evolutionary timescale. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Orbital prefrontal cortex is required for object-in-place scene memory but not performance of a strategy implementation task.

PubMed

Baxter, Mark G; Gaffan, David; Kyriazis, Diana A; Mitchell, Anna S

2007-10-17

The orbital prefrontal cortex is thought to be involved in behavioral flexibility in primates, and human neuroimaging studies have identified orbital prefrontal activation during episodic memory encoding. The goal of the present study was to ascertain whether deficits in strategy implementation and episodic memory that occur after ablation of the entire prefrontal cortex can be ascribed to damage to the orbital prefrontal cortex. Rhesus monkeys were preoperatively trained on two behavioral tasks, the performance of both of which is severely impaired by the disconnection of frontal cortex from inferotemporal cortex. In the strategy implementation task, monkeys were required to learn about two categories of objects, each associated with a different strategy that had to be performed to obtain food reward. The different strategies had to be applied flexibly to optimize the rate of reward delivery. In the scene memory task, monkeys learned 20 new object-in-place discrimination problems in each session. Monkeys were tested on both tasks before and after bilateral ablation of orbital prefrontal cortex. These lesions impaired new scene learning but had no effect on strategy implementation. This finding supports a role for the orbital prefrontal cortex in memory but places limits on the involvement of orbital prefrontal cortex in the representation and implementation of behavioral goals and strategies.

[Cognitive deficits in first episode psychosis patients and people at risk for psychosis: from diagnosis to treatment].

PubMed

Lecardeur, L; Meunier-Cussac, S; Dollfus, S

2013-05-01

Up to now, studies have not demonstrated significant efficacy of antipsychotics on cognitive impairments in patients with psychotic disorders. These cognitive deficits are of particular interest since they traditionally start early before the diagnosis of psychosis. They are observed during premorbid and prodromal stages, and during the first episode of psychosis. Moreover, cognitive impairments may be detected without any psychotic symptoms (such as positive symptoms) suggesting their development independently of the psychotic symptoms. Cognitive disturbances consist of impairments of episodic and working memories, intellectual functioning, executive functions (planning, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility), selective and sustained attentions and social cognition (emotion, recognition, theory of mind). The altered cognitive functions observed in schizophrenia are the same as in earlier stages but at a lower level of severity. Data suggest that cognitive deficits can be considered as vulnerability markers of psychosis since they have been described in healthy relatives of psychotic patients with high genetic risk. Cognitive deficits might also be considered as predictive of the occurrence of the disease after the first episode of psychosis. Indeed, retrospective studies suggest cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia during premorbid and prodromal phases but not in bipolar patients. Cognitive assessment might be of particular interest in people at risk for psychosis, in order to differentiate diagnostic outcomes. Cognitive functioning impairs until the diagnosis of first episode psychosis, even though cognitive profiles are quite heterogeneous in these patients. Once the diagnosis of schizophrenia is considered, cognitive deficits may be stable, although the literature is still controversial. Several factors such as symptoms and gender can contribute in diversifying the cognitive profiles. Moreover, age of onset might worsen the prognosis because of a disruption of the cognitive development and the disturbance of scholarship in young individuals. Considering these results, the treatment of cognitive deficits should be initiated as soon as possible, e.g. in people at risk for psychosis in order to reinforce the normal cognitive development, prevent cognitive decline and to preserve the educational, professional and social status. Since antipsychotic medications do not impact on cognitive functioning, alternative therapeutics should be developed such as cognitive remediation. Several studies and meta-analyses have shown that cognitive remediation programs are particularly efficient in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders. Contrary to antipsychotics, these techniques should be used in patients with a first psychotic episode, but also in individuals with subpsychotic symptoms, subthreshold to the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Deficits in process-specific prefrontal and hippocampal activations contribute to adult age differences in episodic memory interference.

PubMed

Fandakova, Yana; Lindenberger, Ulman; Shing, Yee Lee

2014-07-01

The ability to distinguish currently relevant from familiar but irrelevant memories is important in everyday life. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural correlates of age differences in the ability to withstand interference from similar past events. Younger and older adults worked on a continuous recognition task consisting of 3 consecutive runs. Each run was composed of the same set of word pairs, and participants were instructed to recognize word pair repetitions within runs. The monitoring demands associated with rejecting familiar, but currently irrelevant information were assumed to increase over consecutive runs. Over runs, older, but not younger adults showed decline in memory performance, whereas younger, but not older adults showed increasing engagement of anterior prefrontal cortex. Individual differences in cortical thickness and task-related activation of anterior prefrontal areas predicted performance differences within and across age groups. Compared with younger adults, older adults also showed a reduced hippocampal response to novel associations of familiar stimuli. We conclude that monitoring deficits due to impaired involvement of prefrontal regions and reduced hippocampal responses to associative novelty contribute to aging-related deficits in disambiguating the contextual information of familiar events. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Is lorazepam-induced amnesia specific to the type of memory or to the task used to assess it?

PubMed

File, S E; Sharma, R; Shaffer, J

1992-01-01

Retrieval tasks can be classified along a continuum from conceptually driven (relying on the encoded meaning of the material) to data driven (relying on the perceptual record and surface features of the material). Since most explicit memory tests are conceptually driven and most implicit memory tests are data driven there has been considerable confounding of the memory system being assessed and the processing required by the retrieval task. The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the effects of lorazepam on explicit memory, using both types of retrieval task. Lorazepam (2.5 mg) or matched placebo was administered to healthy volunteers and changes in subjective mood ratings and in performance in tests of memory were measured. Lorazepam made subjects significantly more drowsy, feeble, clumsy, muzzy, lethargic and mentally slow. Lorazepam significantly impaired recognition memory for slides, impaired the number of words remembered when the retrieval was cued by the first two letters and reduced the number of pictures remembered when retention was cued with picture fragments. Thus episodic memory was impaired whether the task used was conceptually driven (as in slide recognition) or data driven, as in the other two tasks. Analyses of covariance indicated that the memory impairments were independent of increased sedation, as assessed by self-ratings. In contrast to the deficits in episodic memory, there were no lorazepam-induced impairments in tests of semantic memory, whether this was measured in the conceptually driven task of category generation or in the data-driven task of wordstem completion.

Visual short-term memory binding deficit in familial Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Liang, Yuying; Pertzov, Yoni; Nicholas, Jennifer M; Henley, Susie M D; Crutch, Sebastian; Woodward, Felix; Leung, Kelvin; Fox, Nick C; Husain, Masud

2016-05-01

Long-term episodic memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are well characterised but, until recently, short-term memory (STM) function has attracted far less attention. We employed a recently-developed, delayed reproduction task which requires participants to reproduce precisely the remembered location of items they had seen only seconds previously. This paradigm provides not only a continuous measure of localization error in memory, but also an index of relational binding by determining the frequency with which an object is misplaced to the location of one of the other items held in memory. Such binding errors in STM have previously been found on this task to be sensitive to medial temporal lobe (MTL) damage in focal lesion cases. Twenty individuals with pathological mutations in presenilin 1 or amyloid precursor protein genes for familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) were tested together with 62 healthy controls. Participants were assessed using the delayed reproduction memory task, a standard neuropsychological battery and structural MRI. Overall, FAD mutation carriers were worse than controls for object identity as well as in gross localization memory performance. Moreover, they showed greater misbinding of object identity and location than healthy controls. Thus they would often mislocalize a correctly-identified item to the location of one of the other items held in memory. Significantly, asymptomatic gene carriers - who performed similarly to healthy controls on standard neuropsychological tests - had a specific impairment in object-location binding, despite intact memory for object identity and location. Consistent with the hypothesis that the hippocampus is critically involved in relational binding regardless of memory duration, decreased hippocampal volume across FAD participants was significantly associated with deficits in object-location binding but not with recall precision for object identity or localization. Object-location binding may therefore provide a sensitive cognitive biomarker for MTL dysfunction in a range of diseases including AD. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Variation in working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and episodic recall: a latent variable examination of differences in the dynamics of free recall.

PubMed

Unsworth, Nash

2009-09-01

A latent variable analysis was conducted to examine the nature of individual differences in the dynamics of free recall and cognitive abilities. Participants performed multiple measures of free recall, working memory capacity (WMC), and fluid intelligence (gF). For each free recall task, recall accuracy, recall latency, and number of intrusion errors were determined, and latent factors were derived for each. It was found that recall accuracy was negatively related to both recall latency and number of intrusions, and recall latency and number of intrusions were positively related. Furthermore, latent WMC and gF factors were positively related to recall accuracy, but negatively related to recall latency and number of intrusions. Finally, a cluster analysis revealed that subgroups of participants with deficits in focusing the search had deficits in recovering degraded representations or deficits in monitoring the products of retrieval. The results are consistent with the idea that variation in the dynamics of free recall, WMC, and gF are primarily due to differences in search set size, but differences in recovery and monitoring are also important.

Remembering your past: The effects of concussion on autobiographical memory recall.

PubMed

Barry, Nicole C; Tomes, Jennifer L

2015-01-01

To date, research focusing on long-term memory functioning post concussion is limited. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of concussion on long-term episodic autobiographical memory, once acute postconcussive symptoms have abated. Individuals with and without a history of concussion were asked to recall autobiographical memories from different life periods. The details, self-reported vividness, ease of recall, and completeness of these memories were assessed. Results indicated that although both control and previously concussed participants were equally able to recall autobiographical memories from all life periods, the transcribed memories of previously concussed participants were less detailed, were less complex, and revealed less active involvement in recollection. Specifically, memories of control participants contained more words and a higher proportion of pronouns, personal pronouns, cognitive process words, perceptual process words, and past-tense words. Deficits were found regardless of the frequency or recency of concussion. Concussion information, limitations, and implications of the current findings are discussed.

Family history and APOE4 risk for Alzheimer's disease impact the neural correlates of episodic memory by early midlife.

PubMed

Rajah, M N; Wallace, L M K; Ankudowich, E; Yu, E H; Swierkot, A; Patel, R; Chakravarty, M M; Naumova, D; Pruessner, J; Joober, R; Gauthier, S; Pasvanis, S

2017-01-01

Episodic memory impairment is a consistent, pronounced deficit in pre-clinical stages of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Individuals with risk factors for AD exhibit altered brain function several decades prior to the onset of AD-related symptoms. In the current event-related fMRI study of spatial context memory we tested the hypothesis that middle-aged adults (MA; 40-58 yrs) with a family history of late onset AD (MA + FH ), or a combined + FH and apolipoprotein E ε4 allele risk factors for AD (MA + FH + APOE4 ), will exhibit differences in encoding and retrieval-related brain activity, compared to - FH - APOE4 MA controls. We also hypothesized that the two at-risk MA groups will exhibit distinct patterns of correlation between brain activity and memory performance, compared to controls. To test these hypotheses we conducted multivariate task, and behavior, partial least squares analysis of fMRI data obtained during successful context encoding and retrieval. Our results indicate that even though there were no significant group differences in context memory performance, there were significant differences in brain activity and brain-behavior correlations involving the hippocampus, inferior parietal cortex, cingulate, and precuneus cortex in MA with AD risk factors, compared to controls. In addition, we observed that brain activity and brain-behavior correlations in anterior-medial PFC and in ventral visual cortex differentiated the two MA risk groups from each other, and from MA controls . Our results indicate that functional differences in episodic memory-related regions are present by early midlife in adults with + FH and + APOE-4 risk factors for late onset AD, compared to middle-aged controls.

The contributions of handedness and working memory to episodic memory.

PubMed

Sahu, Aparna; Christman, Stephen D; Propper, Ruth E

2016-11-01

Past studies have independently shown associations of working memory and degree of handedness with episodic memory retrieval. The current study takes a step ahead by examining whether handedness and working memory independently predict episodic memory. In agreement with past studies, there was an inconsistent-handed advantage for episodic memory; however, this advantage was absent for working memory tasks. Furthermore, regression analyses showed handedness, and complex working memory predicted episodic memory performance at different times. Results are discussed in light of theories of episodic memory and hemispheric interaction.

Abnormal medial temporal activity for bound information during working memory maintenance in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Luck, David; Danion, Jean-Marie; Marrer, Corrine; Pham, Bich-Tuy; Gounot, Daniel; Foucher, Jack

2010-08-01

Alterations of binding in long-term memory in schizophrenia are well established and occur as a result of aberrant activity in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). In working memory (WM), such a deficit is less clear and the pathophysiological bases remain unstudied. Seventeen patients with schizophrenia and 17 matched healthy controls performed a WM binding task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Binding was assessed by contrasting two conditions comprising an equal amount of verbal and spatial information (i.e., three letters and three spatial locations), but differing in the absence or presence of a link between them. In healthy controls, MTL activation was observed for encoding and maintenance of bound information but not for its retrieval. Between-group comparisons revealed that patients with schizophrenia showed MTL hypoactivation during the maintenance phase only. In addition, BOLD signals correlated with behavioral performance in controls but not in patients with schizophrenia. Our results confirm the major role that the MTL plays in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Short-term and long-term relational memory deficits in schizophrenia may share common cognitive and functional pathological bases. Our results provide additional information about the episodic buffer that represents an integrative interface between WM and long-term memory. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Prevalence of impaired memory in hospitalized adults and associations with in-hospital sleep loss.

PubMed

Calev, Hila; Spampinato, Lisa M; Press, Valerie G; Meltzer, David O; Arora, Vineet M

2015-07-01

Effective inpatient teaching requires intact patient memory, but studies suggest hospitalized adults may have memory deficits. Sleep loss among inpatients could contribute to memory impairment. To assess memory in older hospitalized adults, and to test the association between sleep quantity, sleep quality, and memory, in order to identify a possible contributor to memory deficits in these patients. Prospective cohort study. General medicine and hematology/oncology inpatient wards. Fifty-nine hospitalized adults at least 50 years of age with no diagnosed sleep disorder. Immediate memory and memory after a 24-hour delay were assessed using a word recall and word recognition task from the University of Southern California Repeatable Episodic Memory Test. A vignette-based memory task was piloted as an alternative test more closely resembling discharge instructions. Sleep duration and efficiency overnight in the hospital were measured using actigraphy. Mean immediate recall was 3.8 words out of 15 (standard deviation = 2.1). Forty-nine percent of subjects had poor memory, defined as immediate recall score of 3 or lower. Median immediate recognition was 11 words out of 15 (interquartile range [IQR] = 9-13). Median delayed recall score was 1 word, and median delayed recognition was 10 words (IQR = 8-12). In-hospital sleep duration and efficiency were not significantly associated with memory. The medical vignette score was correlated with immediate recall (r = 0.49, P < 0.01). About half of the inpatients studied had poor memory while in the hospital, signaling that hospitalization might not be an ideal teachable moment. In-hospital sleep was not associated with memory scores. © 2015 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Prevalence of Impaired Memory in Hospitalized Adults and Associations with In-Hospital Sleep Loss

PubMed Central

Calev, Hila; Spampinato, Lisa M; Press, Valerie G; Meltzer, David O; Arora, Vineet M

2015-01-01

Background Effective inpatient teaching requires intact patient memory, but studies suggest hospitalized adults may have memory deficits. Sleep loss among inpatients could contribute to memory impairment. Objective To assess memory in older hospitalized adults, and to test the association between sleep quantity, sleep quality and memory, in order to identify a possible contributor to memory deficits in these patients. Design Prospective cohort study Setting General medicine and hematology/oncology inpatient wards Patients 59 hospitalized adults at least 50 years of age with no diagnosed sleep disorder. Measurements Immediate memory and memory after a 24-hour delay were assessed using a word recall and word recognition task from the University of Southern California Repeatable Episodic Memory Test (USC-REMT). A vignette-based memory task was piloted as an alternative test more closely resembling discharge instructions. Sleep duration and efficiency overnight in the hospital were measured using actigraphy. Results Mean immediate recall was 3.8 words out of 15 (SD=2.1). Forty-nine percent of subjects had poor memory, defined as immediate recall score of 3 or lower. Median immediate recognition was 11 words out of 15 (IQR=9, 13). Median delayed recall score was 1 word and median delayed recognition was 10 words (IQR= 8–12). In-hospital sleep duration and efficiency were not significantly associated with memory. The medical vignette score was correlated with immediate recall (r=0.49, p<0.01) Conclusions About half of inpatients studied had poor memory while in the hospital, signaling that hospitalization might not be an ideal teachable moment. In-hospital sleep was not associated with memory scores. PMID:25872763

Memory sources of dreams: the incorporation of autobiographical rather than episodic experiences.

PubMed

Malinowski, Josie E; Horton, Caroline L

2014-08-01

The present study aimed to explore autobiographical memories (long-lasting memories about the self) and episodic memories (memories about discrete episodes or events) within dream content. We adapted earlier episodic memory study paradigms and reinvestigated the incorporation of episodic memory sources into dreams, operationalizing episodic memory as featuring autonoetic consciousness, which is the feeling of truly re-experiencing or reliving a past event. Participants (n = 32) recorded daily diaries and dream diaries, and reported on wake-dream relations for 2 weeks. Using a new scale, dreams were rated for their episodic richness, which categorized memory sources of dreams as being truly episodic (featuring autonoetic consciousness), autobiographical (containing segregated features of experiences that pertained to waking life) or otherwise. Only one dream (0.5%) was found to contain an episodic memory. However, the majority of dreams (>80%) were found to contain low to moderate incorporations of autobiographical memory features. These findings demonstrate the inactivity of intact episodic memories, and emphasize the activity of autobiographical memory and processing within dreams. Taken together, this suggests that memories for personal experiences are experienced fragmentarily and selectively during dreaming, perhaps in order to assimilate these memories into the autobiographical memory schema. © 2014 European Sleep Research Society.

Dietary choline during periadolescence attenuates cognitive damage caused by neonatal maternal separation in male rats.

PubMed

Moreno Gudiño, Hayarelis; Carías Picón, Diamela; de Brugada Sauras, Isabel

2017-07-01

Choline (Ch) is an essential nutrient that acts as a cognitive facilitator when administered during perinatal periods, and it has been recognised as a 'pharmacological' agent that can ease cognitive dysfunctions provoked by exposure to damaging stimuli during early developmental stages. The aim of the present work is to determine whether providing a diet rich in Ch would reduce the severity of the memory deficit provoked by a neonatal stress episode in male adult rats. The effect of Ch on memory was measured using memory tasks such as object and place recognition. Ontogenetic manipulations were conducted during two sensitive developmental periods. During the first post-natal (PN) 14 days, only the male rat pups were selected and half of them were separated from the mother, group maternal separation (MS). Subsequently, during periadolescence (PN 21-60), the rats were exposed to a deficient (DEF = 0 g/kg Ch chloride), sufficient (CON = 1.1 g/kg Ch chloride), or supplemented (SUP = 5 g/kg Ch chloride) diets for this nutrient. The results indicated that for group MS, only rats fed with the SUP diet were able to recognise the familiar object and place that had been experienced 24 hours before, unlike groups DEF and CON. In addition, whereas rats in the non-separated group (No-MS) recognised the object independently of the diet, only rats that received a DEF diet failed to recognise the place, showing that a Ch deficit affects spatial memory tasks. These results show that Ch supplementation during periadolescence can attenuate the memory deficit provoked by extended neonatal stress.

Microstructural white matter alterations and hippocampal volumes are associated with cognitive deficits in craniopharyngioma.

PubMed

Fjalldal, S; Follin, C; Svärd, D; Rylander, L; Gabery, S; Petersén, Å; van Westen, D; Sundgren, P C; Björkman-Burtscher, I M; Lätt, J; Ekman, B; Johanson, A; Erfurth, E M

2018-06-01

Patients with craniopharyngioma (CP) and hypothalamic lesions (HL) have cognitive deficits. Which neural pathways are affected is unknown. To determine whether there is a relationship between microstructural white matter (WM) alterations detected with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and cognition in adults with childhood-onset CP. A cross-sectional study with a median follow-up time of 22 (6-49) years after operation. The South Medical Region of Sweden (2.5 million inhabitants). Included were 41 patients (24 women, ≥17 years) surgically treated for childhood-onset CP between 1958-2010 and 32 controls with similar age and gender distributions. HL was found in 23 patients. Subjects performed cognitive tests and magnetic resonance imaging, and images were analyzed using DTI of uncinate fasciculus, fornix, cingulum, hippocampus and hypothalamus as well as hippocampal volumetry. Right uncinate fasciculus was significantly altered ( P  ≤ 0.01). Microstructural WM alterations in left ventral cingulum were significantly associated with worse performance in visual episodic memory, explaining approximately 50% of the variation. Alterations in dorsal cingulum were associated with worse performance in immediate, delayed recall and recognition, explaining 26-38% of the variation, and with visuospatial ability and executive function, explaining 19-29%. Patients who had smaller hippocampal volume had worse general knowledge ( P  = 0.028), and microstructural WM alterations in hippocampus were associated with a decline in general knowledge and episodic visual memory. A structure to function relationship is suggested between microstructural WM alterations in cingulum and in hippocampus with cognitive deficits in CP. © 2018 The authors.

Episodic memories.

PubMed

Conway, Martin A

2009-09-01

An account of episodic memories is developed that focuses on the types of knowledge they represent, their properties, and the functions they might serve. It is proposed that episodic memories consist of episodic elements, summary records of experience often in the form of visual images, associated to a conceptual frame that provides a conceptual context. Episodic memories are embedded in a more complex conceptual system in which they can become the basis of autobiographical memories. However, the function of episodic memories is to keep a record of progress with short-term goals and access to most episodic memories is lost soon after their formation. Finally, it is suggested that developmentally episodic memories form the basis of the conceptual system and it is from sets of episodic memories that early non-verbal conceptual knowledge is abstracted.

Impaired Word and Face Recognition in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

PubMed

Jones, Nicola; Riby, Leigh M; Smith, Michael A

2016-07-01

Older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) exhibit accelerated decline in some domains of cognition including verbal episodic memory. Few studies have investigated the influence of DM2 status in older adults on recognition memory for more complex stimuli such as faces. In the present study we sought to compare recognition memory performance for words, objects and faces under conditions of relatively low and high cognitive load. Healthy older adults with good glucoregulatory control (n = 13) and older adults with DM2 (n = 24) were administered recognition memory tasks in which stimuli (faces, objects and words) were presented under conditions of either i) low (stimulus presented without a background pattern) or ii) high (stimulus presented against a background pattern) cognitive load. In a subsequent recognition phase, the DM2 group recognized fewer faces than healthy controls. Further, the DM2 group exhibited word recognition deficits in the low cognitive load condition. The recognition memory impairment observed in patients with DM2 has clear implications for day-to-day functioning. Although these deficits were not amplified under conditions of increased cognitive load, the present study emphasizes that recognition memory impairment for both words and more complex stimuli such as face are a feature of DM2 in older adults. Copyright © 2016 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working Memory in Students with Mathematical Difficulties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nur, I. R. D.; Herman, T.; Ningsih, S.

2018-04-01

Learning process is the activities that has important role because this process is one of the all factors that establish students success in learning. oftentimes we find so many students get the difficulties when they study mathematics. This condition is not only because of the outside factor but also it comes from the inside. The purpose of this research is to analyze and give the representation how students working memory happened in physical education students for basic statistics subjects which have mathematical difficulties. The subjects are 4 students which have a mathematical difficulties. The research method is case study and when the describe about students working memory are explanated deeply with naturalistic observation. Based on this research, it was founded that 4 students have a working memory deficit in three components. The components are phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, dan episodic buffer.

Retrieval monitoring and anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Gallo, David A; Chen, Jennifer M; Wiseman, Amy L; Schacter, Daniel L; Budson, Andrew E

2007-09-01

This study explored the relationship between episodic memory and anosognosia (a lack of deficit awareness) among patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Participants studied words and pictures for subsequent memory tests. Healthy older adults made fewer false recognition errors when trying to remember pictures compared with words, suggesting that the perceptual distinctiveness of picture memories enhanced retrieval monitoring (the distinctiveness heuristic). In contrast, although participants with AD could discriminate between studied and nonstudied items, they had difficulty recollecting the specific presentation formats (words or pictures), and they had limited use of the distinctiveness heuristic. Critically, the demands of the memory test modulated the relationship between memory accuracy and anosognosia. Greater anosognosia was associated with impaired memory accuracy when participants with AD tried to remember words but not when they tried to remember pictures. These data further delineate the retrieval monitoring difficulties among individuals with AD and suggest that anosognosia measures are most likely to correlate with memory tests that require the effortful retrieval of nondistinctive information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

Dense amnesia in a professional musician following herpes simplex virus encephalitis.

PubMed

Wilson, B A; Baddeley, A D; Kapur, N

1995-10-01

We describe the memory functioning of C, a professional musician who became amnesic following herpes simplex encephalitis in 1985. Although transient amnesia in a professional musician has previously been described, this is the first reported case of chronic amnesia in a highly talented professional musician. C is unusual in three respects. First, his amnesia is particularly severe. Second, his amnesia includes semantic as well as episodic memory deficits. Third, he believes he has just woken up and his preoccupation with this state of 'just wakening' has persisted for over 9 years. This appears to be the result of a delusion rather than the consequence of his amnesia.

The Spanish version of Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (S-FNAME) performance is related to amyloid burden in Subjective Cognitive Decline.

PubMed

Sanabria, Angela; Alegret, Montserrat; Rodriguez-Gomez, Octavio; Valero, Sergi; Sotolongo-Grau, Oscar; Monté-Rubio, Gemma; Abdelnour, Carla; Espinosa, Ana; Ortega, Gemma; Perez-Cordon, Alba; Gailhajanet, Anna; Hernandez, Isabel; Rosende-Roca, Maitee; Vargas, Liliana; Mauleon, Ana; Sanchez, Domingo; Martin, Elvira; Rentz, Dorene M; Lomeña, Francisco; Ruiz, Agustin; Tarraga, Lluis; Boada, Merce

2018-02-28

The Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is a paired associative memory test created to detect memory deficits in individuals with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). Worse performance on FNAME in cognitively healthy individuals were found related to higher amyloid beta (Aβ) burden measured with Positron-Emission-Tomography using 11 C-PiB (PiB-PET). We previously reported normative data of a Spanish version of FNAME (S-FNAME) in cognitively healthy Spanish-speaking subjects. The aim of the present study was to determine whether performance on S-FNAME was associated with Aβ burden in subjective cognitive decline (SCD) individuals. 200 SCD subjects received neurological and neuropsychological assessments, including the S-FNAME and the Word List task from the Wechsler-Memory-Scale-III (WMS-III). Moreover, they received an MRI and (18)F-Florbetaben Positron-Emission-Tomography (FBB-PET) to measure Aβ burden. Three cognitive factor composites were derived for the episodic memory measures (face-name [SFN-N], face-occupation [SFN-O] and WMS-III) to determine whether episodic memory performance was related to Aβ deposition. Higher global Aβ deposition was significantly related to worse performance on SFN-N but not with SFN-O or WMS-III Composite. Moreover, worse SFN-N performance was significantly related to higher Aβ deposition in bilateral  Posterior Cingulate Cortex. The S-FNAME may be a promising neuropsychological tool for detecting SCD individuals with preclinical AD.

Prefrontal and medial temporal contributions to episodic memory-based reasoning.

PubMed

Suzuki, Chisato; Tsukiura, Takashi; Mochizuki-Kawai, Hiroko; Shigemune, Yayoi; Iijima, Toshio

2009-03-01

Episodic memory retrieval and reasoning are fundamental psychological components of our daily lives. Although previous studies have investigated the brain regions associated with these processes separately, the neural mechanisms of reasoning based on episodic memory retrieval are largely unknown. Here, we investigated the neural correlates underlying episodic memory-based reasoning using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During fMRI scanning, subjects performed three tasks: reasoning, episodic memory retrieval, and episodic memory-based reasoning. We identified dissociable activations related to reasoning, episodic memory retrieval, and linking processes between the two. Regions related to reasoning were identified in the left ventral prefrontal cortices (PFC), and those related to episodic memory retrieval were found in the right medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions. In addition, activations predominant in the linking process between the two were found in the left dorsal and right ventral PFC. These findings suggest that episodic memory-based reasoning is composed of at least three processes, i.e., reasoning, episodic memory retrieval, and linking processes between the two, and that activation of both the PFC and MTL is crucial in episodic memory-based reasoning. These findings are the first to demonstrate that PFC and MTL regions contribute differentially to each process in episodic memory-based reasoning.

Executive dysfunction affects word list recall performance: Evidence from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.

PubMed

Consonni, Monica; Rossi, Stefania; Cerami, Chiara; Marcone, Alessandra; Iannaccone, Sandro; Francesco Cappa, Stefano; Perani, Daniela

2017-03-01

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is widely used in clinical practice to evaluate verbal episodic memory. While there is evidence that RAVLT performance can be influenced by executive dysfunction, the way executive disorders affect the serial position curve (SPC) has not been yet explored. To this aim, we analysed immediate and delayed recall performances of 13 non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with a specific mild executive dysfunction (ALSci) and compared their performances to those of 48 healthy controls (HC) and 13 cognitively normal patients with ALS. Moreover, to control for the impact of a severe dysexecutive syndrome and a genuine episodic memory deficit on the SPC, we enrolled 15 patients with a diagnosis of behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and 18 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results documented that, compared to cognitively normal subjects, ALSci patients had a selective mid-list impairment for immediate recall scores. The bvFTD group obtained low performances with a selectively increased forgetting rate for terminal items, whereas the AD group showed a disproportionately large memory loss on the primary and middle part of the SPC for immediate recall scores and were severely impaired in the delayed recall trial. These results suggested that subtle executive dysfunctions might influence the recall of mid-list items, possibly reflecting deficiency in control strategies at retrieval of word lists, whereas severer dysexecutive syndrome might also affect the recall of terminal items possibly due to attention deficit or retroactive interference. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Cannabis-related episodic memory deficits and hippocampal morphological differences in healthy individuals and schizophrenia subjects

PubMed Central

Smith, Matthew J.; Cobia, Derin J.; Reilly, James L.; Gilman, Jodi; Roberts, Andrea G.; Alpert, Kathryn I.; Wang, Lei; Breiter, Hans C.; Csernansky, John G.

2015-01-01

Cannabis use has been associated with episodic memory (EM) impairments and abnormal hippocampus morphology among both healthy individuals and schizophrenia subjects. Considering the hippocampus' role in EM, research is needed to evaluate the relationship between cannabis-related hippocampal morphology and EM among healthy and clinical groups. We examined differences in hippocampus morphology between control and schizophrenia subjects with and without a past (not current) cannabis use disorder (CUD). Subjects group-matched on demographics included 44 healthy controls (CON), 10 subjects with a CUD history (CON-CUD), 28 schizophrenia subjects with no history of substance use disorders (SCZ), and 15 schizophrenia subjects with a CUD history (SCZ-CUD). Large- deformation, high-dimensional brain mapping with MRI produced surface-based representations of the hippocampus that were compared across all four groups and correlated with EM and CUD history. Surface maps of the hippocampus were generated to visualize morphological differences. CON-CUD and SCZ- CUD were characterized by distinct cannabis-related hippocampal shape differences and parametric deficits in EM. Shape differences observed in CON-CUD were associated with poorer EM, while shape differences observed in SCZ-CUD were associated with a longer duration of CUD and shorter duration of CUD abstinence. A past history of CUD may be associated with notable differences in hippocampal morphology and EM impairments among adults with and without schizophrenia. Although the results may be compatible with a causal hypothesis, we must consider that the observed cannabis-related shape differences in the hippocampus could also be explained as biomarkers of a neurobiological susceptibility to poor memory or the effects of cannabis. PMID:25760303

The evolution of episodic memory

PubMed Central

Allen, Timothy A.; Fortin, Norbert J.

2013-01-01

One prominent view holds that episodic memory emerged recently in humans and lacks a “(neo)Darwinian evolution” [Tulving E (2002) Annu Rev Psychol 53:1–25]. Here, we review evidence supporting the alternative perspective that episodic memory has a long evolutionary history. We show that fundamental features of episodic memory capacity are present in mammals and birds and that the major brain regions responsible for episodic memory in humans have anatomical and functional homologs in other species. We propose that episodic memory capacity depends on a fundamental neural circuit that is similar across mammalian and avian species, suggesting that protoepisodic memory systems exist across amniotes and, possibly, all vertebrates. The implication is that episodic memory in diverse species may primarily be due to a shared underlying neural ancestry, rather than the result of evolutionary convergence. We also discuss potential advantages that episodic memory may offer, as well as species-specific divergences that have developed on top of the fundamental episodic memory architecture. We conclude by identifying possible time points for the emergence of episodic memory in evolution, to help guide further research in this area. PMID:23754432

Testing episodic memory in animals: a new approach.

PubMed

Griffiths, D P; Clayton, N S

2001-08-01

Episodic memory involves the encoding and storage of memories concerned with unique personal experiences and their subsequent recall, and it has long been the subject of intensive investigation in humans. According to Tulving's classical definition, episodic memory "receives and stores information about temporally dated episodes or events and temporal-spatial relations among these events." Thus, episodic memory provides information about the 'what' and 'when' of events ('temporally dated experiences') and about 'where' they happened ('temporal-spatial relations'). The storage and subsequent recall of this episodic information was thought to be beyond the memory capabilities of nonhuman animals. Although there are many laboratory procedures for investigating memory for discrete past episodes, until recently there were no previous studies that fully satisfied the criteria of Tulving's definition: they can all be explained in much simpler terms than episodic memory. However, current studies of memory for cache sites in food-storing jays provide an ethologically valid model for testing episodic-like memory in animals, thereby bridging the gap between human and animal studies memory. There is now a pressing need to adapt these experimental tests of episodic memory for other animals. Given the potential power of transgenic and knock-out procedures for investigating the genetic and molecular bases of learning and memory in laboratory rodents, not to mention the wealth of knowledge about the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the rodent hippocampus (a brain area heavily implicated in episodic memory), an obvious next step is to develop a rodent model of episodic-like memory based on the food-storing bird paradigm. The development of a rodent model system could make an important contribution to our understanding of the neural, molecular, and behavioral mechanisms of mammalian episodic memory.

Neuroanatomical and Cognitive Mediators of Age-Related Differences in Episodic Memory

PubMed Central

Head, Denise; Rodrigue, Karen M.; Kennedy, Kristen M.; Raz, Naftali

2009-01-01

Aging is associated with declines in episodic memory. In this study, the authors used a path analysis framework to explore the mediating role of differences in brain structure, executive functions, and processing speed in age-related differences in episodic memory. Measures of regional brain volume (prefrontal gray and white matter, caudate, hippocampus, visual cortex), executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control, task switching, temporal processing), processing speed, and episodic memory were obtained in a sample of young and older adults. As expected, age was linked to reduction in regional brain volumes and cognitive performance. Moreover, neural and cognitive factors completely mediated age differences in episodic memory. Whereas hippocampal shrinkage directly affected episodic memory, prefrontal volumetric reductions influenced episodic memory via limitations in working memory and inhibitory control. Age-related slowing predicted reduced efficiency in temporal processing, working memory, and inhibitory control. Lastly, poorer temporal processing directly affected episodic memory. No direct effects of age on episodic memory remained once these factors were taken into account. These analyses highlight the value of a multivariate approach with the understanding of complex relationships in cognitive and brain aging. PMID:18590361

Telling true from false: cannabis users show increased susceptibility to false memories.

PubMed

Riba, J; Valle, M; Sampedro, F; Rodríguez-Pujadas, A; Martínez-Horta, S; Kulisevsky, J; Rodríguez-Fornells, A

2015-06-01

Previous studies on the neurocognitive impact of cannabis use have found working and declarative memory deficits that tend to normalize with abstinence. An unexplored aspect of cognitive function in chronic cannabis users is the ability to distinguish between veridical and illusory memories, a crucial aspect of reality monitoring that relies on adequate memory function and cognitive control. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that abstinent cannabis users have an increased susceptibility to false memories, failing to identify lure stimuli as events that never occurred. In addition to impaired performance, cannabis users display reduced activation in areas associated with memory processing within the lateral and medial temporal lobe (MTL), and in parietal and frontal brain regions involved in attention and performance monitoring. Furthermore, cannabis consumption was inversely correlated with MTL activity, suggesting that the drug is especially detrimental to the episodic aspects of memory. These findings indicate that cannabis users have an increased susceptibility to memory distortions even when abstinent and drug-free, suggesting a long-lasting compromise of memory and cognitive control mechanisms involved in reality monitoring.

Donepezil Improves Episodic Memory in Young Individuals Vulnerable to the Effects of Sleep Deprivation

PubMed Central

Chuah, Lisa Y.M.; Chong, Delise L.; Chen, Annette K.; Rekshan, William R.; Tan, Jiat-Chow; Zheng, Hui; Chee, Michael W.L.

2009-01-01

Study Objectives: We investigated if donepezil, a long-acting orally administered cholinesterase inhibitor, would reduce episodic memory deficits associated with 24 h of sleep deprivation. Design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study involving 7 laboratory visits over 2 months. Participants underwent 4 functional MRI scans; 2 sessions (donepezil or placebo) followed a normal night's sleep, and 2 sessions followed a night of sleep deprivation. Setting: The study took place in a research laboratory. Participants: 26 young, healthy volunteers with no history of any sleep, psychiatric, or neurologic disorders. Interventions: 5 mg of donepezil was taken once daily for approximately 17 days. Measurements and Results: Subjects were scanned while performing a semantic judgment task and tested for word recognition outside the scanner 45 minutes later. Sleep deprivation increased the frequency of non-responses at encoding and impaired delayed recognition. No benefit of donepezil was evident when participants were well rested. When sleep deprived, individuals who showed greater performance decline improved with donepezil, whereas more resistant individuals did not benefit. Accompanying these behavioral effects, there was corresponding modulation of task-related activation in functionally relevant brain regions. Brain regions identified in relation to donepezil-induced alteration in non-response rates could be distinguished from regions relating to improved recognition memory. This suggests that donepezil can improve delayed recognition in sleep-deprived persons by improving attention as well as enhancing memory encoding. Conclusions: Donepezil reduced decline in recognition performance in individuals vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation. Additionally, our findings demonstrate the utility of combined fMRI–behavior evaluation in psychopharmacological studies. Citation: Chuah LYM; Chong DL; Chen AK; Rekshan WR; Tan JC; Zheng H; Chee MWL. Donepezil improves episodic memory in young individuals vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation. SLEEP 2009;32(8):999-1010. PMID:19725251

On remembering and forgetting our autobiographical pasts: retrograde amnesia and Andrew Mayes's contribution to neuropsychological method.

PubMed

Kopelman, M D; Bright, P

2012-11-01

Andrew Mayes's contribution to the neuropsychology of memory has consisted in steadily teasing out the nature of the memory deficit in the amnesic syndrome. This has been done with careful attention to matters of method at all stages. This particularly applies to his investigations of forgetting rates in amnesia and to his studies of retrograde amnesia. Following a brief outline of his work, the main current theories of retrograde amnesia are considered: consolidation theory, episodic-to-semantic shift theory, and multiple trace theory. Findings across the main studies in Alzheimer dementia are reviewed to illustrate what appears to be consistently found, and what is much more inconsistent. A number of problems and issues in current theories are then highlighted--including the nature of the temporal gradient, correlations with the extent of temporal lobe damage, what we would expect 'normal' remote memory curves to look like, how they would appear in focal retrograde amnesia, and whether we can pinpoint retrograde amnesia to hippocampal/medial temporal damage on the basis of existing studies. A recent study of retrograde amnesia is re-analysed to demonstrate temporal gradients on recollected episodic memories in hippocampal/medial temporal patients. It is concluded that there are two requirements for better understanding of the nature of retrograde amnesia: (i) a tighter, Mayesian attention to method in terms of both the neuropsychology and neuroimaging in investigations of retrograde amnesia; and (ii) acknowledging that there may be multiple factors underlying a temporal gradient, and that episodic and semantic memory show important interdependencies at both encoding and retrieval. Such factors may be critical to understanding what is remembered and what is forgotten from our autobiographical pasts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired P600 in neuroleptic naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia.

PubMed

Papageorgiou, C; Kontaxakis, V P; Havaki-Kontaxaki, B J; Stamouli, S; Vasios, C; Asvestas, P; Matsopoulos, G K; Kontopantelis, E; Rabavilas, A; Uzunoglu, N; Christodoulou, G N

2001-09-17

Deficits of working memory (WM) are recognized as an important pathological feature in schizophrenia. Since the P600 component of event related potentials has been hypothesized that represents aspects of second-pass parsing processes of information processing, and is related to WM, the present study focuses on P600 elicited during a WM test in drug-naive first-episode schizophrenics (FES) compared to healthy controls. We examined 16 drug-naive first-episode schizophrenic patients and 23 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Compared with controls schizophrenic patients showed reduced P600 amplitude on left temporoparietal region and increased P600 amplitude on left occipital region. With regard to the latency, the patients exhibited significantly prolongation on right temporoparietal region. The obtained pattern of differences classified correctly 89.20% of patients. Memory performance of patients was also significantly impaired relative to controls. Our results suggest that second-pass parsing process of information processing, as indexed by P600, elicited during a WM test, is impaired in FES. Moreover, these findings lend support to the view that the auditory WM in schizophrenia involves or affects a circuitry including temporoparietal and occipital brain areas.

Episodic and Semantic Memory Contribute to Familiar and Novel Episodic Future Thinking.

PubMed

Wang, Tong; Yue, Tong; Huang, Xi Ting

2016-01-01

Increasing evidence indicates that episodic future thinking (EFT) relies on both episodic and semantic memory; however, event familiarity may importantly affect the extent to which episodic and semantic memory contribute to EFT. To test this possibility, two behavioral experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we directly compared the proportion of episodic and semantic memory used in an EFT task. The results indicated that more episodic memory was used when imagining familiar future events compared with novel future events. Conversely, significantly more semantic memory was used when imagining novel events compared with familiar events. Experiment 2 aimed to verify the results of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, we found that familiarity moderated the effect of priming the episodic memory system on EFT; particularly, it increased the time required to construct a standard familiar episodic future event, but did not significantly affect novel episodic event reaction time. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that event familiarity importantly moderates episodic and semantic memory's contribution to EFT.

Neural Dynamics Associated with Semantic and Episodic Memory for Faces: Evidence from Multiple Frequency Bands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zion-Golumbic, Elana; Kutas, Marta; Bentin, Shlomo

2010-01-01

Prior semantic knowledge facilitates episodic recognition memory for faces. To examine the neural manifestation of the interplay between semantic and episodic memory, we investigated neuroelectric dynamics during the creation (study) and the retrieval (test) of episodic memories for famous and nonfamous faces. Episodic memory effects were evident…

Alzheimer's disease can spare local metacognition despite global anosognosia: revisiting the confidence-accuracy relationship in episodic memory.

PubMed

Gallo, David A; Cramer, Stefanie J; Wong, Jessica T; Bennett, David A

2012-07-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) can impair metacognition in addition to more basic cognitive functions like memory. However, while global metacognitive inaccuracies are well documented (i.e., low deficit awareness, or anosognosia), the evidence is mixed regarding the effects of AD on local or task-based metacognitive judgments. Here we investigated local metacognition with respect to the confidence-accuracy relationship in episodic memory (i.e., metamemory). AD and control participants studied pictures of common objects and their verbal labels, and then took forced-choice picture recollection tests using the verbal labels as retrieval cues. We found that item-based confidence judgments discriminated between accurate and inaccurate recollection responses in both groups, implicating relatively spared metamemory in AD. By contrast, there was evidence for global metacognitive deficiencies, as AD participants underestimated the severity of their everyday problems compared to an informant's assessment. Within the AD group, individual differences in global metacognition were related to recollection accuracy, and global metacognition for everyday memory problems was related to task-based metacognitive accuracy. These findings suggest that AD can spare the confidence-accuracy relationship in recollection tasks, and that global and local metacognition measures tap overlapping neuropsychological processes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-referencing enhances recollection in both young and older adults

PubMed Central

Leshikar, Eric D.; Dulas, Michael R.; Duarte, Audrey

2014-01-01

Processing information in relation to the self enhances subsequent item recognition in both young and older adults, and further, enhances recollection at least in the young. Because older adults experience recollection memory deficits it is unknown whether self-referencing improves recollection in older adults. We examined recollection benefits from self-referential encoding in older and younger adults and further examined the quality and quantity of episodic details facilitated by self-referencing. We further investigated the influence of valence on recollection given prior findings of age group differences in emotional memory (i.e. “positivity effects”). Across 2 experiments, young and older adults processed positive and negative adjectives either for self-relevance or for semantic meaning. We found that self-referencing, relative to semantic encoding, increased recollection memory in both age groups. In Experiment 1, both groups remembered proportionally more negative than positive items when adjectives were processed semantically; however, when adjectives were processed self-referentially, both groups exhibited evidence of better recollection for the positive items, inconsistent with a positivity effect in aging. In Experiment 2, both groups reported more episodic details associated with recollected items, as measured by a memory characteristic questionnaire (MCQ), for the self-reference relative to the semantic condition. Overall, these data suggest that self-referencing leads to detail-rich memory representations reflected in higher rates of recollection across age. PMID:25264018

Misremembering Future Intentions in Methamphetamine Dependent Individuals

PubMed Central

Iudicello, Jennifer E.; Weber, Erica; Grant, Igor; Weinborn, Michael; Woods, Steven Paul

2012-01-01

Methamphetamine (MA) dependence is associated with neural abnormalities (e.g., frontal systems neurotoxicity) and corresponding cognitive deficits, including impairment in episodic memory and executive functions. This study evaluated the hypothesis that MA use is associated with impairment in memory for intentions, or prospective memory (ProM), which is an ecologically relevant aspect of episodic memory that involves the execution of a previously encoded intention at an appropriate moment in the future and is known to rely on frontal systems integrity. Thirty-nine MA-dependent individuals and 26 demographically similar non-MA-using comparison subjects were administered the Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST). The MA group performed significantly lower than the comparison participants on overall ProM, an effect that could not be better explained by demographics, psychiatric factors, infectious disease comorbidity, or other substance use disorders. The ProM impairment observed in the MA group was comparable on time- and event-based tasks and was marked by an increased rate of task substitution (i.e., intrusions) and loss of time (e.g., early responding) errors. Within the MA cohort, ProM impairment was associated with executive dysfunction and earlier age at first MA use. Findings suggest that individuals with MA dependence experience difficulty in the strategic components involved in the retrieval of future intentions and are discussed with regard to their implications for everyday functioning. PMID:21331980

The benefits of physical activities on cognitive and mental health in healthy and pathological aging.

PubMed

Blanchet, Sophie; Chikhi, Samy; Maltais, Désirée

2018-06-01

Aging is associated with a decreased efficiency of different cognitive functions as well as in the perceptive, physical and physiological changes. The age-related cognitive decline concerns mainly attention, executive control and episodic memory. Some factors such as being physically active protect against the age-related decline. This review will discuss how physical activity can positively affect the cognitive efficiency and mental health of older healthy individuals, and possibly reduces the risk of progression into dementia, and depression. Underlying neurophysiological mechanisms play an important role for improving attention and episodic memory, which are the most sensitive to the effects of aging. We also present recommendations for the management of physical activity for the prevention of cognitive deficits, and the reduction of depressive symptoms in older persons. Given the benefits of physical activity for the prevention of neurodegenerative disease and the improvement of the well-being, it appears to be an important low cost therapeutic approach that should be integrated into clinical practice.

Making the case that episodic recollection is attributable to operations occurring at retrieval rather than to content stored in a dedicated subsystem of long-term memory.

PubMed

Klein, Stanley B

2013-01-01

Episodic memory often is conceptualized as a uniquely human system of long-term memory that makes available knowledge accompanied by the temporal and spatial context in which that knowledge was acquired. Retrieval from episodic memory entails a form of first-person subjectivity called autonoetic consciousness that provides a sense that a recollection was something that took place in the experiencer's personal past. In this paper I expand on this definition of episodic memory. Specifically, I suggest that (1) the core features assumed unique to episodic memory are shared by semantic memory, (2) episodic memory cannot be fully understood unless one appreciates that episodic recollection requires the coordinated function of a number of distinct, yet interacting, "enabling" systems. Although these systems-ownership, self, subjective temporality, and agency-are not traditionally viewed as memorial in nature, each is necessary for episodic recollection and jointly they may be sufficient, and (3) the type of subjective awareness provided by episodic recollection (autonoetic) is relational rather than intrinsic-i.e., it can be lost in certain patient populations, thus rendering episodic memory content indistinguishable from the content of semantic long-term memory.

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

PubMed

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M; Caza, Julian S

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving's definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight.

How do episodic and semantic memory contribute to episodic foresight in young children?

PubMed Central

Martin-Ordas, Gema; Atance, Cristina M.; Caza, Julian S.

2014-01-01

Humans are able to transcend the present and mentally travel to another time, place, or perspective. Mentally projecting ourselves backwards (i.e., episodic memory) or forwards (i.e., episodic foresight) in time are crucial characteristics of the human memory system. Indeed, over the past few years, episodic memory has been argued to be involved both in our capacity to retrieve our personal past experiences and in our ability to imagine and foresee future scenarios. However, recent theory and findings suggest that semantic memory also plays a significant role in imagining future scenarios. We draw on Tulving’s definition of episodic and semantic memory to provide a critical analysis of their role in episodic foresight tasks described in the developmental literature. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research that could further our understanding of how both episodic memory and semantic memory are intimately connected to episodic foresight. PMID:25071690

Age-related changes in neural oscillations supporting context memory retrieval

PubMed Central

Strunk, Jonathan; James, Taylor; Arndt, Jason; Duarte, Audrey

2018-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that directing attention toward single item-context associations during encoding improves young and older adults’ context memory performance and reduces demands on executive functions during retrieval. In everyday situations, there are many event features competing for our attention, and our ability to successfully recover those details may depend on our ability to ignore others. Failures of selective attention may contribute to older adults’ context memory impairments. In the current electroencephalogram (EEG) study, we assessed the effects of age on processes supporting successful context memory retrieval of selectively attended features as indexed by neural oscillations. During encoding, young and older adults were directed to attend to a picture of an object and its relationship to one of two concurrently presented contextual details: a color or scene. At retrieval, we tested their memory for the object, its attended and unattended context features, and their confidence for both the attended and unattended features. Both groups showed greater memory for attended than unattended contextual features. However, older adults showed evidence of hyper-binding between attended and unattended context features while the young adults did not. EEG results in the theta band suggest that young and older adults recollect similar amounts of information but brain-behavior correlations suggest that this information was supportive of contextual memory performance, particularly for young adults. By contrast, sustained beta desynchronization, indicative of sensory reactivation and episodic reconstruction, was correlated with contextual memory performance for older adults only. We conclude that older adults’ inhibition deficits during encoding reduced the selectivity of their contextual memories, which led to reliance on executive functions like episodic reconstruction to support successful memory retrieval. PMID:28237686

Age-related changes in neural oscillations supporting context memory retrieval.

PubMed

Strunk, Jonathan; James, Taylor; Arndt, Jason; Duarte, Audrey

2017-06-01

Recent evidence suggests that directing attention toward single item-context associations during encoding improves young and older adults' context memory performance and reduces demands on executive functions during retrieval. In everyday situations, there are many event features competing for our attention, and our ability to successfully recover those details may depend on our ability to ignore others. Failures of selective attention may contribute to older adults' context memory impairments. In the current electroencephalogram (EEG) study, we assessed the effects of age on processes supporting successful context memory retrieval of selectively attended features as indexed by neural oscillations. During encoding, young and older adults were directed to attend to a picture of an object and its relationship to one of two concurrently presented contextual details: a color or scene. At retrieval, we tested their memory for the object, its attended and unattended context features, and their confidence for both the attended and unattended features. Both groups showed greater memory for attended than unattended contextual features. However, older adults showed evidence of hyper-binding between attended and unattended context features while the young adults did not. EEG results in the theta band suggest that young and older adults recollect similar amounts of information but brain-behavior correlations suggest that this information was supportive of contextual memory performance, particularly for young adults. By contrast, sustained beta desynchronization, indicative of sensory reactivation and episodic reconstruction, was correlated with contextual memory performance for older adults only. We conclude that older adults' inhibition deficits during encoding reduced the selectivity of their contextual memories, which led to reliance on executive functions like episodic reconstruction to support successful memory retrieval. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temporal Clustering and Sequencing in Short-Term Memory and Episodic Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Simon

2012-01-01

A model of short-term memory and episodic memory is presented, with the core assumptions that (a) people parse their continuous experience into episodic clusters and (b) items are clustered together in memory as episodes by binding information within an episode to a common temporal context. Along with the additional assumption that information…

Episodic Memory and Future Thinking During Early Childhood: Linking the Past and Future

PubMed Central

Cuevas, Kimberly; Rajan, Vinaya; Morasch, Katherine C.; Bell, Martha Ann

2015-01-01

Despite extensive examination of episodic memory and future thinking development, little is known about the concurrent emergence of these capacities during early childhood. In Experiment 1, 3-year-olds participated in an episodic memory hiding task [“what, when, where” (WWW) components] with an episodic future thinking component. In Experiment 2, a group of 4-year-olds (including children from Experiment 1) participated in the same task (different objects and locations), providing the first longitudinal investigation of episodic memory and future thinking. Although children exhibited age-related improvements in recall, recognition, and binding of the WWW episodic memory components, there were no age-related changes in episodic future thinking. At both ages, WWW episodic memory performance was higher than future thinking performance, and episodic future thinking and WWW memory components were unrelated. These findings suggest that the WWW components of episodic memory are potentially less fragile than the future components when assessed in a cognitively demanding task. PMID:25864990

Episodic memory and future thinking during early childhood: Linking the past and future.

PubMed

Cuevas, Kimberly; Rajan, Vinaya; Morasch, Katherine C; Bell, Martha Ann

2015-07-01

Despite extensive examination of episodic memory and future thinking development, little is known about the concurrent emergence of these capacities during early childhood. In Experiment 1, 3-year-olds participated in an episodic memory hiding task ("what, when, where" [WWW] components) with an episodic future thinking component. In Experiment 2, a group of 4-year-olds (including children from Experiment 1) participated in the same task (different objects and locations), providing the first longitudinal investigation of episodic memory and future thinking. Although children exhibited age-related improvements in recall, recognition, and binding of the WWW episodic memory components, there were no age-related changes in episodic future thinking. At both ages, WWW episodic memory performance was higher than future thinking performance, and episodic future thinking and WWW memory components were unrelated. These findings suggest that the WWW components of episodic memory are potentially less fragile than the future components when assessed in a cognitively demanding task. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Acute and Chronic Altitude-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction in Children and Adolescents.

PubMed

Rimoldi, Stefano F; Rexhaj, Emrush; Duplain, Hervé; Urben, Sébastien; Billieux, Joël; Allemann, Yves; Romero, Catherine; Ayaviri, Alejandro; Salinas, Carlos; Villena, Mercedes; Scherrer, Urs; Sartori, Claudio

2016-02-01

To assess whether exposure to high altitude induces cognitive dysfunction in young healthy European children and adolescents during acute, short-term exposure to an altitude of 3450 m and in an age-matched European population permanently living at this altitude. We tested executive function (inhibition, shifting, and working memory), memory (verbal, short-term visuospatial, and verbal episodic memory), and speed processing ability in: (1) 48 healthy nonacclimatized European children and adolescents, 24 hours after arrival at high altitude and 3 months after return to low altitude; (2) 21 matched European subjects permanently living at high altitude; and (3) a matched control group tested twice at low altitude. Short-term hypoxia significantly impaired all but 2 (visuospatial memory and processing speed) of the neuropsychological abilities that were tested. These impairments were even more severe in the children permanently living at high altitude. Three months after return to low altitude, the neuropsychological performances significantly improved and were comparable with those observed in the control group tested only at low altitude. Acute short-term exposure to an altitude at which major tourist destinations are located induces marked executive and memory deficits in healthy children. These deficits are equally marked or more severe in children permanently living at high altitude and are expected to impair their learning abilities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extent and neural basis of semantic memory impairment in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Barbeau, Emmanuel J; Didic, Mira; Joubert, Sven; Guedj, Eric; Koric, Lejla; Felician, Olivier; Ranjeva, Jean-Philippe; Cozzone, Patrick; Ceccaldi, Mathieu

2012-01-01

An increasing number of studies indicate that semantic memory is impaired in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the extent and the neural basis of this impairment remain unknown. The aim of the present study was: 1) to evaluate whether all or only a subset of semantic domains are impaired in MCI patients; and 2) to assess the neural substrate of the semantic impairment in MCI patients using voxel-based analysis of MR grey matter density and SPECT perfusion. 29 predominantly amnestic MCI patients and 29 matched control subjects participated in this study. All subjects underwent a full neuropsychological assessment, along with a battery of five tests evaluating different domains of semantic memory. A semantic memory composite Z-score was established on the basis of this battery and was correlated with MRI grey matter density and SPECT perfusion measures. MCI patients were found to have significantly impaired performance across all semantic tasks, in addition to their anterograde memory deficit. Moreover, no temporal gradient was found for famous faces or famous public events and knowledge for the most remote decades was also impaired. Neuroimaging analyses revealed correlations between semantic knowledge and perirhinal/entorhinal areas as well as the anterior hippocampus. Therefore, the deficits in the realm of semantic memory in patients with MCI is more widespread than previously thought and related to dysfunction of brain areas beyond the limbic-diencephalic system involved in episodic memory. The severity of the semantic impairment may indicate a decline of semantic memory that began many years before the patients first consulted.

Effect of ageing on neurocognitive function by stage of HIV infection: evidence from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

PubMed

Goodkin, Karl; Miller, Eric N; Cox, Christopher; Reynolds, Sandra; Becker, James T; Martin, Eileen; Selnes, Ola A; Ostrow, David G; Sacktor, Ned C

2017-09-01

The demographics of the HIV epidemic in the USA have shifted towards older age. We aimed to establish the relationship between the processes of ageing and HIV infection in neurocognitive impairment. With longitudinal data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, a long-term prospective cohort study of the natural and treated history of HIV infection among men who have sex with men in the USA, we examined the effect of ageing, HIV infection (by disease stage), and their interaction on five neurocognitive domains: information processing speed, executive function, episodic memory, working memory, and motor function. We controlled for duration of serostatus in a subanalysis, as well as comorbidities and other factors that affect cognition. Analyses were by linear mixed models for longitudinal data. 5086 participants (47 886 visits) were included in the analytic sample (2278 HIV-seropositive participants contributed 20 477 visits and 2808 HIV-seronegative control participants contributed 27 409 visits). In an a-priori multivariate analysis with control variables including comorbidities and time since seroconversion, significant, direct negative effects of ageing were noted on all neurocognitive domains (p<0·0001 for all). Similar effects were noted for late-stage HIV disease progression on information processing speed (p=0·002), executive function (p<0·0001), motor function (p<0·0001), and working memory (p=0·001). Deleterious interaction effects were also noted in the domains of episodic memory (p=0·03) and motor function (p=0·02). A greater than expected effect of ageing on episodic memory and motor function with advanced stages of HIV infection suggests that these two domains are most susceptible to the progression of neurocognitive impairment caused by ageing in individuals with HIV. This deficit pattern suggests differential damage to the hippocampus and basal ganglia (specifically nigrostriatal pathways). Older individuals with HIV infection should be targeted for regular screening for HIV-associate neurocognitive disorder, particularly with tests referable to the episodic memory and motor domains. National Institute of Mental Health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rats Remember Items in Context Using Episodic Memory.

PubMed

Panoz-Brown, Danielle; Corbin, Hannah E; Dalecki, Stefan J; Gentry, Meredith; Brotheridge, Sydney; Sluka, Christina M; Wu, Jie-En; Crystal, Jonathon D

2016-10-24

Vivid episodic memories in people have been characterized as the replay of unique events in sequential order [1-3]. Animal models of episodic memory have successfully documented episodic memory of a single event (e.g., [4-8]). However, a fundamental feature of episodic memory in people is that it involves multiple events, and notably, episodic memory impairments in human diseases are not limited to a single event. Critically, it is not known whether animals remember many unique events using episodic memory. Here, we show that rats remember many unique events and the contexts in which the events occurred using episodic memory. We used an olfactory memory assessment in which new (but not old) odors were rewarded using 32 items. Rats were presented with 16 odors in one context and the same odors in a second context. To attain high accuracy, the rats needed to remember item in context because each odor was rewarded as a new item in each context. The demands on item-in-context memory were varied by assessing memory with 2, 3, 5, or 15 unpredictable transitions between contexts, and item-in-context memory survived a 45 min retention interval challenge. When the memory of item in context was put in conflict with non-episodic familiarity cues, rats relied on item in context using episodic memory. Our findings suggest that rats remember multiple unique events and the contexts in which these events occurred using episodic memory and support the view that rats may be used to model fundamental aspects of human cognition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Deficits in Calsyntenin-2-deficient Mice Associated with Reduced GABAergic Transmission

PubMed Central

Lipina, Tatiana V; Prasad, Tuhina; Yokomaku, Daisaku; Luo, Lin; Connor, Steven A; Kawabe, Hiroshi; Wang, Yu Tian; Brose, Nils; Roder, John C; Craig, Ann Marie

2016-01-01

Calsyntenin-2 has an evolutionarily conserved role in cognition. In a human genome-wide screen, the CLSTN2 locus was associated with verbal episodic memory, and expression of human calsyntenin-2 rescues the associative learning defect in orthologous Caenorhabditis elegans mutants. Other calsyntenins promote synapse development, calsyntenin-1 selectively of excitatory synapses and calsyntenin-3 of excitatory and inhibitory synapses. We found that targeted deletion of calsyntenin-2 in mice results in a selective reduction in functional inhibitory synapses. Reduced inhibitory transmission was associated with a selective reduction of parvalbumin interneurons in hippocampus and cortex. Clstn2−/− mice showed normal behavior in elevated plus maze, forced swim test, and novel object recognition assays. However, Clstn2−/− mice were hyperactive in the open field and showed deficits in spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze and Barnes maze. These results confirm a function for calsyntenin-2 in cognitive performance and indicate an underlying mechanism that involves parvalbumin interneurons and aberrant inhibitory transmission. PMID:26171716

Theory of mind in Alzheimer disease: Evidence of authentic impairment during social interaction.

PubMed

Moreau, Noémie; Rauzy, Stéphane; Viallet, François; Champagne-Lavau, Maud

2016-03-01

The present study aimed to investigate theory of mind (the ability to infer others' mental states) deficit in 20 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and 20 healthy controls, with 2 theory of mind tasks, 1 of them being a real interactive task. Previous results concerning preserved or altered theory of mind abilities in Alzheimer's disease have been inconsistent and relationships with other cognitive dysfunctions (notably episodic memory and executive functions) are still unclear. The first task we used was a false belief paradigm as frequently used in literature whereas the second task, a referential communication task, assessed theory of mind in a real situation of interaction. Participants also underwent neuropsychological evaluation to investigate potential relationships between theory of mind and memory deficits. The results showed that Alzheimer patients presented a genuine and significant theory of mind deficit compared to control participants characterized notably by difficulties to attribute knowledge to an interlocutor in a real social interaction. These results further confirm that theory of mind is altered in early stages of Alzheimer dementia which is consistent with previous works. More specifically, this study is the first to objectivize this impairment in social interaction. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Focal autobiographical amnesia in association with transient epileptic amnesia.

PubMed

Manes, F; Hodges, J R; Graham, K S; Zeman, A

2001-03-01

Although problems with remembering significant events from the past (e.g. holidays, weddings, etc.) have been reported previously in patients with transient epileptic amnesia (TEA), to date there have been no detailed studies of autobiographical memory in patients with this disorder. To investigate this issue, a 68-year-old right-handed man (R.G.) who suffered from TEA and reported significant autobiographical memory problems was tested on a battery of neuropsychological tests of anterograde and remote memory. Tests of autobiographical memory revealed that R.G. was unable to evoke detailed autobiographical recollections from a substantial part of his life. By contrast, he performed well on tests of new learning and general knowledge and possessed good personal semantic information about his past. In summary, a distinct form of autobiographical amnesia, which is characterized by loss of experiential remembering of significant events, may be associated with TEA. It is proposed that the autobiographical memory deficit seen in the disorder may result from the progressive erasure of cortically based memory representations. This case adds to growing evidence for a dissociation between mechanisms subserving anterograde memory and those required to evoke remote episodic memories.

Eye movement analysis and cognitive processing: detecting indicators of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease

PubMed Central

Pereira, Marta LG Freitas; Camargo, Marina von Zuben A; Aprahamian, Ivan; Forlenza, Orestes V

2014-01-01

A great amount of research has been developed around the early cognitive impairments that best predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Given that mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is no longer considered to be an intermediate state between normal aging and AD, new paths have been traced to acquire further knowledge about this condition and its subtypes, and to determine which of them have a higher risk of conversion to AD. It is now known that other deficits besides episodic and semantic memory impairments may be present in the early stages of AD, such as visuospatial and executive function deficits. Furthermore, recent investigations have proven that the hippocampus and the medial temporal lobe structures are not only involved in memory functioning, but also in visual processes. These early changes in memory, visual, and executive processes may also be detected with the study of eye movement patterns in pathological conditions like MCI and AD. In the present review, we attempt to explore the existing literature concerning these patterns of oculomotor changes and how these changes are related to the early signs of AD. In particular, we argue that deficits in visual short-term memory, specifically in iconic memory, attention processes, and inhibitory control, may be found through the analysis of eye movement patterns, and we discuss how they might help to predict the progression from MCI to AD. We add that the study of eye movement patterns in these conditions, in combination with neuroimaging techniques and appropriate neuropsychological tasks based on rigorous concepts derived from cognitive psychology, may highlight the early presence of cognitive impairments in the course of the disease. PMID:25031536

Cognitive Rehabilitation of Episodic Memory Disorders: From Theory to Practice

PubMed Central

Ptak, Radek; der Linden, Martial Van; Schnider, Armin

2010-01-01

Memory disorders are among the most frequent and most debilitating cognitive impairments following acquired brain damage. Cognitive remediation strategies attempt to restore lost memory capacity, provide compensatory techniques or teach the use of external memory aids. Memory rehabilitation has strongly been influenced by memory theory, and the interaction between both has stimulated the development of techniques such as spaced retrieval, vanishing cues or errorless learning. These techniques partly rely on implicit memory and therefore enable even patients with dense amnesia to acquire new information. However, knowledge acquired in this way is often strongly domain-specific and inflexible. In addition, individual patients with amnesia respond differently to distinct interventions. The factors underlying these differences have not yet been identified. Behavioral management of memory failures therefore often relies on a careful description of environmental factors and measurement of associated behavioral disorders such as unawareness of memory failures. The current evidence suggests that patients with less severe disorders benefit from self-management techniques and mnemonics whereas rehabilitation of severely amnesic patients should focus on behavior management, the transmission of domain-specific knowledge through implicit memory processes and the compensation for memory deficits with memory aids. PMID:20700383

Hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood

PubMed Central

Riggins, Tracy; Geng, Fengji; Blankenship, Sarah L.; Redcay, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

Episodic memory relies on a distributed network of brain regions, with the hippocampus playing a critical and irreplaceable role. Few studies have examined how changes in this network contribute to episodic memory development early in life. The present addressed this gap by examining relations between hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in 4-and 6-year-old children (n=40). Results revealed similar hippocampal functional connectivity between age groups, which included lateral temporal regions, precuneus, and multiple parietal and prefrontal regions, and functional specialization along the longitudinal axis. Despite these similarities, developmental differences were also observed. Specifically, 3 (of 4) regions within the hippocampal memory network were positively associated with episodic memory in 6-year-old children, but negatively associated with episodic memory in 4-year-old children. In contrast, all 3 regions outside the hippocampal memory network were negatively associated with episodic memory in older children, but positively associated with episodic memory in younger children. These interactions are interpreted within an interactive specialization framework and suggest the hippocampus becomes functionally integrated with cortical regions that are part of the hippocampal memory network in adults and functionally segregated from regions unrelated to memory in adults, both of which are associated with age-related improvements in episodic memory ability. PMID:26900967

Hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood.

PubMed

Riggins, Tracy; Geng, Fengji; Blankenship, Sarah L; Redcay, Elizabeth

2016-06-01

Episodic memory relies on a distributed network of brain regions, with the hippocampus playing a critical and irreplaceable role. Few studies have examined how changes in this network contribute to episodic memory development early in life. The present addressed this gap by examining relations between hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in 4- and 6-year-old children (n=40). Results revealed similar hippocampal functional connectivity between age groups, which included lateral temporal regions, precuneus, and multiple parietal and prefrontal regions, and functional specialization along the longitudinal axis. Despite these similarities, developmental differences were also observed. Specifically, 3 (of 4) regions within the hippocampal memory network were positively associated with episodic memory in 6-year-old children, but negatively associated with episodic memory in 4-year-old children. In contrast, all 3 regions outside the hippocampal memory network were negatively associated with episodic memory in older children, but positively associated with episodic memory in younger children. These interactions are interpreted within an interactive specialization framework and suggest the hippocampus becomes functionally integrated with cortical regions that are part of the hippocampal memory network in adults and functionally segregated from regions unrelated to memory in adults, both of which are associated with age-related improvements in episodic memory ability. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Making the case that episodic recollection is attributable to operations occurring at retrieval rather than to content stored in a dedicated subsystem of long-term memory

PubMed Central

Klein, Stanley B.

2013-01-01

Episodic memory often is conceptualized as a uniquely human system of long-term memory that makes available knowledge accompanied by the temporal and spatial context in which that knowledge was acquired. Retrieval from episodic memory entails a form of first–person subjectivity called autonoetic consciousness that provides a sense that a recollection was something that took place in the experiencer's personal past. In this paper I expand on this definition of episodic memory. Specifically, I suggest that (1) the core features assumed unique to episodic memory are shared by semantic memory, (2) episodic memory cannot be fully understood unless one appreciates that episodic recollection requires the coordinated function of a number of distinct, yet interacting, “enabling” systems. Although these systems—ownership, self, subjective temporality, and agency—are not traditionally viewed as memorial in nature, each is necessary for episodic recollection and jointly they may be sufficient, and (3) the type of subjective awareness provided by episodic recollection (autonoetic) is relational rather than intrinsic—i.e., it can be lost in certain patient populations, thus rendering episodic memory content indistinguishable from the content of semantic long-term memory. PMID:23378832

[Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Processing of Temporal Information in Episodic Memory and Its Disturbance].

PubMed

Iwata, Saeko; Tsukiura, Takashi

2017-11-01

Episodic memory is defined as memory for personally experienced events, and includes memory content and contextual information of time and space. Previous neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies have demonstrated three possible roles of the temporal context in episodic memory. First, temporal information contributes to the arrangement of temporal order for sequential events in episodic memory, and this process is involved in the lateral prefrontal cortex. The second possible role of temporal information in episodic memory is the segregation between memories of multiple events, which are segregated by cues of different time information. The role of segregation is associated with the orbitofrontal regions including the orbitofrontal cortex and basal forebrain region. Third, temporal information in episodic memory plays an important role in the integration of multiple components into a coherent episodic memory, in which episodic components in the different modalities are combined by temporal information as an index. The role of integration is mediated by the medial temporal lobe including the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus. Thus, temporal information in episodic memory could be represented in multiple stages, which are involved in a network of the lateral prefrontal, orbitofrontal, and medial temporal lobe regions.

Episodic memory, semantic memory, and amnesia.

PubMed

Squire, L R; Zola, S M

1998-01-01

Episodic memory and semantic memory are two types of declarative memory. There have been two principal views about how this distinction might be reflected in the organization of memory functions in the brain. One view, that episodic memory and semantic memory are both dependent on the integrity of medial temporal lobe and midline diencephalic structures, predicts that amnesic patients with medial temporal lobe/diencephalic damage should be proportionately impaired in both episodic and semantic memory. An alternative view is that the capacity for semantic memory is spared, or partially spared, in amnesia relative to episodic memory ability. This article reviews two kinds of relevant data: 1) case studies where amnesia has occurred early in childhood, before much of an individual's semantic knowledge has been acquired, and 2) experimental studies with amnesic patients of fact and event learning, remembering and knowing, and remote memory. The data provide no compelling support for the view that episodic and semantic memory are affected differently in medial temporal lobe/diencephalic amnesia. However, episodic and semantic memory may be dissociable in those amnesic patients who additionally have severe frontal lobe damage.

Elements of episodic-like memory in animal models.

PubMed

Crystal, Jonathon D

2009-03-01

Representations of unique events from one's past constitute the content of episodic memories. A number of studies with non-human animals have revealed that animals remember specific episodes from their past (referred to as episodic-like memory). The development of animal models of memory holds enormous potential for gaining insight into the biological bases of human memory. Specifically, given the extensive knowledge of the rodent brain, the development of rodent models of episodic memory would open new opportunities to explore the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, neurophysiological, and molecular mechanisms of memory. Development of such animal models holds enormous potential for studying functional changes in episodic memory in animal models of Alzheimer's disease, amnesia, and other human memory pathologies. This article reviews several approaches that have been used to assess episodic-like memory in animals. The approaches reviewed include the discrimination of what, where, and when in a radial arm maze, dissociation of recollection and familiarity, object recognition, binding, unexpected questions, and anticipation of a reproductive state. The diversity of approaches may promote the development of converging lines of evidence on the difficult problem of assessing episodic-like memory in animals.

The Composition of Episodic Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, Benton J.; And Others

This study examined the interrelationships among a number of episodic memory tasks and among various attributes of memory. A sample of 200 college students was tested for ten sessions; 28 different measures of episodic memory were obtained. In addition, five measures of semantic memory were available. Results indicated that episodic and semantic…

[Nondeclarative memory--neuropsychological findings and neuroanatomic principles].

PubMed

Daum, I; Ackermann, H

1997-03-01

The contents of long-term memory will influence behaviour, even if the acquired knowledge or the original learning episode are not remembered. These phenomena have been termed "non-declarative" or "implicit" memory, and they are contrasted with "declarative" or "explicit" memory which is characterised by conscious search and retrieval procedures. Non-declarative memory encompasses non-associative learning, simple conditioning, priming effects as well as motor, perceptual and cognitive skill acquisition. The dissociation of both forms of memory is documented by studies in health subjects which indicated that experimental manipulations or drugs may differentially affect declarative and non-declarative memory processes. Damage to the medial temporal or the medial thalamic regions is known to result in declarative memory deficits whereas non-declarative memory is largely unaffected by such lesions. Animal research and clinical findings indicate that several components of non-declarative memory such as motor and cognitive skill acquisition or certain types of classical conditioning are dependent upon the integrity of the basal ganglia or the cerebellum. These issues are therefore of increasing importance for the understanding of extrapyramidal and cerebellar diseases. This paper presents recent neuropsychological findings and neuroanatomical data relating to the issue of non-declarative memory.

Contextualization: Memory Formation and Retrieval in a Nested Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piefke, Martina; Markowitsch, Hans J.

Episodic memory functions are highly context-dependent. This is true for both experimental and autobiographical episodic memory. We here review neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence for effects of differential encoding and retrieval contexts on episodic memory performance as well as the underlying neurofunctional mechanisms. In studies of laboratory episodic memory, the influence of context parameters can be assessed by experimental manipulations. Such experiments suggest that contextual variables mainly affect prefrontal functions supporting executive processes involved in episodic learning and retrieval. Context parameters affecting episodic autobiographical memory are far more complex and cannot easily be controlled. Data support the view that not only prefrontal, but also further medial temporal and posterior parietal regions mediating the re-experience and emotional evaluation of personal memories are highly influenced by changing contextual variables of memory encoding and retrieval. Based on our review of available data, we thus suggest that experimental and autobiographical episodic memories are influenced by both overlapping and differential context parameters.

Looking for episodic memory in animals and young children: prospects for a new minimalism.

PubMed

Clayton, Nicola S; Russell, James

2009-09-01

Because animals and young children cannot be interrogated about their experiences it is difficult to conduct research into their episodic memories. The approach to this issue adopted by Clayton and Dickinson [Clayton, N. S., & Dickinson, A. (1998). Episodic-like memory during cache recovery by scrub jays. Nature, 395, 272-274] was to take a conceptually minimalist definition of episodic memory, in terms of integrating information about what was done where and when [Tulving, E. (1972). Episodic and semantic memory. In E. Tulving, & W. Donaldson (Eds.), Organisation of memory (pp. 381-403). New York: Academic Press], and to refer to such memories as 'episodic-like'. Some claim, however, that because animals supposedly lack the conceptual abilities necessary for episodic recall one should properly call these memories 'semantic'. We address this debate with a novel approach to episodic memory, which is minimalist insofar as it focuses on the non-conceptual content of a re-experienced situation. It rests on Kantian assumptions about the necessary 'perspectival' features of any objective experience or re-experience. We show how adopting this perspectival approach can render an episodic interpretation of the animal data more plausible and can also reveal patterns in the mosaic of developmental evidence for episodic memory in humans.

Cannabis-related episodic memory deficits and hippocampal morphological differences in healthy individuals and schizophrenia subjects.

PubMed

Smith, Matthew J; Cobia, Derin J; Reilly, James L; Gilman, Jodi M; Roberts, Andrea G; Alpert, Kathryn I; Wang, Lei; Breiter, Hans C; Csernansky, John G

2015-09-01

Cannabis use has been associated with episodic memory (EM) impairments and abnormal hippocampus morphology among both healthy individuals and schizophrenia subjects. Considering the hippocampus' role in EM, research is needed to evaluate the relationship between cannabis-related hippocampal morphology and EM among healthy and clinical groups. We examined differences in hippocampus morphology between control and schizophrenia subjects with and without a past (not current) cannabis use disorder (CUD). Subjects group-matched on demographics included 44 healthy controls (CON), 10 subjects with a CUD history (CON-CUD), 28 schizophrenia subjects with no history of substance use disorders (SCZ), and 15 schizophrenia subjects with a CUD history (SCZ-CUD). Large-deformation, high-dimensional brain mapping with MRI produced surface-based representations of the hippocampus that were compared across all four groups and correlated with EM and CUD history. Surface maps of the hippocampus were generated to visualize morphological differences. CON-CUD and SCZ-CUD were characterized by distinct cannabis-related hippocampal shape differences and parametric deficits in EM performance. Shape differences observed in CON-CUD were associated with poorer EM performance, while shape differences observed in SCZ-CUD were associated with a longer duration of CUD and shorter duration of CUD remission. A past history of CUD may be associated with notable differences in hippocampal morphology and EM impairments among adults with and without schizophrenia. Although the results may be compatible with a causal hypothesis, we must consider that the observed cannabis-related shape differences in the hippocampus could also be explained as biomarkers of a neurobiological susceptibility to poor memory or the effects of cannabis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Combined Socio-Behavioral Evaluation Improves the Differential Diagnosis Between the Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: In Search of Neuropsychological Markers.

PubMed

Dodich, Alessandra; Cerami, Chiara; Cappa, Stefano F; Marcone, Alessandra; Golzi, Valeria; Zamboni, Michele; Giusti, Maria Cristina; Iannaccone, Sandro

2018-01-01

Current diagnostic criteria for behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and typical Alzheimer's disease (AD) include a differential pattern of neuropsychological impairments (episodic memory deficit in typical AD and dysexecutive syndrome in bvFTD). There is, however, large evidence of a frequent overlap in neuropsychological features, making the differential diagnosis extremely difficult. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the diagnostic value of different cognitive and neurobehavioral markers in bvFTD and AD patient groups. We included 95 dementia patients with a clinical and biomarker evidence of bvFTD (n = 48) or typical AD (n = 47) pathology. A clinical 2-year follow-up confirmed clinical classification. Performances at basic cognitive tasks (memory, executive functions, visuo-spatial, language) as well as social cognition skills and neurobehavioral profiles have been recorded. A stepwise logistic regression model compared the neuropsychological profiles between groups and assessed the accuracy of cognitive and neurobehavioral markers in discriminating bvFTD from AD. Statistical comparison between patient groups proved social cognition and episodic memory impairments as main cognitive signatures of bvFTD and AD neuropsychological profiles, respectively. Only half of bvFTD patients showed attentive/executive deficits, questioning their role as cognitive marker of bvFTD. Notably, the large majority of bvFTD sample (i.e., 70%) poorly performed at delayed recall tasks. Logistic regression analysis identified social cognition performances, Frontal Behavioral Inventory and Mini-Mental State Examination scores as the best combination in distinguishing bvFTD from AD. Social cognition tasks and socio-behavioral questionnaires are recommended in clinical settings to improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of bvFTD.

Constructing realistic engrams: poststimulus activity of hippocampus and dorsal striatum predicts subsequent episodic memory.

PubMed

Ben-Yakov, Aya; Dudai, Yadin

2011-06-15

Encoding of real-life episodic memory commonly involves integration of information as the episode unfolds. Offline processing immediately following event offset is expected to play a role in encoding the episode into memory. In this study, we examined whether distinct human brain activity time-locked to the offset of short narrative audiovisual episodes could predict subsequent memory for the gist of the episodes. We found that a set of brain regions, most prominently the bilateral hippocampus and the bilateral caudate nucleus, exhibit memory-predictive activity time-locked to the stimulus offset. We propose that offline activity in these regions reflects registration to memory of integrated episodes.

Age differences in false memory: The importance of retrieval monitoring processes and their modulation by memory quality.

PubMed

Fandakova, Yana; Sander, Myriam C; Grandy, Thomas H; Cabeza, Roberto; Werkle-Bergner, Markus; Shing, Yee Lee

2018-02-01

Older adults are more likely than younger adults to falsely recall past episodes that occurred differently or not at all. We examined whether older adults' propensity for false associative memory is related to declines in postretrieval monitoring processes and their modulation with varying memory representations. Younger (N = 20) and older adults (N = 32) studied and relearned unrelated scene-word pairs, followed by a final cued recall that was used to distribute the pairs for an associative recognition test 24 hours later. This procedure allowed individualized formation of rearranged pairs that were made up of elements of pairs that were correctly recalled in the final cued recall ("high-quality" pairs), and of pairs that were not correctly recalled ("low-quality" pairs). Both age groups falsely recognized more low-quality than high-quality rearranged pairs, with a less pronounced reduction in false alarms to high-quality pairs in older adults. In younger adults, cingulo-opercular activity was enhanced for false alarms and for low-quality correct rejections, consistent with its role in postretrieval monitoring. Older adults did not show such modulated recruitment, suggesting deficits in their selective engagement of monitoring processes given variability in the fidelity of memory representations. There were no age differences in hippocampal activity, which was higher for high-quality than low-quality correct rejections in both age groups. These results demonstrate that the engagement of cingulo-opercular monitoring mechanisms varies with memory representation quality and contributes to age-related deficits in false associative memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Prefrontal activity and impaired memory encoding strategies in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Guimond, Synthia; Hawco, Colin; Lepage, Martin

2017-08-01

Schizophrenia patients have significant memory difficulties that have far-reaching implications in their daily life. These impairments are partly attributed to an inability to self-initiate effective memory encoding strategies, but its core neurobiological correlates remain unknown. The current study addresses this critical gap in our knowledge of episodic memory impairments in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia patients (n = 35) and healthy controls (n = 23) underwent a Semantic Encoding Memory Task (SEMT) during an fMRI scan. Brain activity was examined for conditions where participants were a) prompted to use semantic encoding strategies, or b) not prompted but required to self-initiate such strategies. When prompted to use semantic encoding strategies, schizophrenia patients exhibited similar recognition performance and brain activity as healthy controls. However, when required to self-initiate these strategies, patients had significant reduced recognition performance and brain activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as well as in the left temporal gyrus, left superior parietal lobule, and cerebellum. When patients were divided based on performance on the SEMT, the subgroup with more severe deficits in self-initiation also showed greater reduction in left dorsolateral prefrontal activity. These results suggest that impaired self-initiation of elaborative encoding strategies is a driving feature of memory deficits in schizophrenia. We also identified the neural correlates of impaired self-initiation of semantic encoding strategies, in which a failure to activate the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays a key role. These findings provide important new targets in the development of novel treatments aiming to improve memory and ultimately patients' outcome. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Behavioural and magnetoencephalographic evidence for the interaction between semantic and episodic memory in healthy elderly subjects.

PubMed

La Corte, Valentina; Dalla Barba, Gianfranco; Lemaréchal, Jean-Didier; Garnero, Line; George, Nathalie

2012-10-01

The relationship between episodic and semantic memory systems has long been debated. Some authors argue that episodic memory is contingent on semantic memory (Tulving 1984), while others postulate that both systems are independent since they can be selectively damaged (Squire 1987). The interaction between these memory systems is particularly important in the elderly, since the dissociation of episodic and semantic memory defects characterize different aging-related pathologies. Here, we investigated the interaction between semantic knowledge and episodic memory processes associated with faces in elderly subjects using an experimental paradigm where the semantic encoding of famous and unknown faces was compared to their episodic recognition. Results showed that the level of semantic awareness of items affected the recognition of those items in the episodic memory task. Event-related magnetic fields confirmed this interaction between episodic and semantic memory: ERFs related to the old/new effect during the episodic task were markedly different for famous and unknown faces. The old/new effect for famous faces involved sustained activities maximal over right temporal sensors, showing a spatio-temporal pattern partly similar to that found for famous versus unknown faces during the semantic task. By contrast, an old/new effect for unknown faces was observed on left parieto-occipital sensors. These findings suggest that the episodic memory for famous faces activated the retrieval of stored semantic information, whereas it was based on items' perceptual features for unknown faces. Overall, our results show that semantic information interfered markedly with episodic memory processes and suggested that the neural substrates of these two memory systems overlap.

Does multitasking mediate the relationships between episodic memory, attention, executive functions and apathetic manifestations in traumatic brain injury?

PubMed

Arnould, Annabelle; Rochat, Lucien; Dromer, Emilie; Azouvi, Philippe; Van der Linden, Martial

2018-03-01

Apathy is frequently described in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI); its negative consequences particularly affect functional independence. Among apathetic manifestations, lack of initiative and lack of interest have mainly been associated with cognitive impairments. However, few studies have been conducted to precisely identify the underlying cognitive processes. Our aims were (1) to determine the best predictor of apathy from among several cognitive processes, including episodic memory and attention/executive mechanisms and multitasking, and (2) to examine to what extent multitasking could mediate the relationships between specific cognitive processes and lack of initiative/interest. Seventy participants (34 patients with TBI matched with 36 control participants) were given a questionnaire to assess anxio-depressive symptoms, four tasks to assess specific cognitive processes, and one task to assess real-life multitasking. Participants' relatives completed an apathy questionnaire. Multitasking, as assessed by the number of goals not achieved, was the only significant predictor of apathetic manifestations. In addition, the mediation analyses revealed that multitasking performance mediated the relationships between verbal episodic memory and lack of initiative/interest, whereas executive and attentional functions were only indirectly related to lack of initiative/interest due to their significant impacts on multitasking. These results shed new light on the aetiology of apathetic manifestations in patients with TBI, indicating how specific cognitive deficits are expressed in real-life multitasking, and consequently, how they may lead to the development and/or maintenance of apathetic manifestations. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Task-Specific and General Cognitive Effects in Chiari Malformation Type I

PubMed Central

Allen, Philip A.; Houston, James R.; Pollock, Joshua W.; Buzzelli, Christopher; Li, Xuan; Harrington, A. Katherine; Martin, Bryn A.; Loth, Francis; Lien, Mei-Ching; Maleki, Jahangir; Luciano, Mark G.

2014-01-01

Objective Our objective was to use episodic memory and executive function tests to determine whether or not Chiari Malformation Type I (CM) patients experience cognitive dysfunction. Background CM is a neurological syndrome in which the cerebellum descends into the cervical spine causing neural compression, severe headaches, neck pain, and number of other physical symptoms. While primarily a disorder of the cervico-medullary junction, both clinicians and researchers have suspected deficits in higher-level cognitive function. Design and Methods We tested 24 CM patients who had undergone decompression neurosurgery and 24 age- and education-matched controls on measures of immediate and delayed episodic memory, as well as three measures of executive function. Results The CM group showed performance decrements relative to the controls in response inhibition (Stroop interference), working memory computational speed (Ospan), and processing speed (automated digit symbol substitution task), but group differences in recall did not reach statistical significance. After statistical control for depression and anxiety scores, the group effects for working memory and processing speed were eliminated, but not for response inhibition. This response inhibition difference was not due to overall general slowing for the CM group, either, because when controls' data were transformed using the linear function fit to all of the reaction time tasks, the interaction with group remained statistically significant. Furthermore, there was a multivariate group effect for all of the response time measures and immediate and delayed recall after statistical control of depression and anxiety scores. Conclusion These results suggest that CM patients with decompression surgery exhibit cognitive dysfunction compared to age- and education-matched controls. While some of these results may be related to anxiety and depression (likely proxies for chronic pain), response inhibition effects, in particular, as well as a general cognitive deficit persisted even after control for anxiety and decompression. PMID:24736676

Episodic Memories in Anxiety Disorders: Clinical Implications

PubMed Central

Zlomuzica, Armin; Dere, Dorothea; Machulska, Alla; Adolph, Dirk; Dere, Ekrem; Margraf, Jürgen

2014-01-01

The aim of this review is to summarize research on the emerging role of episodic memories in the context of anxiety disorders (AD). The available literature on explicit, autobiographical, and episodic memory function in AD including neuroimaging studies is critically discussed. We describe the methodological diversity of episodic memory research in AD and discuss the need for novel tests to measure episodic memory in a clinical setting. We argue that alterations in episodic memory functions might contribute to the etiology of AD. We further explain why future research on the interplay between episodic memory function and emotional disorders as well as its neuroanatomical foundations offers the promise to increase the effectiveness of modern psychological treatments. We conclude that one major task is to develop methods and training programs that might help patients suffering from AD to better understand, interpret, and possibly actively use their episodic memories in a way that would support therapeutic interventions and counteract the occurrence of symptoms. PMID:24795583

Neural Changes Underlying the Development of Episodic Memory During Middle Childhood

PubMed Central

Ghetti, Simona; Bunge, Silvia A.

2012-01-01

Episodic memory is central to the human experience. In typically developing children, episodic memory improves rapidly during middle childhood. While the developmental cognitive neuroscience of episodic memory remains largely uncharted, recent research has begun to provide important insights. It has long been assumed that hippocampus-dependent binding mechanisms are in place by early childhood, and that improvements in episodic memory observed during middle childhood result from the protracted development of the prefrontal cortex. We revisit the notion that binding mechanisms are age-invariant, and propose that changes in the hippocampus and its projections to cortical regions also contribute to the development of episodic memory. We further review the role of developmental changes in lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices in this development. Finally, we discuss changes in white matter tracts connecting brain regions that are critical for episodic memory. Overall, we argue that changes in episodic memory emerge from the concerted effort of a network of relevant brain structures. PMID:22770728

Cognitive Training Using a Novel Memory Game on an iPad in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI)

PubMed Central

Savulich, George; Piercy, Thomas; Fox, Chris; Suckling, John; Rowe, James B; O’Brien, John T

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Cognitive training is effective in patients with mild cognitive impairment but does not typically address the motivational deficits associated with older populations with memory difficulties. Methods We conducted a randomized controlled trial of cognitive training using a novel memory game on an iPad in 42 patients with a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment assigned to either the cognitive training (n=21; 8 hours of gameplay over 4 weeks) or control (n=21; clinic visits as usual) groups. Results Significant time-by-pattern-by-group interactions were found for cognitive performance in terms of the number of errors made and trials needed on the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Paired Associates Learning task (P=.044; P=.027). Significant time-by-group interactions were also found for the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Paired Associates Learning first trial memory score (P=.002), Mini-Mental State Examination (P=.036), the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test (P=.032), and the Apathy Evaluation Scale (P=.026). Within-group comparisons revealed highly specific effects of cognitive training on episodic memory. The cognitive training group maintained high levels of enjoyment and motivation to continue after each hour of gameplay, with self-confidence and self-rated memory ability improving over time. Conclusions Episodic memory robustly improved in the cognitive training group. “Gamified” cognitive training may also enhance visuospatial abilities in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Gamification maximizes engagement with cognitive training by increasing motivation and could complement pharmacological treatments for amnestic mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease. Larger, more controlled trials are needed to replicate and extend these findings. PMID:28898959

Cognitive Training Using a Novel Memory Game on an iPad in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI).

PubMed

Savulich, George; Piercy, Thomas; Fox, Chris; Suckling, John; Rowe, James B; O'Brien, John T; Sahakian, Barbara J

2017-08-01

Cognitive training is effective in patients with mild cognitive impairment but does not typically address the motivational deficits associated with older populations with memory difficulties. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of cognitive training using a novel memory game on an iPad in 42 patients with a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment assigned to either the cognitive training (n=21; 8 hours of gameplay over 4 weeks) or control (n=21; clinic visits as usual) groups. Significant time-by-pattern-by-group interactions were found for cognitive performance in terms of the number of errors made and trials needed on the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Paired Associates Learning task (P=.044; P=.027). Significant time-by-group interactions were also found for the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Paired Associates Learning first trial memory score (P=.002), Mini-Mental State Examination (P=.036), the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test (P=.032), and the Apathy Evaluation Scale (P=.026). Within-group comparisons revealed highly specific effects of cognitive training on episodic memory. The cognitive training group maintained high levels of enjoyment and motivation to continue after each hour of gameplay, with self-confidence and self-rated memory ability improving over time. Episodic memory robustly improved in the cognitive training group. "Gamified" cognitive training may also enhance visuospatial abilities in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Gamification maximizes engagement with cognitive training by increasing motivation and could complement pharmacological treatments for amnestic mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease. Larger, more controlled trials are needed to replicate and extend these findings. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

Aging, Estrogens, and Episodic Memory in Women

PubMed Central

Henderson, Victor W.

2009-01-01

Objective To review the relation in midlife and beyond between estrogen exposures and episodic memory in women. Background Episodic memory performance declines with usual aging, and impairments in episodic memory often portend the development of Alzheimer's disease. In the laboratory, estradiol influences hippocampal function and animal learning. However, it is controversial whether estrogens affect memory after a woman's reproductive years. Method Focused literature review, including a summary of a systematic search of clinical trials of estrogens in which outcomes included an objective measure of episodic memory. Results The natural menopause transition is not associated with objective changes in episodic memory. Strong clinical trial evidence indicates that initiating estrogen-containing hormone therapy after about age 60 years does not benefit episodic memory. Clinical trial findings in middle-age women before age 60 are limited by smaller sample sizes and shorter treatment durations, but these also do not indicate substantial memory effects. Limited short-term evidence, however, suggests that estrogens may improve verbal memory after surgical menopause. Although hormone therapy initiation in old age increases dementia risk, observational studies raise the question of an early critical window during which midlife estrogen therapy reduces late-life Alzheimer's disease. However, almost no data address whether midlife estrogen therapy affects episodic memory in old age. Conclusions Episodic memory is not substantially impacted by the natural menopause transition or improved by use of estrogen-containing hormone therapy after age 60. Further research is needed to determine whether outcomes differ after surgical menopause or whether episodic memory later in life is modified by midlife estrogenic exposures. PMID:19996872

Effects of saccadic bilateral eye movements on episodic and semantic autobiographical memory fluency.

PubMed

Parker, Andrew; Parkin, Adam; Dagnall, Neil

2013-01-01

Performing a sequence of fast saccadic horizontal eye movements has been shown to facilitate performance on a range of cognitive tasks, including the retrieval of episodic memories. One explanation for these effects is based on the hypothesis that saccadic eye movements increase hemispheric interaction, and that such interactions are important for particular types of memory. The aim of the current research was to assess the effect of horizontal saccadic eye movements on the retrieval of both episodic autobiographical memory (event/incident based memory) and semantic autobiographical memory (fact based memory) over recent and more distant time periods. It was found that saccadic eye movements facilitated the retrieval of episodic autobiographical memories (over all time periods) but not semantic autobiographical memories. In addition, eye movements did not enhance the retrieval of non-autobiographical semantic memory. This finding illustrates a dissociation between the episodic and semantic characteristics of personal memory and is considered within the context of hemispheric contributions to episodic memory performance.

Effects of Saccadic Bilateral Eye Movements on Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory Fluency

PubMed Central

Parker, Andrew; Parkin, Adam; Dagnall, Neil

2013-01-01

Performing a sequence of fast saccadic horizontal eye movements has been shown to facilitate performance on a range of cognitive tasks, including the retrieval of episodic memories. One explanation for these effects is based on the hypothesis that saccadic eye movements increase hemispheric interaction, and that such interactions are important for particular types of memory. The aim of the current research was to assess the effect of horizontal saccadic eye movements on the retrieval of both episodic autobiographical memory (event/incident based memory) and semantic autobiographical memory (fact based memory) over recent and more distant time periods. It was found that saccadic eye movements facilitated the retrieval of episodic autobiographical memories (over all time periods) but not semantic autobiographical memories. In addition, eye movements did not enhance the retrieval of non-autobiographical semantic memory. This finding illustrates a dissociation between the episodic and semantic characteristics of personal memory and is considered within the context of hemispheric contributions to episodic memory performance. PMID:24133435

Aging-related episodic memory decline: are emotions the key?

PubMed Central

Kinugawa, Kiyoka; Schumm, Sophie; Pollina, Monica; Depre, Marion; Jungbluth, Carolin; Doulazmi, Mohamed; Sebban, Claude; Zlomuzica, Armin; Pietrowsky, Reinhard; Pause, Bettina; Mariani, Jean; Dere, Ekrem

2013-01-01

Episodic memory refers to the recollection of personal experiences that contain information on what has happened and also where and when these events took place. Episodic memory function is extremely sensitive to cerebral aging and neurodegerative diseases. We examined episodic memory performance with a novel test in young (N = 17, age: 21–45), middle-aged (N = 16, age: 48–62) and aged but otherwise healthy participants (N = 8, age: 71–83) along with measurements of trait and state anxiety. As expected we found significantly impaired episodic memory performance in the aged group as compared to the young group. The aged group also showed impaired working memory performance as well as significantly decreased levels of trait anxiety. No significant correlation between the total episodic memory and trait or state anxiety scores was found. The present results show an age-dependent episodic memory decline along with lower trait anxiety in the aged group. Yet, it still remains to be determined whether this difference in anxiety is related to the impaired episodic memory performance in the aged group. PMID:23378831

Plastic modulation of episodic memory networks in the aging brain with cognitive decline.

PubMed

Bai, Feng; Yuan, Yonggui; Yu, Hui; Zhang, Zhijun

2016-07-15

Social-cognitive processing has been posited to underlie general functions such as episodic memory. Episodic memory impairment is a recognized hallmark of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) who is at a high risk for dementia. Three canonical networks, self-referential processing, executive control processing and salience processing, have distinct roles in episodic memory retrieval processing. It remains unclear whether and how these sub-networks of the episodic memory retrieval system would be affected in aMCI. This task-state fMRI study constructed systems-level episodic memory retrieval sub-networks in 28 aMCI and 23 controls using two computational approaches: a multiple region-of-interest based approach and a voxel-level functional connectivity-based approach, respectively. These approaches produced the remarkably similar findings that the self-referential processing network made critical contributions to episodic memory retrieval in aMCI. More conspicuous alterations in self-referential processing of the episodic memory retrieval network were identified in aMCI. In order to complete a given episodic memory retrieval task, increases in cooperation between the self-referential processing network and other sub-networks were mobilized in aMCI. Self-referential processing mediate the cooperation of the episodic memory retrieval sub-networks as it may help to achieve neural plasticity and may contribute to the prevention and treatment of dementia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Poorer Visual Acuity Is Associated with Declines in Cognitive Performance Across Multiple Cognitive Domains: The Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study.

PubMed

Dearborn, Peter J; Elias, Merrill F; Sullivan, Kevin J; Sullivan, Cara E; Robbins, Michael A

2018-06-21

Prior studies have found associations between visual acuity (VA) and cognitive function. However, these studies used a limited range of cognitive measures and did not control for cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVD-RFs) and baseline function. The primary objective of this study was to analyze the associations of VA and cognitive performance using a thorough neuropsychological test battery. This study used community-dwelling sample data across the sixth (2001-2006) and seventh (2006-2010) waves of the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (n=655). Wave 6 VA as measured by the Snellen Eye Test was the primary predictor of wave 6 and wave 7 Global cognitive performance, Visual-Spatial Organization and Memory, Verbal Episodic Memory, Working Memory, Scanning and Tracking, and Executive Function. Additionally, VA was used to predict longitudinal changes in wave 7 cognitive performance (wave 6 performance adjusted). We analyzed these relationships with multiple linear and logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, ethnicity, depressive symptoms, physical function deficits in addition to CVD-RFs, chronic kidney disease, homocysteine, continuous systolic blood pressure, and hypertension status. Adjusted for demographic covariates and CVD-RFs, poorer VA was associated with concurrent and approximate 5-year declines in Global cognitive function, Visual-Spatial Organization and Memory, and Verbal Episodic Memory. VA may be used in combination with other screening measures to determine risk for cognitive decline. (JINS, 2018, 24, 1-9).

Autobiographically significant concepts: more episodic than semantic in nature? An electrophysiological investigation of overlapping types of memory.

PubMed

Renoult, Louis; Davidson, Patrick S R; Schmitz, Erika; Park, Lillian; Campbell, Kenneth; Moscovitch, Morris; Levine, Brian

2015-01-01

A common assertion is that semantic memory emerges from episodic memory, shedding the distinctive contexts associated with episodes over time and/or repeated instances. Some semantic concepts, however, may retain their episodic origins or acquire episodic information during life experiences. The current study examined this hypothesis by investigating the ERP correlates of autobiographically significant (AS) concepts, that is, semantic concepts that are associated with vivid episodic memories. We inferred the contribution of semantic and episodic memory to AS concepts using the amplitudes of the N400 and late positive component, respectively. We compared famous names that easily brought to mind episodic memories (high AS names) against equally famous names that did not bring such recollections to mind (low AS names) on a semantic task (fame judgment) and an episodic task (recognition memory). Compared with low AS names, high AS names were associated with increased amplitude of the late positive component in both tasks. Moreover, in the recognition task, this effect of AS was highly correlated with recognition confidence. In contrast, the N400 component did not differentiate the high versus low AS names but, instead, was related to the amount of general knowledge participants had regarding each name. These results suggest that semantic concepts high in AS, such as famous names, have an episodic component and are associated with similar brain processes to those that are engaged by episodic memory. Studying AS concepts may provide unique insights into how episodic and semantic memory interact.

Resveratrol Supplementation Did Not Improve Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia: Results from a Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Zortea, Karine; Franco, Viviane C; Guimarães, Paula; Belmonte-de-Abreu, Paulo S

2016-01-01

Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with psychotic experiences and cognitive deficits. Therefore, cognitive function is one of the most critical determinants of quality of life in this pathology. Resveratrol has been related to neuroprotective action, but there are no studies evaluating resveratrol in SZ. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of resveratrol supplementation on cognition in individuals with SZ. This is a 1-month randomized, double-blind, and controlled trial (NCT 02062190), in which 19 men with diagnosis of SZ, aged 18-65 years, were assigned to a resveratrol supplementation group (200 mg) or placebo group (200 mg), with a 1-month follow-up. Applying a series of cognitive tests assessed neuropsychology performance (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Stroop Color and Word Test, and Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale assessed psychopathology severity. There were no significant improvement in neuropsychology performance (episodic memory, working memory, attention and concentration capacity, inhibitory control, interference measures, selective attention, and mental flexibility) and psychopathology severity after 1 month of resveratrol supplementation ( P  > 0.05). In conclusion, we have shown that 1 month of a resveratrol supplementation (200 mg/day) did not improve episodic memory, working memory, attention and concentration capacity, inhibitory control, interference measures, selective attention, and mental flexibility as compared with placebo in patients with SZ.

Hippocampal activation during retrieval of spatial context from episodic and semantic memory.

PubMed

Hoscheidt, Siobhan M; Nadel, Lynn; Payne, Jessica; Ryan, Lee

2010-10-15

The hippocampus, a region implicated in the processing of spatial information and episodic memory, is central to the debate concerning the relationship between episodic and semantic memory. Studies of medial temporal lobe amnesic patients provide evidence that the hippocampus is critical for the retrieval of episodic but not semantic memory. On the other hand, recent neuroimaging studies of intact individuals report hippocampal activation during retrieval of both autobiographical memories and semantic information that includes historical facts, famous faces, and categorical information, suggesting that episodic and semantic memory may engage the hippocampus during memory retrieval in similar ways. Few studies have matched episodic and semantic tasks for the degree to which they include spatial content, even though spatial content may be what drives hippocampal activation during semantic retrieval. To examine this issue, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which retrieval of spatial and nonspatial information was compared during an episodic and semantic recognition task. Results show that the hippocampus (1) participates preferentially in the retrieval of episodic memories; (2) is also engaged by retrieval of semantic memories, particularly those that include spatial information. These data suggest that sharp dissociations between episodic and semantic memory may be overly simplistic and that the hippocampus plays a role in the retrieval of spatial content whether drawn from a memory of one's own life experiences or real-world semantic knowledge. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Computerised working memory based cognitive remediation therapy does not affect Reading the Mind in the Eyes test performance or neural activity during a Facial Emotion Recognition test in psychosis.

PubMed

Mothersill, David; Dillon, Rachael; Hargreaves, April; Castorina, Marco; Furey, Emilia; Fagan, Andrew J; Meaney, James F; Fitzmaurice, Brian; Hallahan, Brian; McDonald, Colm; Wykes, Til; Corvin, Aiden; Robertson, Ian H; Donohoe, Gary

2018-05-27

Working memory based cognitive remediation therapy (CT) for psychosis has recently been associated with broad improvements in performance on untrained tasks measuring working memory, episodic memory and IQ, and changes in associated brain regions. However, it is unclear if these improvements transfer to the domain of social cognition and neural activity related to performance on social cognitive tasks. We examined performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (Eyes test) in a large sample of participants with psychosis who underwent working memory based CT (N = 43) compared to a Control Group of participants with psychosis (N = 35). In a subset of this sample, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine changes in neural activity during a facial emotion recognition task in participants who underwent CT (N = 15) compared to a Control Group (N = 15). No significant effects of CT were observed on Eyes test performance or on neural activity during facial emotion recognition, either at p<0.05 family-wise error, or at a p<0.001 uncorrected threshold, within a priori social cognitive regions of interest. This study suggests that working memory based CT does not significantly impact an aspect of social cognition which was measured behaviourally and neurally. It provides further evidence that deficits in the ability to decode mental state from facial expressions are dissociable from working memory deficits, and suggests that future CT programs should target social cognition in addition to working memory for the purposes of further enhancing social function. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A Mathematical Model for the Hippocampus: Towards the Understanding of Episodic Memory and Imagination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuda, I.; Yamaguti, Y.; Kuroda, S.; Fukushima, Y.; Tsukada, M.

How does the brain encode episode? Based on the fact that the hippocampus is responsible for the formation of episodic memory, we have proposed a mathematical model for the hippocampus. Because episodic memory includes a time series of events, an underlying dynamics for the formation of episodic memory is considered to employ an association of memories. David Marr correctly pointed out in his theory of archecortex for a simple memory that the hippocampal CA3 is responsible for the formation of associative memories. However, a conventional mathematical model of associative memory simply guarantees a single association of memory unless a rule for an order of successive association of memories is given. The recent clinical studies in Maguire's group for the patients with the hippocampal lesion show that the patients cannot make a new story, because of the lack of ability of imagining new things. Both episodic memory and imagining things include various common characteristics: imagery, the sense of now, retrieval of semantic information, and narrative structures. Taking into account these findings, we propose a mathematical model of the hippocampus in order to understand the common mechanism of episodic memory and imagination.

Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory and Everyday Memory during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence

PubMed Central

Willoughby, Karen A.; Desrocher, Mary; Levine, Brian; Rovet, Joanne F.

2012-01-01

Few studies have examined both episodic and semantic autobiographical memory (AM) performance during late childhood and early adolescence. Using the newly developed Children’s Autobiographical Interview (CAI), the present study examined the effects of age and sex on episodic and semantic AM and everyday memory in 182 children and adolescents. Results indicated that episodic and semantic AM both improved between 8 and 16 years of age; however, age-related changes were larger for episodic AM than for semantic AM. In addition, females were found to recall more episodic AM details, but not more semantic AM details, than males. Importantly, this sex difference in episodic AM recall was attenuated under conditions of high retrieval support (i.e., the use of probing questions). The ability to clearly visualize past events at the time of recollection was related to children’s episodic AM recall performance, particularly the retrieval of perceptual details. Finally, similar age and sex effects were found between episodic AM and everyday memory ability (e.g., memory for everyday activities). More specifically, older participants and females exhibited better episodic AM and everyday memory performance than younger participants and males. Overall, the present study provides important new insight into both episodic and semantic AM performance, as well as the relation between episodic AM and everyday memory, during late childhood and adolescence. PMID:22403560

Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory and Everyday Memory during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence.

PubMed

Willoughby, Karen A; Desrocher, Mary; Levine, Brian; Rovet, Joanne F

2012-01-01

Few studies have examined both episodic and semantic autobiographical memory (AM) performance during late childhood and early adolescence. Using the newly developed Children's Autobiographical Interview (CAI), the present study examined the effects of age and sex on episodic and semantic AM and everyday memory in 182 children and adolescents. Results indicated that episodic and semantic AM both improved between 8 and 16 years of age; however, age-related changes were larger for episodic AM than for semantic AM. In addition, females were found to recall more episodic AM details, but not more semantic AM details, than males. Importantly, this sex difference in episodic AM recall was attenuated under conditions of high retrieval support (i.e., the use of probing questions). The ability to clearly visualize past events at the time of recollection was related to children's episodic AM recall performance, particularly the retrieval of perceptual details. Finally, similar age and sex effects were found between episodic AM and everyday memory ability (e.g., memory for everyday activities). More specifically, older participants and females exhibited better episodic AM and everyday memory performance than younger participants and males. Overall, the present study provides important new insight into both episodic and semantic AM performance, as well as the relation between episodic AM and everyday memory, during late childhood and adolescence.

Episodic and Semantic Aspects of Memory for Prose.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dooling, D. James

This report describes research on Bartlett's theory of constructive memory. In experiment one, schematic retention is related to Tulving's distinction between episodic and semantic memory. With the passage of time, memory for prose reflects decreasing output from episodic memory and increasing output from semantic memory. In experiment two,…

Episode-Centered Guidelines for Teacher Belief Change toward Technology Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Er, Erkan; Kim, ChanMin

2017-01-01

Teachers' episodic memories influence their beliefs. The investigation of episodic memories can help identify the teacher beliefs that limit technology-integration. We propose the Episode-Centered Belief Change (ECBC) model that utilizes teachers' episodic memories for changing beliefs impeding effective technology integration. We also propose…

Apolipoprotein E ε4 influences on episodic recall and brain structures in aging pilots

PubMed Central

Adamson, Maheen M.; Landy, Kelly M.; Duong, Susan; Fox-Bosetti, Sabrina; Ashford, J. Wesson; Murphy, Greer M.; Weiner, Michael; Taylor, Joy L.

2008-01-01

The apolipoprotein (APOE) ε4 allele is associated with cognitive deficits and hippocampal atrophy in nondemented middle-aged and older adults. It is not known to what extent this genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) impacts performance in late middle-aged and older workers in cognitively demanding occupations. This cross-sectional analysis examines brain–cognitive–genetic relationships in actively flying general aviation pilots, half of whom are APOE ε4 carriers. Fifty pilots were studied with structural MRI and memory tasks. Average visual paired associate memory recall performance was lower in APOE ε4 carriers than non-carriers. Memory performance correlated positively with hippocampal volume, but no structural differences were found in hippocampal or frontal volumes with respect to APOE ε4 allele. These results were evident in healthy professionals without any presenting memory problems and without selection for a family history of AD. These findings point to basic memory testing as a sensitive tool for detecting APOE ε4 -related influences on memory in aging workers. PMID:18760504

Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 influences on episodic recall and brain structures in aging pilots.

PubMed

Adamson, Maheen M; Landy, Kelly M; Duong, Susan; Fox-Bosetti, Sabrina; Ashford, J Wesson; Murphy, Greer M; Weiner, Michael; Taylor, Joy L

2010-06-01

The apolipoprotein (APOE) epsilon4 allele is associated with cognitive deficits and hippocampal atrophy in nondemented middle-aged and older adults. It is not known to what extent this genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) impacts performance in late middle-aged and older workers in cognitively demanding occupations. This cross-sectional analysis examines brain-cognitive-genetic relationships in actively flying general aviation pilots, half of whom are APOE epsilon4 carriers. Fifty pilots were studied with structural MRI and memory tasks. Average visual paired associate memory recall performance was lower in APOE epsilon4 carriers than non-carriers. Memory performance correlated positively with hippocampal volume, but no structural differences were found in hippocampal or frontal volumes with respect to APOE epsilon4 allele. These results were evident in healthy professionals without any presenting memory problems and without selection for a family history of AD. These findings point to basic memory testing as a sensitive tool for detecting APOE epsilon4-related influences on memory in aging workers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry in episodic memory: positron emission tomography findings.

PubMed Central

Tulving, E; Kapur, S; Craik, F I; Moscovitch, M; Houle, S

1994-01-01

Data are reviewed from positron emission tomography studies of encoding and retrieval processes in episodic memory. These data suggest a hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry model of prefrontal involvement in encoding and retrieval of episodic memory. According to this model, the left and right prefrontal lobes are part of an extensive neuronal network that subserves episodic remembering, but the two prefrontal hemispheres play different roles. Left prefrontal cortical regions are differentially more involved in retrieval of information from semantic memory and in simultaneously encoding novel aspects of the retrieved information into episodic memory. Right prefrontal cortical regions, on the other hand, are differentially more involved in episodic memory retrieval. PMID:8134342

Prospective Memory Impairments in Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia: Clinical and Neural Correlates.

PubMed

Dermody, Nadene; Hornberger, Michael; Piguet, Olivier; Hodges, John R; Irish, Muireann

2016-01-01

Prospective memory (PM) refers to a future-oriented form of memory in which the individual must remember to execute an intended action either at a future point in time (Time-based) or in response to a specific event (Event-based). Lapses in PM are commonly exhibited in neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), however, the neurocognitive mechanisms driving these deficits remain unknown. To investigate the clinical and neural correlates of Time- and Event-based PM disruption in AD and the behavioral-variant FTD (bvFTD). Twelve AD, 12 bvFTD, and 12 healthy older Control participants completed a modified version of the Cambridge Prospective Memory test, which examines Time- and Event-based aspects of PM. All participants completed a standard neuropsychological assessment and underwent whole-brain structural MRI. AD and bvFTD patients displayed striking impairments across Time- and Event-based PM relative to Controls, however, Time-based PM was disproportionately affected in the AD group. Episodic memory dysfunction and hippocampal atrophy were found to correlate strongly with PM integrity in both patient groups, however, dissociable neural substrates were also evident for PM performance across dementia syndromes. Our study reveals the multifaceted nature of PM dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders, and suggests common and dissociable neurocognitive mechanisms, which subtend these deficits in each patient group. Future studies of PM disturbance in dementia syndromes will be crucial for the development of successful interventions to improve functional independence in the patient's daily life.

Information Warfare: Evaluation of Operator Information Processing Models

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-10-01

that people can describe or report, including both episodic and semantic information. Declarative memory contains a network of knowledge represented...second dimension corresponds roughly to the distinction between episodic and semantic memory that is commonly made in cognitive psychology. Episodic ...3 is long-term memory for the discourse, a subset of episodic memory . Partition 4 is long-term semantic memory , or the knowledge-base. According to

Interdependence of episodic and semantic memory: evidence from neuropsychology.

PubMed

Greenberg, Daniel L; Verfaellie, Mieke

2010-09-01

Tulving's (1972) theory of memory draws a distinction between general knowledge (semantic memory) and memory for events (episodic memory). Neuropsychological studies have generally examined each type of memory in isolation, but theorists have long argued that these two forms of memory are interdependent. Here we review several lines of neuropsychological research that have explored the interdependence of episodic and semantic memory. The studies show that these forms of memory can affect each other both at encoding and at retrieval. We suggest that theories of memory should be revised to account for all of the interdependencies between episodic and semantic memory; they should also incorporate forms of memory that do not fit neatly into either category.

Interdependence of episodic and semantic memory: Evidence from neuropsychology

PubMed Central

GREENBERG, DANIEL L.; VERFAELLIE, MIEKE

2010-01-01

Tulving's (1972) theory of memory draws a distinction between general knowledge (semantic memory) and memory for events (episodic memory). Neuropsychological studies have generally examined each type of memory in isolation, but theorists have long argued that these two forms of memory are interdependent. Here we review several lines of neuropsychological research that have explored the interdependence of episodic and semantic memory. The studies show that these forms of memory can affect each other both at encoding and at retrieval. We suggest that theories of memory should be revised to account for all of the interdependencies between episodic and semantic memory; they should also incorporate forms of memory that do not fit neatly into either category. PMID:20561378

Sex differences in episodic memory: the impact of verbal and visuospatial ability.

PubMed

Herlitz, A; Airaksinen, E; Nordström, E

1999-10-01

The impact of verbal and visuospatial ability on sex differences in episodic memory was investigated. One hundred men and 100 women, 2040 years old, participated in a series of verbal and visuospatial tasks. Episodic memory was assessed in tasks that, to a greater or lesser extent, were verbal or visuospatial in nature. Results showed that women excelled in verbal production tasks and that men performed at a superior level on a mental rotation task. In addition, women tended to perform at a higher level than men on most episodic memory tasks. Taken together, the results demonstrated that (a) women perform at a higher level than men on most verbal episodic memory tasks and on some episodic memory tasks with a visuospatial component, and (b) women's higher performance on episodic memory tasks cannot fully be explained by their superior performance on verbal production tasks.

Hyperactivity and memory/learning deficits evoked by developmental exposure to nicotine and/or ethanol are mitigated by cAMP and cGMP signaling cascades activation.

PubMed

Abreu-Villaça, Yael; Carvalho-Graça, Anna C; Skinner, Gabriela; Lotufo, Bruna M; Duarte-Pinheiro, Vitor H S; Ribeiro-Carvalho, Anderson; Manhães, Alex C; Filgueiras, Claudio C

2018-05-01

Pregnant smoking women are frequently episodic drinkers. Here, we investigated whether ethanol exposure restricted to the brain growth spurt period when combined with chronic developmental exposure to nicotine aggravates memory/learning deficits and hyperactivity, and associated cAMP and cGMP signaling disruption. To further investigate the role of these signaling cascades, we verified whether vinpocetine (a phosphodiesterase inhibitor) ameliorates the neurochemical and behavioral outcomes. Swiss mice had free access to nicotine (NIC, 50 μg/ml) or water to drink during gestation and until the 8th postnatal day (PN8). Ethanol (ETOH, 5 g/kg, i.p.) or saline were injected in the pups every other day from PN2 to PN8. At PN30, animals either received vinpocetine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle before being tested in the step-down passive avoidance or open field. Memory/learning was impaired in NIC, ETOH and NIC + ETOH mice, and vinpocetine mitigated ETOH- and NIC + ETOH-induced deficits. Locomotor hyperactivity identified in ETOH and NIC + ETOH mice was ameliorated by vinpocetine. While cyclic nucleotides levels in cerebral cortex and hippocampus were reduced by NIC, ETOH and NIC + ETOH, this outcome was more consistent in the latter group. As observed for behavior, vinpocetine normalized NIC + ETOH nucleotides levels. pCREB levels were also increased in response to vinpocetine, with stronger effects in the NIC + ETOH group. Exposure to both drugs of abuse worsens behavioral and neurochemical disruption. These findings and the amelioration of deleterious effects by vinpocetine support the idea that cAMP and cGMP signaling contribute to nicotine- and ethanol-induced hyperactivity and memory/learning deficits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developmental Differences in Relations between Episodic Memory and Hippocampal Subregion Volume during Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riggins, Tracy; Blankenship, Sarah L.; Mulligan, Elizabeth; Rice, Katherine; Redcay, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Episodic memory shows striking improvement during early childhood. However, neural contributions to these behavioral changes are not well understood. This study examined associations between episodic memory and volume of subregions (head, body, and tail) of the hippocampus--a structure known to support episodic memory in school-aged children and…

Episodic autobiographical memory is associated with variation in the size of hippocampal subregions.

PubMed

Palombo, Daniela J; Bacopulos, Agnes; Amaral, Robert S C; Olsen, Rosanna K; Todd, Rebecca M; Anderson, Adam K; Levine, Brian

2018-02-01

Striking individual differences exist in the human capacity to recollect past events, yet, little is known about the neural correlates of such individual differences. Studies investigating hippocampal volume in relation to individual differences in laboratory measures of episodic memory in young adults suggest that whole hippocampal volume is unrelated (or even negatively associated) with episodic memory. However, anatomical and functional specialization across hippocampal subregions suggests that individual differences in episodic memory may be linked to particular hippocampal subregions, as opposed to whole hippocampal volume. Given that the DG/CA 2/3 circuitry is thought to be especially critical for supporting episodic memory in humans, we predicted that the volume of this region would be associated with individual variability in episodic memory. This prediction was supported using high-resolution MRI of the hippocampal subfields and measures of real-world (autobiographical) episodic memory. In addition to the association with DG/CA 2/3 , we further observed a relationship between episodic autobiographical memory and subiculum volume, whereas no association was observed with CA 1 or with whole hippocampal volume. These findings provide insight into the possible neural substrates that mediate individual differences in real-world episodic remembering in humans. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Gender differences in episodic memory and visual working memory including the effects of age.

PubMed

Pauls, Franz; Petermann, Franz; Lepach, Anja Christina

2013-01-01

Analysing the relationship between gender and memory, and examining the effects of age on the overall memory-related functioning, are the ongoing goals of psychological research. The present study examined gender and age group differences in episodic memory with respect to the type of task. In addition, these subgroup differences were also analysed in visual working memory. A sample of 366 women and 330 men, aged between 16 and 69 years of age, participated in the current study. Results indicate that women outperformed men on auditory memory tasks, whereas male adolescents and older male adults showed higher level performances on visual episodic and visual working memory measures. However, the size of gender-linked effects varied somewhat across age groups. Furthermore, results partly support a declining performance on episodic memory and visual working memory measures with increasing age. Although age-related losses in episodic memory could not be explained by a decreasing verbal and visuospatial ability with age, women's advantage in auditory episodic memory could be explained by their advantage in verbal ability. Men's higher level visual episodic memory performance was found to result from their advantage in visuospatial ability. Finally, possible methodological, biological, and cognitive explanations for the current findings are discussed.

The Pivotal Role of Semantic Memory in Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

PubMed Central

Irish, Muireann; Piguet, Olivier

2013-01-01

Episodic memory refers to a complex and multifaceted process which enables the retrieval of richly detailed evocative memories from the past. In contrast, semantic memory is conceptualized as the retrieval of general conceptual knowledge divested of a specific spatiotemporal context. The neural substrates of the episodic and semantic memory systems have been dissociated in healthy individuals during functional imaging studies, and in clinical cohorts, leading to the prevailing view that episodic and semantic memory represent functionally distinct systems subtended by discrete neurobiological substrates. Importantly, however, converging evidence focusing on widespread neural networks now points to significant overlap between those regions essential for retrieval of autobiographical memories, episodic learning, and semantic processing. Here we review recent advances in episodic memory research focusing on neurodegenerative populations which has proved revelatory for our understanding of the complex interplay between episodic and semantic memory. Whereas episodic memory research has traditionally focused on retrieval of autobiographical events from the past, we also include evidence from the recent paradigm shift in which episodic memory is viewed as an adaptive and constructive process which facilitates the imagining of possible events in the future. We examine the available evidence which converges to highlight the pivotal role of semantic memory in providing schemas and meaning whether one is engaged in autobiographical retrieval for the past, or indeed, is endeavoring to construct a plausible scenario of an event in the future. It therefore seems plausible to contend that semantic processing may underlie most, if not all, forms of episodic memory, irrespective of temporal condition. PMID:23565081

The role of the thalamus and hippocampus in episodic memory performance in patients with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Koenig, Katherine A; Rao, Stephen M; Lowe, Mark J; Lin, Jian; Sakaie, Ken E; Stone, Lael; Bermel, Robert A; Trapp, Bruce D; Phillips, Micheal D

2018-03-01

Episodic memory loss is one of the most common cognitive symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), but the pathophysiology of this symptom remains unclear. Both the hippocampus and thalamus have been implicated in episodic memory and show regional atrophy in patients with MS. In this work, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a verbal episodic memory task, lesion load, and volumetric measures of the hippocampus and thalamus to assess the relative contributions to verbal and visual-spatial episodic memory. Functional activation, lesion load, and volumetric measures from 32 patients with MS and 16 healthy controls were used in a predictive analysis of episodic memory function. After adjusting for disease duration, immediate recall performance on a visual-spatial episodic memory task was significantly predicted by hippocampal volume ( p < 0.003). Delayed recall on the same task was significantly predicted by volume of the left thalamus ( p < 0.003). For both memory measures, functional activation of the thalamus during encoding was more predictive than that of volume measures ( p < 0.002). Our results suggest that functional activation may be useful as a predictive measure of episodic memory loss in patients with MS.

RP5063, an atypical antipsychotic drug with a unique pharmacologic profile, improves declarative memory and psychosis in mouse models of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Rajagopal, Lakshmi; Kwon, Sunoh; Huang, Mei; Michael, Eric; Bhat, Laxminarayan; Cantillon, Marc; Meltzer, Herbert Y

2017-08-14

Various types of atypical antipsychotic drugs (AAPDs) modestly improve the cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). RP5063 is an AAPD with a diverse and unique pharmacology, including partial agonism at dopamine (DA) D 2 , D 3 , D 4 , serotonin (5-HT) 1A , and 5-HT 2A receptors (Rs), full agonism at α 4 β 2 nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh)R (nAChR), and antagonism at 5-HT 2B , 5-HT 6 , and 5-HT 7 Rs. Most atypical APDs are 5-HT 2A inverse agonists. The efficacy of RP5063 in mouse models of psychosis and episodic memory were studied. RP5063 blocked acute phencyclidine (PCP)-as well as amphetamine-induced hyperactivity, indicating antipsychotic activity. Acute administration of RP5063 significantly reversed subchronic (sc)PCP-induced impairment in novel object recognition (NOR), a measure of episodic memory, but not reversal learning, a measure of executive function. Co-administration of a sub-effective dose (SED) of RP5063 with SEDs of a 5-HT 7 R antagonist, a 5-HT 1B R antagonist, a 5-HT 2A R inverse agonist, or an α 4 β 2 nAChR agonist, restored the ability of RP5063 to ameliorate the NOR deficit in scPCP mice. Pre-treatment with a 5-HT 1A R, a D 4 R, antagonist, but not an α 4 β 2 nAChR antagonist, blocked the ameliorating effect of RP5063. Further, co-administration of scRP5063 prior to each dose of PCP prevented the effect of PCP to produce a deficit in NOR for one week. RP5063, given to scPCP-treated mice for one week restored NOR for one week only. Acute administration of RP5063 significantly increased cortical DA efflux, which may be critical to some of its cognitive enhancing properties. These results indicate that RP5063, by itself, or as an adjunctive treatment has a multifaceted basis for improving some cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Age-related cognitive impairment is associated with long-term neuroinflammation and oxidative stress in a mouse model of episodic systemic inflammation.

PubMed

d'Avila, Joana Costa; Siqueira, Luciana Domett; Mazeraud, Aurélien; Azevedo, Estefania Pereira; Foguel, Debora; Castro-Faria-Neto, Hugo Caire; Sharshar, Tarek; Chrétien, Fabrice; Bozza, Fernando Augusto

2018-01-30

Microglia function is essential to maintain the brain homeostasis. Evidence shows that aged microglia are primed and show exaggerated response to acute inflammatory challenge. Systemic inflammation signals to the brain inducing changes that impact cognitive function. However, the mechanisms involved in age-related cognitive decline associated to episodic systemic inflammation are not completely understood. The aim of this study was to identify neuropathological features associated to age-related cognitive decline in a mouse model of episodic systemic inflammation. Young and aged Swiss mice were injected with low doses of LPS once a week for 6 weeks to induce episodic systemic inflammation. Sickness behavior, inflammatory markers, and neuroinflammation were assessed in different phases of systemic inflammation in young and aged mice. Behavior was evaluated long term after episodic systemic inflammation by open field, forced swimming, object recognition, and water maze tests. Episodic systemic inflammation induced systemic inflammation and sickness behavior mainly in aged mice. Systemic inflammation induced depressive-like behavior in both young and aged mice. Memory and learning were significantly affected in aged mice that presented lower exploratory activity and deficits in episodic and spatial memories, compared to aged controls and to young after episodic systemic inflammation. Systemic inflammation induced acute microglia activation in young mice that returned to base levels long term after episodic systemic inflammation. Aged mice presented dystrophic microglia in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex at basal level and did not change morphology in the acute response to SI. Regardless of their dystrophic microglia, aged mice produced higher levels of pro-inflammatory (IL-1β and IL-6) as well as pro-resolution (IL-10 and IL-4) cytokines in the brain. Also, higher levels of Nox2 expression, oxidized proteins and lower antioxidant defenses were found in the aged brains compared to the young after episodic systemic inflammation. Our data show that aged mice have increased susceptibility to episodic systemic inflammation. Aged mice that showed cognitive impairments also presented higher oxidative stress and abnormal production of cytokines in their brains. These results indicate that a neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are pathophysiological mechanisms of age-related cognitive impairments.

Differential neural correlates of autobiographical memory recall in bipolar and unipolar depression.

PubMed

Young, Kymberly D; Bodurka, Jerzy; Drevets, Wayne C

2016-11-01

Autobiographical memory (AM) recall is impaired in both bipolar depression (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate differences between healthy controls (HCs) and depressed participants with either BD or MDD as they recalled AMs that varied in emotional valence. Unmedicated adults in a current major depressive episode who met criteria for either MDD or BD and HCs (n=16/group) underwent fMRI while recalling AMs in response to emotionally valenced cue words. Control tasks involved generating examples from a given category and counting the number of risers in a letter string. Both participants with BD and those with MDD recalled fewer specific and more categorical memories than HC participants. During specific AM recall of positive memories, participants with BD showed increased hemodynamic activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, middle temporal gyrus, parahippocampus, and amygdala relative to MDD and HC participants, as well as decreased dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) activity relative to MDD participants. During specific AM recall of negative memories, participants with BD manifested decreased activity in the precuneus, amygdala, anterior cingulate, and DLPFC along with increased activity in the dorsomedial PFC relative to MDD participants. While depressed participants with BD and MDD exhibited similar depression ratings and memory deficits, the brain regions underlying successful AM recall significantly differentiated these patient groups. Differential amygdala activity during emotional memory recall (particularly increased activity in participants with BD for positive AMs) may prove useful in the differentiation of individuals with MDD and BD experiencing a depressive episode. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

White matter structural connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood.

PubMed

Ngo, Chi T; Alm, Kylie H; Metoki, Athanasia; Hampton, William; Riggins, Tracy; Newcombe, Nora S; Olson, Ingrid R

2017-12-01

Episodic memory undergoes dramatic improvement in early childhood; the reason for this is poorly understood. In adults, episodic memory relies on a distributed neural network. Key brain regions that supporting these processes include the hippocampus, portions of the parietal cortex, and portions of prefrontal cortex, each of which shows different developmental profiles. Here we asked whether developmental differences in the axonal pathways connecting these regions may account for the robust gains in episodic memory in young children. Using diffusion weighted imaging, we examined whether white matter connectivity between brain regions implicated in episodic memory differed with age, and were associated with memory performance differences in 4- and 6-year-old children. Results revealed that white matter connecting the hippocampus to the inferior parietal lobule significantly predicted children's performance on episodic memory tasks. In contrast, variation in the white matter connecting the hippocampus to the medial prefrontal cortex did not relate to memory performance. These findings suggest that structural connectivity between the hippocampus and lateral parietal regions is relevant to the development of episodic memory. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

White Matter Structural Connectivity and Episodic Memory in Early Childhood

PubMed Central

Ngo, Chi T.; Alm, Kylie H.; Metoki, Athanasia; Hampton, William; Riggins, Tracy; Newcombe, Nora S.; Olson, Ingrid R.

2018-01-01

Episodic memory undergoes dramatic improvement in early childhood; the reason for this is poorly understood. In adults, episodic memory relies on a distributed neural network. Key brain regions that supporting these processes include the hippocampus, portions of the parietal cortex, and portions of prefrontal cortex, each of which shows different developmental profiles. Here we asked whether developmental differences in the axonal pathways connecting these regions may account for the robust gains in episodic memory in young children. Using diffusion weighted imaging, we examined whether white matter connectivity between brain regions implicated in episodic memory differed with age, and were associated with memory performance differences in 4- and 6-year-old children. Results revealed that white matter connecting the hippocampus to the inferior parietal lobule significantly predicted children’s performance on episodic memory tasks. In contrast, variation in the white matter connecting the hippocampus to the medial prefrontal cortex did not relate to memory performance. These findings suggest that structural connectivity between the hippocampus and lateral parietal regions is relevant to the development of episodic memory PMID:29175538

Addition of fornix transection to frontal-temporal disconnection increases the impairment in object-in-place memory in macaque monkeys.

PubMed

Wilson, C R E; Baxter, M G; Easton, A; Gaffan, D

2008-04-01

Both frontal-inferotemporal disconnection and fornix transection (Fx) in the monkey impair object-in-place scene learning, a model of human episodic memory. If the contribution of the fornix to scene learning is via interaction with or modulation of frontal-temporal interaction--that is, if they form a unitary system--then Fx should have no further effect when added to frontal-temporal disconnection. However, if the contribution of the fornix is to some extent distinct, then fornix lesions may produce an additional deficit in scene learning beyond that caused by frontal-temporal disconnection. To distinguish between these possibilities, we trained three male rhesus monkeys on the object-in-place scene-learning task. We tested their learning on the task following frontal-temporal disconnection, achieved by crossed unilateral aspiration of the frontal cortex in one hemisphere and the inferotemporal cortex in the other, and again following the addition of Fx. The monkeys were significantly impaired in scene learning following frontal-temporal disconnection, and furthermore showed a significant increase in this impairment following the addition of Fx, from 32.8% error to 40.5% error (chance = 50%). The increased impairment following the addition of Fx provides evidence that the fornix and frontal-inferotemporal interaction make distinct contributions to episodic memory.

The effect of ageing on recollection: the role of the binding updating process.

PubMed

Boujut, Arnaud; Clarys, David

2016-10-01

The aim of this study was to highlight the underlying process responsible for the age-related deficit in recollection. Through two experiments using the Remember-Know-Guess procedure (Gardiner, J. M., & Richardson-Klavehn, A. [2000]. Remembering and knowing. In The Oxford handbook of memory (pp. 229-244). New York, NY: Oxford University Press) in recognition, we manipulated the opportunity to update bindings between target items and their encoding context, in young and older adults. In the first experiment we impaired the binding updating process during the encoding of items, while in the second we supported this process. The results indicated that the "Remember" responses in the younger group were specifically reduced by the impairment of the binding updating process (Exp. 1), suggesting that this ability is useful for them to encode a specific episode. Conversely, only the "Remember" responses in the older group were improved in accuracy by supporting the binding updating process (Exp. 2), suggesting that their weakness in this ability is the source of their failure to improve the accuracy of their memories. The overall results support the hypothesis that the age-related decline in episodic memory is partly due to a greater vulnerability to interference on bindings, impairing the ability to update content-context bindings as and when events occur.

Posterior cortical atrophy variant of Alzheimer's dementia-A case report.

PubMed

Mukku, Shiva Shanker Reddy; Chintala, Haripriya; Nagaraj, Chandana; Mangalore, Sandhya; Sivakumar, Palanimuthu T; Varghese, Mathew

2018-05-17

Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the commonest type of dementia presenting with initial episodic memory decline followed by involvement of other cognitive domains. Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is one of the variants of Alzheimer's dementia (AD) characterized by the atypical presentation of relatively persevered memory in the initial stage. PCA is an uncommon early onset dementia affecting adults between 50 and 65 years. It presents predominantly with visuo-spatial and visuo-perceptual deficits. PCA is a phenotype with varied etiology most common being Alzheimer's disease. The complex and atypical presentation with preserved memory and insight in patients with PCA poses challenge to clinicians in diagnosing at initial stages. There is also paucity of research on prevalence, course, prognosis and management of PCA. In this article we describe a middle aged gentlemen presenting with clinical features suggestive of PCA. We also discussed relevant literature. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Neuropsychological study of false memory in patients with amnesia mild cognitive impairment].

PubMed

Xie, Dan-dan; Cheng, Huai-dong; Yin, Chang-lin; Lü, Xin-yi; Wang, Kai

2011-01-18

To explore the profile of false memory in aMCI (amnesia mild cognitive impairment) and to elucidate the neuropsychological mechanism of false memory. False memory provoked by pictures and feeling-of-knowing (FOK) test in episodic memory (EM) were conducted in 25 aMCI patients at our hospital from October 2009 to May 2010. And 25 age and education level-matched healthy patients were recruited into the healthy control (HC) group. As compared with HC group, the rate of false memory was higher in the aMCI group. The rate of false memory in recall stage was 26% ± 7% and that of questionnaire stage 28% ± 12%. And the difference between two group was significant (t = 14.437, 7.597, P < 0.05). The FOK-EM of correct judgment and false recognition in the aMCI group (41% ± 10%) was higher than the HC group. And the difference was significant (t = 4.207, P < 0.05). The rates of false memory in recall and questionnaire stages were positively correlated with FOK-EM in aMCI group (r = 0.563, 0.705, P < 0.01). The aMCI patients tend to have more false memory provoked by pictures. The deficit of memory monitoring in aMCI may be the foundation of false memory.

The Doors and People Test: The Effect of Frontal Lobe Lesions on Recall and Recognition Memory Performance

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Objective: Memory deficits in patients with frontal lobe lesions are most apparent on free recall tasks that require the selection, initiation, and implementation of retrieval strategies. The effect of frontal lesions on recognition memory performance is less clear with some studies reporting recognition memory impairments but others not. The majority of these studies do not directly compare recall and recognition within the same group of frontal patients, assessing only recall or recognition memory performance. Other studies that do compare recall and recognition in the same frontal group do not consider recall or recognition tests that are comparable for difficulty. Recognition memory impairments may not be reported because recognition memory tasks are less demanding. Method: This study aimed to investigate recall and recognition impairments in the same group of 47 frontal patients and 78 healthy controls. The Doors and People Test was administered as a neuropsychological test of memory as it assesses both verbal and visual recall and recognition using subtests that are matched for difficulty. Results: Significant verbal and visual recall and recognition impairments were found in the frontal patients. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that when frontal patients are assessed on recall and recognition memory tests of comparable difficulty, memory impairments are found on both types of episodic memory test. PMID:26752123

The Doors and People Test: The effect of frontal lobe lesions on recall and recognition memory performance.

PubMed

MacPherson, Sarah E; Turner, Martha S; Bozzali, Marco; Cipolotti, Lisa; Shallice, Tim

2016-03-01

Memory deficits in patients with frontal lobe lesions are most apparent on free recall tasks that require the selection, initiation, and implementation of retrieval strategies. The effect of frontal lesions on recognition memory performance is less clear with some studies reporting recognition memory impairments but others not. The majority of these studies do not directly compare recall and recognition within the same group of frontal patients, assessing only recall or recognition memory performance. Other studies that do compare recall and recognition in the same frontal group do not consider recall or recognition tests that are comparable for difficulty. Recognition memory impairments may not be reported because recognition memory tasks are less demanding. This study aimed to investigate recall and recognition impairments in the same group of 47 frontal patients and 78 healthy controls. The Doors and People Test was administered as a neuropsychological test of memory as it assesses both verbal and visual recall and recognition using subtests that are matched for difficulty. Significant verbal and visual recall and recognition impairments were found in the frontal patients. These results demonstrate that when frontal patients are assessed on recall and recognition memory tests of comparable difficulty, memory impairments are found on both types of episodic memory test. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Recall from Semantic and Episodic Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillund, Gary; Perlmutter, Marion

Although research in episodic recall memory, comparing younger and older adults, favors the younger adults, findings in semantic memory research are less consistent. To examine age differences in semantic and episodic memory recall, 72 young adults (mean age, 20.8) and 72 older adults (mean age 71) completed three memory tests under varied…

Development in the organization of episodic memories in middle childhood and adolescence.

PubMed

Chen, Yan; McAnally, Helena Margaret; Reese, Elaine

2013-01-01

The basic elements of autobiographical or episodic memory are established in early childhood, although the exact age at which memories gain episodic status is still under contention. The self-memory system proposed that adults use "lifetime periods" to group episodic memories together into chapters of the life story - an evolving and internalized account of significant life events that are self-defining. Two studies examined at what point in development children or adolescents begin to take advantage of lifetime-period chapters to organize their episodic memories. The results of Study 1 with 8- to 12-year-olds revealed that the ability to provide life story chapters began to emerge as early as 8 years of age. In Study 2 with adolescents aged 12-21, this ability continued to develop into late adolescence among New Zealand European (NZE) and New Zealand Chinese (NZC) adolescents; however, cultural differences also existed in the specificity of memories. NZC adolescents narrated fewer life story chapters containing specific memories than NZE adolescents. These findings support and extend current theories of episodic memory by specifying that pre-adolescents are starting to organize their episodic memories into lifetime periods, but this achievement is not fully realized until later in adolescence.

A review on the neural bases of episodic odor memory: from laboratory-based to autobiographical approaches

PubMed Central

Saive, Anne-Lise; Royet, Jean-Pierre; Plailly, Jane

2014-01-01

Odors are powerful cues that trigger episodic memories. However, in light of the amount of behavioral data describing the characteristics of episodic odor memory, the paucity of information available on the neural substrates of this function is startling. Furthermore, the diversity of experimental paradigms complicates the identification of a generic episodic odor memory network. We conduct a systematic review of the literature depicting the current state of the neural correlates of episodic odor memory in healthy humans by placing a focus on the experimental approaches. Functional neuroimaging data are introduced by a brief characterization of the memory processes investigated. We present and discuss laboratory-based approaches, such as odor recognition and odor associative memory, and autobiographical approaches, such as the evaluation of odor familiarity and odor-evoked autobiographical memory. We then suggest the development of new laboratory-ecological approaches allowing for the controlled encoding and retrieval of specific multidimensional events that could open up new prospects for the comprehension of episodic odor memory and its neural underpinnings. While large conceptual differences distinguish experimental approaches, the overview of the functional neuroimaging findings suggests relatively stable neural correlates of episodic odor memory. PMID:25071494

Maintenance of youth-like processing protects against false memory in later adulthood.

PubMed

Fandakova, Yana; Lindenberger, Ulman; Shing, Yee Lee

2015-02-01

Normal cognitive aging compromises the ability to form and retrieve associations among features of a memory episode. One indicator of this age-related deficit is older adults' difficulty in detecting and correctly rejecting new associations of familiar items. Comparing 28 younger and 30 older adults on a continuous recognition task with word pairs, we found that older adults whose activation patterns deviate less from the average pattern of younger adults while detecting repaired associations show the following: (1) higher overall memory and fewer false recognitions; (2) stronger functional connectivity of prefrontal regions with middle temporal and parahippocampal gyrus; and (3) higher recall and strategic categorical clustering in an independently assessed free recall task. Deviations from the average young-adult network reflected underactivation of frontoparietal regions instead of overactivation of regions not activated by younger adults. We conclude that maintenance of youth-like task-relevant activation patterns is critical for preserving memory functions in later adulthood. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

HIV-associated Prospective Memory Impairment Increases Risk of Dependence in Everyday Functioning

PubMed Central

Woods, Steven Paul; Iudicello, Jennifer E.; Moran, Lisa M.; Carey, Catherine L.; Dawson, Matthew S.; Grant, Igor

2007-01-01

HIV infection is associated with impairments in prospective memory (ProM), an aspect of episodic memory that refers to the ability to execute a future intention, such as remembering to take a medication at a specific time. The current study sought to examine the relationship between HIV-associated ProM impairment and the successful management of independent activities of daily living (IADLs). In a cohort of 66 HIV-infected individuals, ProM accounted for a significant proportion of variance in self-reported IADL dependence over and above that which was explained by retrospective memory and current affective distress. Analysis of component cognitive processes revealed that the relationship between HIV-associated ProM deficits and IADL dependence was driven by impaired cue detection and self-initiated intention retrieval. Results were not better explained by demographic factors, HIV disease severity, psychiatric comorbidity, or substance use. Collectively, these data support the potential incremental ecological validity of ProM as a predictor of dependence in IADLs among persons living with HIV infection. PMID:18211160

Functional retrograde amnesia: a quantitative case study.

PubMed

Schacter, D L; Wang, P L; Tulving, E; Freedman, M

1982-01-01

The memory impairment of a patient suffering from functional retrograde amnesia was assessed both during the amnesic episode and after its termination. The patient's performance on a task tapping semantic memory was nearly identical on the two test occasions, but his performance on a task tapping episodic memory substantially changed across test sessions. Cueing procedures revealed that in spite of the patient's restricted access to episodic memory during the amnesic period, a relatively intact "island" of episodic memories could be uncovered. The distinction between episodic and semantic memory, as well as the relation between organic and functional retrograde amnesia, are discussed in light of the case study.

Focal retrograde amnesia and the episodic-semantic distinction.

PubMed

Wheeler, M A; McMillan, C T

2001-03-01

This article reports a review of focal retrograde amnesia (FRA), or the phenomenon of organically based severe memory loss restricted to retrograde, or pretraumatic, memory. Cases of FRA are classified according to the type of memory loss: episodic, semantic, or both. A few different clusters of the disorder were identified. Lesions to either the anterior temporal lobes or the posterior/visual cortex can result in an FRA that devastates retrograde episodic memory, while having smaller effects on semantic memory. A number of left-hemisphere patients have FRA confined to semantic memory. There are several additional examples of FRA following minor cerebral trauma that disrupts either episodic memory alone or both episodic and semantic memory that are not accompanied by evidence of structural brain lesions. We discuss these different profiles of FRA and their implications for the understanding of memory retrieval.

How does intentionality of encoding affect memory for episodic information?

PubMed Central

Craig, Michael; Butterworth, Karla; Nilsson, Jonna; Hamilton, Colin J.; Gallagher, Peter

2016-01-01

Episodic memory enables the detailed and vivid recall of past events, including target and wider contextual information. In this paper, we investigated whether/how encoding intentionality affects the retention of target and contextual episodic information from a novel experience. Healthy adults performed (1) a What-Where-When (WWW) episodic memory task involving the hiding and delayed recall of a number of items (what) in different locations (where) in temporally distinct sessions (when) and (2) unexpected tests probing memory for wider contextual information from the WWW task. Critically, some participants were informed that memory for WWW information would be subsequently probed (intentional group), while this came as a surprise for others (incidental group). The probing of contextual information came as a surprise for all participants. Participants also performed several measures of episodic and nonepisodic cognition from which common episodic and nonepisodic factors were extracted. Memory for target (WWW) and contextual information was superior in the intentional group compared with the incidental group. Memory for target and contextual information was unrelated to factors of nonepisodic cognition, irrespective of encoding intentionality. In addition, memory for target information was unrelated to factors of episodic cognition. However, memory for wider contextual information was related to some factors of episodic cognition, and these relationships differed between the intentional and incidental groups. Our results lead us to propose the hypothesis that intentional encoding of episodic information increases the coherence of the representation of the context in which the episode took place. This hypothesis remains to be tested. PMID:27918286

Sleep benefits in parallel implicit and explicit measures of episodic memory.

PubMed

Weber, Frederik D; Wang, Jing-Yi; Born, Jan; Inostroza, Marion

2014-03-14

Research in rats using preferences during exploration as a measure of memory has indicated that sleep is important for the consolidation of episodic-like memory, i.e., memory for an event bound into specific spatio-temporal context. How these findings relate to human episodic memory is unclear. We used spontaneous preferences during visual exploration and verbal recall as, respectively, implicit and explicit measures of memory, to study effects of sleep on episodic memory consolidation in humans. During encoding before 10-h retention intervals that covered nighttime sleep or daytime wakefulness, two groups of young adults were presented with two episodes that were 1-h apart. Each episode entailed a spatial configuration of four different faces in a 3 × 3 grid of locations. After the retention interval, implicit spatio-temporal recall performance was assessed by eye-tracking visual exploration of another configuration of four faces of which two were from the first and second episode, respectively; of the two faces one was presented at the same location as during encoding and the other at another location. Afterward explicit verbal recall was assessed. Measures of implicit and explicit episodic memory retention were positively correlated (r = 0.57, P < 0.01), and were both better after nighttime sleep than daytime wakefulness (P < 0.05). In the sleep group, implicit episodic memory recall was associated with increased fast spindles during nonrapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep (r = 0.62, P < 0.05). Together with concordant observations in rats our results indicate that consolidation of genuinely episodic memory benefits from sleep.

Sleep benefits in parallel implicit and explicit measures of episodic memory

PubMed Central

Weber, Frederik D.; Wang, Jing-Yi; Born, Jan; Inostroza, Marion

2014-01-01

Research in rats using preferences during exploration as a measure of memory has indicated that sleep is important for the consolidation of episodic-like memory, i.e., memory for an event bound into specific spatio-temporal context. How these findings relate to human episodic memory is unclear. We used spontaneous preferences during visual exploration and verbal recall as, respectively, implicit and explicit measures of memory, to study effects of sleep on episodic memory consolidation in humans. During encoding before 10-h retention intervals that covered nighttime sleep or daytime wakefulness, two groups of young adults were presented with two episodes that were 1-h apart. Each episode entailed a spatial configuration of four different faces in a 3 × 3 grid of locations. After the retention interval, implicit spatio-temporal recall performance was assessed by eye-tracking visual exploration of another configuration of four faces of which two were from the first and second episode, respectively; of the two faces one was presented at the same location as during encoding and the other at another location. Afterward explicit verbal recall was assessed. Measures of implicit and explicit episodic memory retention were positively correlated (r = 0.57, P < 0.01), and were both better after nighttime sleep than daytime wakefulness (P < 0.05). In the sleep group, implicit episodic memory recall was associated with increased fast spindles during nonrapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep (r = 0.62, P < 0.05). Together with concordant observations in rats our results indicate that consolidation of genuinely episodic memory benefits from sleep. PMID:24634354

Physical Activity Is Positively Associated with Episodic Memory in Aging.

PubMed

Hayes, Scott M; Alosco, Michael L; Hayes, Jasmeet P; Cadden, Margaret; Peterson, Kristina M; Allsup, Kelly; Forman, Daniel E; Sperling, Reisa A; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-11-01

Aging is associated with performance reductions in executive function and episodic memory, although there is substantial individual variability in cognition among older adults. One factor that may be positively associated with cognition in aging is physical activity. To date, few studies have objectively assessed physical activity in young and older adults, and examined whether physical activity is differentially associated with cognition in aging. Young (n=29, age 18-31 years) and older adults (n=31, ages 55-82 years) completed standardized neuropsychological testing to assess executive function and episodic memory capacities. An experimental face-name relational memory task was administered to augment assessment of episodic memory. Physical activity (total step count and step rate) was objectively assessed using an accelerometer, and hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate relationships between cognition and physical activity. Older adults performed more poorly on tasks of executive function and episodic memory. Physical activity was positively associated with a composite measure of visual episodic memory and face-name memory accuracy in older adults. Physical activity associations with cognition were independent of sedentary behavior, which was negatively correlated with memory performance. Physical activity was not associated with cognitive performance in younger adults. Physical activity is positively associated with episodic memory performance in aging. The relationship appears to be strongest for face-name relational memory and visual episodic memory, likely attributable to the fact that these tasks make strong demands on the hippocampus. The results suggest that physical activity relates to cognition in older, but not younger adults.

[A new assessment for episodic memory. Episodic memory test and caregiver's episodic memory test].

PubMed

Ojea Ortega, T; González Álvarez de Sotomayor, M M; Pérez González, O; Fernández Fernández, O

2013-10-01

The purpose of the episodic memory test and the caregiver's episodic memory test is to evaluate episodic memory according to its definition in a way that is feasible for families and achieves high degrees of sensitivity and specificity. We administered a test consisting of 10 questions about episodic events to 332 subjects, of whom 65 had Alzheimer's disease (AD), 115 had amnestic MCI (aMCI) and 152 showed no cognitive impairment according to Reisberg's global deterioration scale (GDS). We calculated the test's sensitivity and specificity to distinguish AD from episodic aMCI and from normal ageing. The area under the ROC curve for the diagnosis of aMCI was 0.94 and the best cut-off value was 20; for that value, sensitivity was 89% and specificity was 82%. For a diagnosis of AD, the area under the ROC curve was 0.99 and the best cut-off point was 17, with a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 91%. A subsequent study using similar methodology yielded similar results when the test was administered directly by the caregiver. The episodic memory test and the caregiver's episodic memory test are useful as brief screening tools for identifying patients with early-stage AD. It is suitable for use by primary care medical staff and in the home, since it can be administered by a caregiver. The test's limitations are that it must be administered by a reliable caregiver and the fact that it measures episodic memory only. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Neural dynamics associated with semantic and episodic memory for faces: evidence from multiple frequency bands.

PubMed

Zion-Golumbic, Elana; Kutas, Marta; Bentin, Shlomo

2010-02-01

Prior semantic knowledge facilitates episodic recognition memory for faces. To examine the neural manifestation of the interplay between semantic and episodic memory, we investigated neuroelectric dynamics during the creation (study) and the retrieval (test) of episodic memories for famous and nonfamous faces. Episodic memory effects were evident in several EEG frequency bands: theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (9-13 Hz), and gamma (40-100 Hz). Activity in these bands was differentially modulated by preexisting semantic knowledge and by episodic memory, implicating their different functional roles in memory. More specifically, theta activity and alpha suppression were larger for old compared to new faces at test regardless of fame, but were both larger for famous faces during study. This pattern of selective semantic effects suggests that the theta and alpha responses, which are primarily associated with episodic memory, reflect utilization of semantic information only when it is beneficial for task performance. In contrast, gamma activity decreased between the first (study) and second (test) presentation of a face, but overall was larger for famous than nonfamous faces. Hence, the gamma rhythm seems to be primarily related to activation of preexisting neural representations that may contribute to the formation of new episodic traces. Taken together, these data provide new insights into the complex interaction between semantic and episodic memory for faces and the neural dynamics associated with mnemonic processes.

Episodic Memory Development: Theory of Mind Is Part of Re-Experiencing Experienced Events

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perner, Josef; Kloo, Daniela; Gornik, Edith

2007-01-01

Two experiments with 3 1/2- to 6 1/2-year-old children showed that theory-of-mind development is associated with the growth of episodic memory. Episodic memory was assessed by manipulating informational conditions such that they permit or prevent the formation of episodic memories in terms of re-experiencing the recalled event. Only experienced…

Volume of hippocampal subfields and episodic memory in childhood and adolescence.

PubMed

Lee, Joshua K; Ekstrom, Arne D; Ghetti, Simona

2014-07-01

Episodic memory critically depends on the hippocampus to bind the features of an experience into memory. Episodic memory develops in childhood and adolescence, and hippocampal changes during this period may contribute to this development. Little is known, however, about how the hippocampus contributes to episodic memory development. The hippocampus is comprised of several cytoarchitectural subfields with functional significance for episodic memory. However, hippocampal subfields have not been assessed in vivo during child development, nor has their relation with episodic memory been assessed during this period. In the present study, high-resolution T2-weighted images of the hippocampus were acquired in 39 children and adolescents aged 8 to 14 years (M=11.30, SD=2.38), and hippocampal subfields were segmented using a protocol previously validated in adult populations. We first validated the method in children and adolescents and examined age-related differences in hippocampal subfields and correlations between subfield volumes and episodic memory. Significant age-related increases in the subfield volume were observed into early adolescence in the right CA3/DG and CA1. The right CA3/DG subfield volumes were positively correlated with accurate episodic memory for item-color relations, and the right CA3/DG and subiculum were negatively correlated with item false alarm rates. Subfield development appears to follow a protracted developmental trajectory, and likely plays a pivotal role in episodic memory development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Metamemory in schizophrenia: retrospective confidence ratings interact with neurocognitive deficits.

PubMed

Eifler, Sarah; Rausch, Franziska; Schirmbeck, Frederike; Veckenstedt, Ruth; Mier, Daniela; Esslinger, Christine; Englisch, Susanne; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Kirsch, Peter; Zink, Mathias

2015-02-28

Prior studies with schizophrenia patients described a reduced ability to discriminate between correct and false memories in terms of confidence compared to control groups. This metamemory bias has been associated with the emergence and maintenance of delusions. The relation to neuropsychological performance and other clinical dimensions is incompletely understood. In a cross-sectional study, metamemory functioning was explored in 32 schizophrenia patients and 25 healthy controls. Metamemory was assessed using a verbal recognition task combined with retrospective confidence level ratings. Associations of metamemory performance with six neuropsychological domains (executive functioning/problem solving, speed of processing, working memory, verbal and visual learning, and attention/vigilance) and psychopathological measures were analyzed. Results revealed a significantly smaller discrepancy between confidence ratings for correct and incorrect recognitions in the patient group. Furthermore, patients showed significantly lower recognition accuracy in the metamemory task and marked deficits in all neuropsychological domains. Across all participants, metamemory performance significantly correlated with executive functioning and working memory. No associations with delusions were found. This data confirms prior findings of metamemory biases in schizophrenia. Selective neuropsychological abilities seem to be modulating factors of metamemory functioning. Longitudinal studies in at risk mental state and first-episode patients are needed to reveal causal interrelations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ageing and autobiographical memory for emotional and neutral events

PubMed Central

St. Jacques, Peggy L.; Levine, Brian

2007-01-01

We investigated age-related effects in recall of emotional and neutral autobiographical memories. Protocols were scored according to episodic and non-episodic detail categories using the Autobiographical Interview. Young adults recalled a greater number of episodic details compared to older adults, whereas older adults recalled more semantic details, replicating previous findings. Both young and older adults’ emotional memories contained more overall detail than neutral ones, with the enhancement from emotion-specific to episodic details, but this did not alter the effect of age group on the pattern of episodic and semantic details. However, the age effect on episodic details was attenuated for neutral autobiographical memories. The findings suggest that age differences for emotional autobiographical recollection might reflect a more general pattern of age-related changes in memory, with impaired recall of episodic components and relative sparing of semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in older adults when compared to young adults. PMID:17534107

Children's episodic memory.

PubMed

Ghetti, Simona; Lee, Joshua

2011-07-01

Episodic memory develops during childhood and adolescence. This trajectory depends on several underlying processes. In this article, we first discuss the development of the basic binding processes (e.g., the processes by which elements are bound together to form a memory episode) and control processes (e.g., reasoning and metamemory processes) involved in episodic remembering. Then, we discuss the role of these processes in false-memory formation. In the subsequent sections, we examine the neural substrates of the development of episodic memory. Finally, we discuss atypical development of episodic memory. As we proceed through the article, we suggest potential avenues for future research. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 365-373 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.114 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Older adults get episodic memory boosting from noninvasive stimulation of prefrontal cortex during learning

PubMed Central

Brambilla, Michela; Cobelli, Chiara; Cohen, Leonardo G.; Cotelli, Maria

2016-01-01

Episodic memory displays the largest degree of age-related decline, a process that is accelerated in pathological conditions such as amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies have shown that the left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) contributes to the encoding of episodic memories along the life span. The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to test the hypothesis that anodal trascranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left lateral PFC during the learning phase would enhance delayed recall of verbal episodic memories in elderly individuals. Older adults learned a list of words while receiving anodal or placebo (sham) tDCS. Memory recall was tested 48 hours and 1 month later. The results showed that anodal tDCS strengthened episodic memories, an effect indicated by enhanced delayed recall (48 hours) compared to placebo stimulation (Cohen's d effect size = 1.01). The observation that PFC-tDCS during learning can boost verbal episodic memory in the elderly opens up the possibility to design-specific neurorehabilitation protocols targeted to conditions that affect episodic memory such as mild cognitive impairment. PMID:26923418

Recollection of episodic memory within the medial temporal lobe: behavioural dissociations from other types of memory.

PubMed

Easton, Alexander; Eacott, Madeline J

2010-12-31

In recent years there has been significant debate about whether there is a single medial temporal lobe memory system or dissociable systems for episodic and other types of declarative memory. In addition there has been a similar debate over the dissociability of recollection and familiarity based processes in recognition memory. Here we present evidence from recent work using episodic memory tasks in animals that allows us to explore these issues in more depth. We review studies that demonstrate triple dissociations within the medial temporal lobe, with only the hippocampal system being necessary for episodic memory. Similarly we review behavioural evidence for a dissociation in a task of episodic memory in rats where animals with lesions of the fornix are only impaired at recollection of the episodic memory, not recognition within the same trial. This work, then, supports recent models of dissociable neural systems within the medial temporal lobe but also raises questions for future investigation about the interactions of these medial temporal lobe memory systems with other structures. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Examination of the bidirectional influences of leisure activity and memory in old people: a dissociative effect on episodic memory.

PubMed

Mousavi-Nasab, S-M-Hossein; Kormi-Nouri, Reza; Nilsson, Lars-Göran

2014-08-01

The present study examined the relationships between different types of social and cognitive activities and different types of episodic and semantic memory. A total of 794 adult men and women from five age cohorts (aged 65-85 at baseline), participating in the longitudinal Betula project on ageing, memory, and health, were included in the study. The participants were studied over 10 years (1995-2005) in three waves. Recognition and recall were used as episodic memory tasks, and knowledge and verbal fluency as semantic memory tasks. The results, after controlling for age, gender, education, and some diseases, including heart disease and hypertension, as covariates, showed unidirectional effects of social activity on episodic memory on all test occasions (β = .10). Also, episodic memory predicted change in cognitive activity for all test waves (β = .21-.22). Findings suggest that social activity can be seen as protective factor against memory decline. It also seems that episodic memory performance is a predictor of cognitive activity in old people. However, the opposite direction does not hold true. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

The organization and neural substrates of human memory.

PubMed

Squire, L R

The neurology of memory has been illuminated by parallel studies of patients with circumscribed memory impairment and animal models of human amnesia. Human amnesia can occur as an isolated cognitive deficit that impairs the ability to learn new facts and episodes. In addition, memory can be affected for material learned many years prior to the onset of amnesia. The finding that some memory abilities are intact in amnesia (e.g., skill learning, word priming, and adaptation-level effects) has suggested that memory can be divided into two or more separate processes. Declarative memory affords the ability to store information explicitly and to retrieve it later as a conscious recollection. This form of memory depends on the integrity of the structures damaged in amnesia. Other, non-declarative kinds of memory afford the ability to change as the result of experience, but the information is available only through performance. Recent studies of a favorable human case provided strong evidence that the hippocampus is a critical component of the declarative memory system. Extensive convergent and divergent projections link the hippocampus to many areas of neocortex where processing and storage of new information is likely to occur. It is perhaps by way of these connections that the hippocampus operates upon and participates in declarative representations.

Behavioral effects of D3 receptor inhibition and 5-HT4 receptor activation on animals undergoing chronic cannabinoid exposure during adolescence.

PubMed

Abboussi, Oualid; Said, Nadia; Fifel, Karim; Lakehayli, Sara; Tazi, Abdelouahhab; El Ganouni, Soumaya

2016-04-01

Chronic exposure to cannabinoids during adolescence results in long-lasting behavioral deficits that match some symptomatologic aspects of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the reversibility of the emotional and the cognitive effects of chronic exposure to cannabinoids during adolescence, via subsequent modulation of the serotoninergic 5-HT4 and dopaminergic D3 receptors. RS67333 as a 5-HT4 agonist and U-99194A as a D3 antagonist were administered separately at 1 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg, and in combination at 0.5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg to adult animals undergoing chronic treatment with the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 (1 mg/kg) during adolescence. Animals were tested for anxiety-like behavior and episodic-like memory in the open field and novel object recognition tests respectively 30 minutes after the last drug administration. Chronic WIN55,212-2 treated animals exhibited a lasting disruption of episodic memory and increased anxiety levels. The effect on episodic-like memory were partially restored by acute administration of RS67333 and U-99194A and completely by administration of both drugs in combination at lower doses. However, only RS67333 (20 mg/kg) improved the anxiogenic-like effect of WIN55,212-2. These findings give further support that chronic exposure to cannabinoids during adolescence may be used as an animal model for schizophrenia, and highlight D3 and 5-HT4 receptors as potential targets for an enhanced treatment of the cognitive aspect of this disease.

Characteristics and clinical correlates of prospective memory performance in first-episode schizophrenia.

PubMed

Zhou, Fu-Chun; Xiang, Yu-Tao; Wang, Chuan-Yue; Dickerson, Faith; Au, Raymond W C; Zhou, Jing-Jing; Zhou, Yan; Shum, David H K; Chiu, Helen F K; Man, David; Lee, Edwin H M; Yu, Xin; Chan, Raymond C K; Ungvari, Gabor S

2012-03-01

The aim of this study was to examine prospective memory (PM) and its socio-demographic, clinical, and neurocognitive correlates in first episode schizophrenia (FES). Fifty-one FES patients and 42 healthy controls formed the study sample. Time- and event-based PM (TBPM and EBPM) performance were measured with the Chinese version of the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (C-CAMPROMPT). A battery of neuropsychological tests was also administered. Patients' clinical symptoms were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS). Patients performed significantly worse in both TBPM (8.7 ± 5.3 vs. 14.8 ± 3.5) and EBPM (11.3 ± 4.7 vs. 15.7 ± 2.7) than the controls. After controlling for age, gender, education level and neurocognitive test score, the difference in performance on the two types of PM tasks between patients and controls was no longer present. In multiple linear regression analyses, longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), lower scores of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) and the categories completed of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST-CC) and higher score of the Color Trails Test-2 (CTT-2) contributed to poorer TBPM performance, while lower score of HVLT-R, higher score of the perseverative errors of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST-PE) and longer DUP contributed to worse performance on EBPM. Both subtypes of PM are impaired in first-episode schizophrenia suggesting that PM deficits are an integral part of the cognitive dysfunction in the disease process. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Age-related changes in parietal lobe activation during an episodic memory retrieval task.

PubMed

Oedekoven, Christiane S H; Jansen, Andreas; Kircher, Tilo T; Leube, Dirk T

2013-05-01

The crucial role of lateral parietal regions in episodic memory has been confirmed in previous studies. While aging has an influence on retrieval of episodic memory, it remains to be examined how the involvement of lateral parietal regions in episodic memory changes with age. We investigated episodic memory retrieval in two age groups, using faces as stimuli and retrieval success as a measure of episodic memory. Young and elderly participants showed activation within a similar network, including lateral and medial parietal as well as prefrontal regions, but elderly showed a higher level of brain activation regardless of condition. Furthermore, we examined functional connectivity in the two age groups and found a more extensive network in the young group, including correlations of parietal and prefrontal regions. In the elderly, the overall stronger activation related to memory performance may indicate a compensatory process for a less extensive functional network.

Effects of semantic relatedness on recall of stimuli preceding emotional oddballs.

PubMed

Smith, Ryan M; Beversdorf, David Q

2008-07-01

Semantic and episodic memory networks function as highly interconnected systems, both relying on the hippocampal/medial temporal lobe complex (HC/MTL). Episodic memory encoding triggers the retrieval of semantic information, serving to incorporate contextual relationships between the newly acquired memory and existing semantic representations. While emotional material augments episodic memory encoding at the time of stimulus presentation, interactions between emotion and semantic memory that contribute to subsequent episodic recall are not well understood. Using a modified oddball task, we examined the modulatory effects of negative emotion on semantic interactions with episodic memory by measuring the free-recall of serially presented neutral or negative words varying in semantic relatedness. We found increased free-recall for words related to and preceding emotionally negative oddballs, suggesting that negative emotion can indirectly facilitate episodic free-recall by enhancing semantic contributions during encoding. Our findings demonstrate the ability of emotion and semantic memory to interact to mutually enhance free-recall.

Do subjective measures of attention and memory predict actual performance? Metacognition in older couples.

PubMed

Volz-Sidiropoulou, Eftychia; Gauggel, Siegfried

2012-06-01

Older individuals who recognize their cognitive difficulties are more likely to adjust their everyday life to their actual cognitive functioning, particularly when they are able to estimate their abilities accurately. We assessed self- and spouse-ratings of memory and attention difficulties in everyday life of healthy, older individuals and compared them with the respective test performance. Eighty-four older individuals (women's age, M = 67.4 years, SD = 5.2; men's age, M = 68.5 years, SD = 4.9) completed both the self and the spouse versions of the Attention Deficit Questionnaire and the Everyday Memory Questionnaire and completed two neuropsychological tests. Using the residual score approach, subjective metacognitive measures of memory and attention were created and compared with actual test performance. Significant associations between subjective and objective scores were found only for men and only for episodic memory measures. Men who underreported memory difficulties performed more poorly; men who overreported memory difficulties performed better. Men's recognition performance was best predicted by subjective measures (R² = .25), followed by delayed recall (R² = .14) and forgetting rate (R² = .13). The results indicate gender-specific differences in metacognitive accuracy and predictive validity of subjective ratings. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Gender dependent contribution of muscarinic receptors in memory retrieval under sub-chronic stress.

PubMed

Rashid, Habiba; Ahmed, Touqeer

2018-05-15

Stress induces retrograde amnesia in humans and rodents. Muscarinic antagonism under normal physiological conditions causes gender dependent impairment in episodic memory retrieval. We aimed to explore the gender dependent role of muscarinic receptors in memory retrieval under sub-chronic stress condition. Male and female mice were trained for Morris water maze test and contextual fear conditioning, followed by 3 h restraint stress per day for five days. Stress was either given alone or in combination with a daily subcutaneous injection of scopolamine (1 mg/kg) or donepezil (1 mg/kg). Control mice were given saline without any stress. Sub-chronic stress (induced for five days) impaired spatial memory retrieval in males (P < 0.005) but not in females (P > 0.05). Stress induced spatial memory recall deficit in male mice was independent of muscarinic receptor activity (P > 0.05). However, stress induced contextual fear memory recall impairment was reversed by donepezil treatment in male (P < 0.005) and female (P < 0.0001) mice. These findings suggest that differential role of muscarinic activity in retrieving different types of memories under stress depends on gender of subjects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Memory assessment by means of virtual reality: its present and future].

PubMed

Diaz-Orueta, Unai; Climent, Gema; Cardas-Ibanez, Jaione; Alonso, Laura; Olmo-Osa, Juan; Tirapu-Ustarroz, Javier

2016-01-16

The human memory is a complex cognitive system whose close relationship with executive functions implies that, in many occasions, a mnemonic deficit comprises difficulties to operate with correctly stored contents. Traditional memory tests, more focused in the information storage than in its processing, may be poorly sensitive both to subjects' daily life functioning and to changes originated by rehabilitation programs. In memory assessment, there is plenty evidence with regards to the need of improving it by means of tests which offer a higher ecological validity, with information that may be presented in various sensorial modalities and produced in a simultaneous way. Virtual reality reproduces three-dimensional environments with which the patient interacts in a dynamic way, with a sense of immersion in the environment similar to the presence and exposure to a real environment, and in which presentation of such stimuli, distractors and other variables may be systematically controlled. The current review aims to go deeply into the trajectory of neuropsychological assessment of memory based in virtual reality environments, making a tour through existing tests designed for assessing learning, prospective, episodic and spatial memory, as well as the most recent attempts to perform a comprehensive evaluation of all memory components.

Sex differences in verbal and nonverbal learning before and after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery.

PubMed

Berger, Justus; Oltmanns, Frank; Holtkamp, Martin; Bengner, Thomas

2017-01-01

Women outperform men in a host of episodic memory tasks, yet the neuroanatomical basis for this effect is unclear. It has been suggested that the anterior temporal lobe might be especially relevant for sex differences in memory. In the current study, we investigated whether temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has an influence on sex effects in learning and memory and whether women and men with TLE differ in their risk for memory deficits after epilepsy surgery. 177 patients (53 women and 41 men with left TLE, 42 women and 41 men with right TLE) were neuropsychologically tested before and one year after temporal lobe resection. We found that women with TLE had better verbal, but not figural, memory than men with TLE. The female advantage in verbal memory was not affected by temporal lobe resection. The same pattern of results was found in a more homogeneous subsample of 84 patients with only hippocampal sclerosis who were seizure-free after surgery. Our findings challenge the concept that the anterior temporal lobe plays a central role in the verbal memory advantage for women. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reduced sleep spindle activity point to a TRN-MD thalamus-PFC circuit dysfunction in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Ferrarelli, Fabio; Tononi, Giulio

2017-02-01

Sleep disturbances have been reliably reported in patients with schizophrenia, thus suggesting that abnormal sleep may represent a core feature of this disorder. Traditional electroencephalographic studies investigating sleep architecture have found reduced deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, or slow wave sleep (SWS), and increased REM density. However, these findings have been inconsistently observed, and have not survived meta-analysis. By contrast, several recent EEG studies exploring brain activity during sleep have established marked deficits in sleep spindles in schizophrenia, including first-episode and early-onset patients, compared to both healthy and psychiatric comparison subjects. Spindles are waxing and waning, 12-16Hz NREM sleep oscillations that are generated within the thalamus by the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), and are then synchronized and sustained in the cortex. While the functional role of sleep spindles still needs to be fully established, increasing evidence has shown that sleep spindles are implicated in learning and memory, including sleep dependent memory consolidation, and spindle parameters have been associated to general cognitive ability and IQ. In this article we will review the EEG studies demonstrating sleep spindle deficits in patients with schizophrenia, and show that spindle deficits can predict their reduced cognitive performance. We will then present data indicating that spindle impairments point to a TRN-MD thalamus-prefrontal cortex circuit deficit, and discuss about the possible molecular mechanisms underlying thalamo-cortical sleep spindle abnormalities in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Episodic Nature of Episodic-Like Memories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Easton, Alexander; Webster, Lisa A. D.; Eacott, Madeline J.

2012-01-01

Studying episodic memory in nonhuman animals has proved difficult because definitions in humans require conscious recollection. Here, we assessed humans' experience of episodic-like recognition memory tasks that have been used with animals. It was found that tasks using contextual information to discriminate events could only be accurately…

Episodic Memories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, Martin A.

2009-01-01

An account of episodic memories is developed that focuses on the types of knowledge they represent, their properties, and the functions they might serve. It is proposed that episodic memories consist of "episodic elements," summary records of experience often in the form of visual images, associated to a "conceptual frame" that provides a…

Neuropathologic Associations of Learning and Memory in Primary Progressive Aphasia.

PubMed

Kielb, Stephanie; Cook, Amanda; Wieneke, Christina; Rademaker, Alfred; Bigio, Eileen H; Mesulam, Marek-Marsel; Rogalski, Emily; Weintraub, Sandra

2016-07-01

The dementia syndrome of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) can be caused by 1 of several neuropathologic entities, including forms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) or Alzheimer disease (AD). Although episodic memory is initially spared in this syndrome, the subtle learning and memory features of PPA and their neuropathologic associations have not been characterized. To detect subtle memory differences on the basis of autopsy-confirmed neuropathologic diagnoses in PPA. Retrospective analysis was conducted at the Northwestern Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center in August 2015 using clinical and postmortem autopsy data that had been collected between August 1983 and June 2012. Thirteen patients who had the primary clinical diagnosis of PPA and an autopsy-confirmed diagnosis of either AD (PPA-AD) or a tau variant of FTLD (PPA-FTLD) and 6 patients who had the clinical diagnosis of amnestic dementia and autopsy-confirmed AD (AMN-AD) were included. Scores on the effortless learning, delayed retrieval, and retention conditions of the Three Words Three Shapes test, a specialized measure of verbal and nonverbal episodic memory. The PPA-FTLD (n = 6), PPA-AD (n = 7), and AMN-AD (n = 6) groups did not differ by demographic composition (all P > .05). The sample mean (SD) age was 64.1 (10.3) years at symptom onset and 67.9 (9.9) years at Three Words Three Shapes test administration. The PPA-FTLD group had normal (ie, near-ceiling) scores on all verbal and nonverbal test conditions. Both the PPA-AD and AMN-AD groups had deficits in verbal effortless learning (mean [SD] number of errors, 9.9 [4.6] and 14.2 [2.0], respectively) and verbal delayed retrieval (mean [SD] number of errors, 6.1 [5.9] and 12.0 [4.4], respectively). The AMN-AD group had additional deficits in nonverbal effortless learning (mean [SD] number of errors, 10.3 [4.0]) and verbal retention (mean [SD] number of errors, 8.33 [5.2]), which were not observed in the PPA-FTLD or PPA-AD groups (all P < .005). This study identified neuropathologic associations of learning and memory in autopsy-confirmed cases of PPA. Among patients with clinical PPA syndrome, AD neuropathology appeared to interfere with effortless learning and delayed retrieval of verbal information, whereas FTLD-tau pathology did not. The results provide directions for future research on the interactions between limbic and language networks.

Retrograde amnesia in patients with diencephalic, temporal lobe or frontal lesions.

PubMed

Kopelman, M D; Stanhope, N; Kingsley, D

1999-07-01

Patients with focal diencephalic, temporal lobe, or frontal lobe lesions were examined on various measures of remote memory. Korsakoff patients showed a severe impairment with a characteristic 'temporal gradient', whereas two patients with focal diencephalic damage (and anterograde amnesia) were virtually unimpaired on remote memory measures. Patients with frontal lobe pathology were severely impaired in the recall of autobiographical incidents and famous news events. Patients with temporal lobe pathology showed severe impairment but a relatively 'flat' temporal gradient, largely attributable to herpes encephalitis patients. From recognition and cued recall tasks, it is argued that there is an important retrieval component to the remote memory deficit across all the lesion groups. In general, the pattern of performance by the frontal lobe and temporal lobe groups was closely similar, and there was no evidence of any major access/storage difference between them. However, laterality comparisons across these groups indicated that the right temporal and frontal lobe regions may make a greater contribution to the retrieval of past episodic (incident and event) memories, whereas the left temporal region is more closely involved in the lexical-semantic labelling of remote memories.

Such stuff as dreams are made on? Elaborative encoding, the ancient art of memory, and the hippocampus.

PubMed

Llewellyn, Sue

2013-12-01

This article argues that rapid eye movement (REM) dreaming is elaborative encoding for episodic memories. Elaborative encoding in REM can, at least partially, be understood through ancient art of memory (AAOM) principles: visualization, bizarre association, organization, narration, embodiment, and location. These principles render recent memories more distinctive through novel and meaningful association with emotionally salient, remote memories. The AAOM optimizes memory performance, suggesting that its principles may predict aspects of how episodic memory is configured in the brain. Integration and segregation are fundamental organizing principles in the cerebral cortex. Episodic memory networks interconnect profusely within the cortex, creating omnidirectional "landmark" junctions. Memories may be integrated at junctions but segregated along connecting network paths that meet at junctions. Episodic junctions may be instantiated during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep after hippocampal associational function during REM dreams. Hippocampal association involves relating, binding, and integrating episodic memories into a mnemonic compositional whole. This often bizarre, composite image has not been present to the senses; it is not "real" because it hyperassociates several memories. During REM sleep, on the phenomenological level, this composite image is experienced as a dream scene. A dream scene may be instantiated as omnidirectional neocortical junction and retained by the hippocampus as an index. On episodic memory retrieval, an external stimulus (or an internal representation) is matched by the hippocampus against its indices. One or more indices then reference the relevant neocortical junctions from which episodic memories can be retrieved. Episodic junctions reach a processing (rather than conscious) level during normal wake to enable retrieval. If this hypothesis is correct, the stuff of dreams is the stuff of memory.

Mild intermittent hypoxemia in neonatal mice causes permanent neurofunctional deficit and white matter hypomyelination.

PubMed

Juliano, Courtney; Sosunov, Sergey; Niatsetskaya, Zoya; Isler, Joseph A; Utkina-Sosunova, Irina; Jang, Isaac; Ratner, Veniamin; Ten, Vadim

2015-02-01

Very low birth weight (VLBW) premature infants experience numerous, often self-limited non-bradycardic episodes of intermittent hypoxemia (IH). We hypothesized that these episodes of IH affect postnatal white matter (WM) development causing hypomyelination and neurological handicap in the absence of cellular degeneration. Based on clinical data from ten VLBW neonates; a severity, daily duration and frequency of non-bradycardic IH episodes were reproduced in neonatal mice. Changes in heart rate and cerebral blood flow during IH were recorded. A short-term and long-term neurofunctional performance, cerebral content of myelin basic protein (MBP), 2'3' cyclic-nucleotide 3-phosphodiesterase (CNPase), electron microscopy of axonal myelination and the extent of cellular degeneration were examined. Neonatal mice exposed to IH exhibited no signs of cellular degeneration, yet demonstrated significantly poorer olfactory discrimination, wire holding, beam and bridge crossing, and walking-initiation tests performance compared to controls. In adulthood, IH-mice demonstrated no alteration in navigational memory. However, sensorimotor performance on rota-rod, wire-holding and beam tests was significantly worse compared to naive littermates. Both short- and long-term neurofunctional deficits were coupled with decreased MBP, CNPase content and poorer axonal myelination compared to controls. In neonatal mice mild, non-ischemic IH stress, mimicking that in VLBW preterm infants, replicates a key phenotype of non-cystic WM injury: permanent hypomyelination and sensorimotor deficits. Because this phenotype has developed in the absence of cellular degeneration, our data suggest that cellular mechanisms of WM injury induced by mild IH differ from that of cystic periventricular leukomalacia where the loss of myelin-producing cells and axons is the major mechanism of injury. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Medial Temporal Lobe and Parietal Cortical Contributions to Real-world Autobiographical Episodic and Autobiographical Semantic Memory.

PubMed

Brown, Thackery I; Rissman, Jesse; Chow, Tiffany E; Uncapher, Melina R; Wagner, Anthony D

2018-04-18

Autobiographical remembering can depend on two forms of memory: episodic (event) memory and autobiographical semantic memory (remembering personally relevant semantic knowledge, independent of recalling a specific experience). There is debate about the degree to which the neural signals that support episodic recollection relate to or build upon autobiographical semantic remembering. Pooling data from two fMRI studies of memory for real-world personal events, we investigated whether medial temporal lobe (MTL) and parietal subregions contribute to autobiographical episodic and semantic remembering. During scanning, participants made memory judgments about photograph sequences depicting past events from their life or from others' lives, and indicated whether memory was based on episodic or semantic knowledge. Results revealed several distinct functional patterns: activity in most MTL subregions was selectively associated with autobiographical episodic memory; the hippocampal tail, superior parietal lobule, and intraparietal sulcus were similarly engaged when memory was based on retrieval of an autobiographical episode or autobiographical semantic knowledge; and angular gyrus demonstrated a graded pattern, with activity declining from autobiographical recollection to autobiographical semantic remembering to correct rejections of novel events. Collectively, our data offer insights into MTL and parietal cortex functional organization, and elucidate circuitry that supports different forms of real-world autobiographical memory.

Retrograde episodic memory and emotion: a perspective from patients with dissociative amnesia.

PubMed

Reinhold, Nadine; Markowitsch, Hans J

2009-09-01

With his recent definition of episodic memory Tulving [Tulving, E. (2005). Episodic memory and autonoesis: Uniquely human? In H. Terrace & J. Metcalfe (Eds.), The missing link in cognition: Evolution of self-knowing consciousness (pp. 3-56). New York: Oxford University Press] claims that this memory system is uniquely human and thereby distinguishes human beings from other, even highly developed, mammals. First we will define the term episodic memory as it is currently used in neuropsychological research by specifying the three underlying concepts of subjective time, autonoëtic consciousness, and the self. By doing so, we will strongly focus on retrograde episodic memory and its relation to emotion and self-referential processing. We support this relation with a discussion of autobiographical memory functions in psychiatric disorders such as dissociative amnesia. To illustrate the connection of emotion and retrograde episodic memory we shortly present neuropsychological data of two cases of dissociative amnesia. Both cases serve to point to the protective mechanism of a block of self-endangering memories from the episodic memory system, often described as the mnestic block syndrome. On the basis of these cases and supportive results from further cases we will conclude by pointing out similarities and differences of patients with organic and dissociative (psychogenic) amnesia.

Salient cues improve prospective remembering in Korsakoff's syndrome.

PubMed

Altgassen, Mareike; Ariese, Laura; Wester, Arie J; Kessels, Roy P C

2016-06-01

Korsakoff's syndrome is characterized by deficits in episodic memory and executive functions. Both cognitive functions are needed to remember to execute delayed intentions (prospective memory, PM), an ability that is crucial for independent living in everyday life. So far, PM has only been targeted by one study in Korsakoff's syndrome. This study explored the effects of executive control demands on PM to shed further light on a possible interdependence of memory and executive functions in Korsakoff's syndrome, Twenty-five individuals with Korsakoff's syndrome and 23 chronic alcoholics (without amnesia) performed a categorization task into which a PM task was embedded that put either high or low demands on executive control processes (using low vs. high salient cues). Overall, Korsakoff patients had fewer PM hits than alcoholic controls. Across groups, participants had fewer PM hits when cues were low salient as compared to high salient. Korsakoff patients performed better on PM when highly salient cues were presented than cues of low salience, while there were no differential effects for alcoholic controls. While overall Korsakoff patients' showed a global PM deficit, the extent of this deficit was moderated by the executive control demands of the task applied. This indicated further support for an interrelation of executive functions and memory performance in Korsakoff. Positive clinical implications of the work Prospective memory (PM) performance in Korsakoff's syndrome is related to executive control load. Increasing cues' salience improves PM performance in Korsakoff's syndrome. Salient visual aids may be used in everyday life to improve Korsakoff individuals' planning and organization skills. Cautions or limitations of the study Results were obtained in a structured laboratory setting and need to be replicated in a more naturalistic setting to assess their transferability to everyday life. Given the relatively small sample size, individual predictors of PM performance should be determined in larger samples. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Sleep Benefits in Parallel Implicit and Explicit Measures of Episodic Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weber, Frederik D.; Wang, Jing-Yi; Born, Jan; Inostroza, Marion

2014-01-01

Research in rats using preferences during exploration as a measure of memory has indicated that sleep is important for the consolidation of episodic-like memory, i.e., memory for an event bound into specific spatio-temporal context. How these findings relate to human episodic memory is unclear. We used spontaneous preferences during visual…

How does intentionality of encoding affect memory for episodic information?

PubMed

Craig, Michael; Butterworth, Karla; Nilsson, Jonna; Hamilton, Colin J; Gallagher, Peter; Smulders, Tom V

2016-11-01

Episodic memory enables the detailed and vivid recall of past events, including target and wider contextual information. In this paper, we investigated whether/how encoding intentionality affects the retention of target and contextual episodic information from a novel experience. Healthy adults performed (1) a What-Where-When (WWW) episodic memory task involving the hiding and delayed recall of a number of items (what) in different locations (where) in temporally distinct sessions (when) and (2) unexpected tests probing memory for wider contextual information from the WWW task. Critically, some participants were informed that memory for WWW information would be subsequently probed (intentional group), while this came as a surprise for others (incidental group). The probing of contextual information came as a surprise for all participants. Participants also performed several measures of episodic and nonepisodic cognition from which common episodic and nonepisodic factors were extracted. Memory for target (WWW) and contextual information was superior in the intentional group compared with the incidental group. Memory for target and contextual information was unrelated to factors of nonepisodic cognition, irrespective of encoding intentionality. In addition, memory for target information was unrelated to factors of episodic cognition. However, memory for wider contextual information was related to some factors of episodic cognition, and these relationships differed between the intentional and incidental groups. Our results lead us to propose the hypothesis that intentional encoding of episodic information increases the coherence of the representation of the context in which the episode took place. This hypothesis remains to be tested. © 2016 Craig et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Physical Activity Is Positively Associated with Episodic Memory in Aging

PubMed Central

Hayes, Scott M.; Alosco, Michael L.; Hayes, Jasmeet P.; Cadden, Margaret; Peterson, Kristina M.; Allsup, Kelly; Forman, Daniel E.; Sperling, Reisa A.; Verfaellie, Mieke

2016-01-01

Aging is associated with performance reductions in executive function and episodic memory, although there is substantial individual variability in cognition among older adults. One factor that may be positively associated with cognition in aging is physical activity. To date, few studies have objectively assessed physical activity in young and older adults, and examined whether physical activity is differentially associated with cognition in aging. Young (n = 29, age 18–31 years) and older adults (n = 31, ages 55–82 years) completed standardized neuropsychological testing to assess executive function and episodic memory capacities. An experimental face-name relational memory task was administered to augment assessment of episodic memory. Physical activity (total step count and step rate) was objectively assessed using an accelerometer, and hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate relationships between cognition and physical activity. Older adults performed more poorly on tasks of executive function and episodic memory. Physical activity was positively associated with a composite measure of visual episodic memory and face-name memory accuracy in older adults. Physical activity associations with cognition were independent of sedentary behavior, which was negatively correlated with memory performance. Physical activity was not associated with cognitive performance in younger adults. Physical activity is positively associated with episodic memory performance in aging. The relationship appears to be strongest for face-name relational memory and visual episodic memory, likely attributable to the fact that these tasks make strong demands on the hippocampus. The results suggest that physical activity relates to cognition in older, but not younger adults. PMID:26581790

Verbal memory improvement in first-episode psychosis APOE-ε4 carriers: a pleiotropic effect?

PubMed

Vila-Rodriguez, Fidel; Lang, Donna J; Baitz, Heather; Gicas, Kristina; Thorton, Allen E; Ehmann, Thomas S; Smith, Geoff N; Barr, Alasdair M; Torres, Ivan J; Kopala, Lili C; MacEwan, G William; Müller, Daniel J; Kennedy, James L; Honer, William G

2017-01-01

Verbal memory impairment is a core feature in schizophrenia even at early stages of the disease, but its etiopathogenesis is not fully understood. The APOE -ε4 is the main genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Our primary goal was to ascertain whether APOE -ε4 status had a pleiotropic effect in early stages of the illness. A total of 86 first-episode psychosis (FEP) outpatients and 39 healthy volunteers were recruited. Demographic and clinical data, APOE genotyping, and a neuropsychological test battery including the California Verbal Learning Test - second edition (CVLT-II) were administered and assessed at study entry and at 1-year follow-up. Data were analyzed using mixed-model repeated measures, where the dependent variable was verbal memory indexed by California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) Trials 1-5 total recall score. FEP- APOE -ε4 carriers and FEP- APOE -ε4 noncarriers had similar symptom severity, clinical outcomes, premorbid and current intelligence quotient, and exposure to antipsychotics. There was a main effect of group on CVLT 1-5 (FEP =43.30 vs control =58.25; F [1, 119.7]=42.97; P <0.001) as well as an APOE -ε4 by group by time ( F [4, 116.2]=2.73, P =0.033) interaction with only FEP- APOE -ε4 carriers showing improved verbal memory at follow-up. Our study is the first to report improvement in verbal memory in persons afflicted by FEP who are APOE -ε4 carriers and replicates the prominent verbal memory deficits present in FEP. Our work provides further evidence pointing to an antagonistic pleiotropic effect of APOE -ε4 in neuropsychiatric disorders. Our results merit further research into antagonistic pleiotropic effects in schizophrenia.

Brain lateralization and neural plasticity for musical and cognitive abilities in an epileptic musician

PubMed Central

Trujillo-Pozo, Isabel; Martín-Monzón, Isabel; Rodríguez-Romero, Rafael

2013-01-01

The use of intracarotid propofol procedure (IPP) when assessing musical lateralization has not been reported in literature up to now. This procedure (similar to Wada Test) has provided the opportunity to investigate not only lateralization of language and memory functions on epileptic patients but also offers a functional mapping approach with superior spatial and temporal resolution to analyze the lateralization of musical abilities. Findings in literature suggest that musical training modifies functional and structural brain organization. We studied hemispheric lateralization in a professional musician, a 33 years old woman with refractory left medial temporal lobe (MTL) epilepsy (TLE). A longitudinal neuropsychological study was performed over a period of 21 months. Before epilepsy surgery, musical abilities, language and memory were tested during IPP by means of a novel and exhaustive neuropsychological battery focusing on the processing of music. We used a selection of stimuli to analyze listening, score reading, and tempo discrimination. Our results suggested that IPP is an excellent method to determine not only language, semantic, and episodic memory, but also musical dominance in a professional musician who may be candidate for epilepsy surgery. Neuropsychological testing revealed that right hemisphere's patient is involved in semantic and episodic musical memory processes, whereas her score reading and tempo processing require contribution from both hemispheres. At one-year follow-up, outcome was excellent with respect to seizures and professional skills, meanwhile cognitive abilities improved. These findings indicate that IPP helps to predict who might be at risk for postoperative musical, language, and memory deficits after epilepsy surgery. Our research suggests that musical expertise and epilepsy critically modifies long-term memory processes and induces brain structural and functional plasticity. PMID:24367312

Episodic Memories and Their Relevance for Psychoactive Drug Use and Addiction

PubMed Central

Müller, Christian P.

2013-01-01

The majority of adult people in western societies regularly consume psychoactive drugs. While this consumption is integrated in everyday life activities and controlled in most consumers, it may escalate and result in drug addiction. Non-addicted drug use requires the systematic establishment of highly organized behaviors, such as drug-seeking and -taking. While a significant role for classical and instrumental learning processes is well established in drug use and abuse, declarative drug memories have largely been neglected in research. Episodic memories are an important part of the declarative memories. Here a role of episodic drug memories in the establishment of non-addicted drug use and its transition to addiction is suggested. In relation to psychoactive drug consumption, episodic drug memories are formed when a person prepares for consumption, when the drug is consumed and, most important, when acute effects, withdrawal, craving, and relapse are experienced. Episodic drug memories are one-trial memories with emotional components that can be much stronger than “normal” episodic memories. Their establishment coincides with drug-induced neuronal activation and plasticity. These memories may be highly extinction resistant and influence psychoactive drug consumption, in particular during initial establishment and at the transition to “drug instrumentalization.” In that, understanding how addictive drugs interact with episodic memory circuits in the brain may provide crucial information for how drug use and addiction are established. PMID:23734106

Episodic memories and their relevance for psychoactive drug use and addiction.

PubMed

Müller, Christian P

2013-01-01

The majority of adult people in western societies regularly consume psychoactive drugs. While this consumption is integrated in everyday life activities and controlled in most consumers, it may escalate and result in drug addiction. Non-addicted drug use requires the systematic establishment of highly organized behaviors, such as drug-seeking and -taking. While a significant role for classical and instrumental learning processes is well established in drug use and abuse, declarative drug memories have largely been neglected in research. Episodic memories are an important part of the declarative memories. Here a role of episodic drug memories in the establishment of non-addicted drug use and its transition to addiction is suggested. In relation to psychoactive drug consumption, episodic drug memories are formed when a person prepares for consumption, when the drug is consumed and, most important, when acute effects, withdrawal, craving, and relapse are experienced. Episodic drug memories are one-trial memories with emotional components that can be much stronger than "normal" episodic memories. Their establishment coincides with drug-induced neuronal activation and plasticity. These memories may be highly extinction resistant and influence psychoactive drug consumption, in particular during initial establishment and at the transition to "drug instrumentalization." In that, understanding how addictive drugs interact with episodic memory circuits in the brain may provide crucial information for how drug use and addiction are established.

Structural development of the hippocampus and episodic memory: developmental differences along the anterior/posterior axis.

PubMed

DeMaster, Dana; Pathman, Thanujeni; Lee, Joshua K; Ghetti, Simona

2014-11-01

The hippocampus is critically involved in episodic memory, yet relatively little is known about how the development of this structure contributes to the development of episodic memory during middle to late childhood. Previous research has inconsistently reported associations between hippocampal volume and episodic memory performance during this period. We argue that this inconsistency may be due to assessing the hippocampus as a whole, and propose to examine associations separately for subregions along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus. In the present study, we examined age-related differences in volumes of the hippocampal head, body, and tail, and collected episodic memory measures in children ages 8-11 years and young adults (N = 62). We found that adults had a smaller right hippocampal head, larger hippocampal body bilaterally, and smaller right hippocampal tail compared with children. In adults, but not in children, better episodic memory performance was associated with smaller right hippocampal head and larger hippocampal body. In children, but not in adults, better episodic memory was associated with larger left hippocampal tail. Overall, the results suggest that protracted development of hippocampal subregions contribute to age-related differences in episodic memory. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Personal semantics: Is it distinct from episodic and semantic memory? An electrophysiological study of memory for autobiographical facts and repeated events in honor of Shlomo Bentin.

PubMed

Renoult, Louis; Tanguay, Annick; Beaudry, Myriam; Tavakoli, Paniz; Rabipour, Sheida; Campbell, Kenneth; Moscovitch, Morris; Levine, Brian; Davidson, Patrick S R

2016-03-01

Declarative memory is thought to consist of two independent systems: episodic and semantic. Episodic memory represents personal and contextually unique events, while semantic memory represents culturally-shared, acontextual factual knowledge. Personal semantics refers to aspects of declarative memory that appear to fall somewhere in between the extremes of episodic and semantic. Examples include autobiographical knowledge and memories of repeated personal events. These two aspects of personal semantics have been studied little and rarely compared to both semantic and episodic memory. We recorded the event-related potentials (ERPs) of 27 healthy participants while they verified the veracity of sentences probing four types of questions: general (i.e., semantic) facts, autobiographical facts, repeated events, and unique (i.e., episodic) events. Behavioral results showed equivalent reaction times in all 4 conditions. True sentences were verified faster than false sentences, except for unique events for which no significant difference was observed. Electrophysiological results showed that the N400 (which is classically associated with retrieval from semantic memory) was maximal for general facts and the LPC (which is classically associated with retrieval from episodic memory) was maximal for unique events. For both ERP components, the two personal semantic conditions (i.e., autobiographical facts and repeated events) systematically differed from semantic memory. In addition, N400 amplitudes also differentiated autobiographical facts from unique events. Autobiographical facts and repeated events did not differ significantly from each other but their corresponding scalp distributions differed from those associated with general facts. Our results suggest that the neural correlates of personal semantics can be distinguished from those of semantic and episodic memory, and may provide clues as to how unique events are transformed to semantic memory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Suicide behavior and neuropsychological assessment of type I bipolar patients.

PubMed

Malloy-Diniz, Leandro F; Neves, Fernando Silva; Abrantes, Suzana Silva Costa; Fuentes, Daniel; Corrêa, Humberto

2009-01-01

Neuropsychological deficits are often described in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Some symptoms and/or associated characteristics of BD can be more closely associated to those cognitive impairments. We aimed to explore cognitive neuropsychological characteristics of type I bipolar patients (BPI) in terms of lifetime suicide attempt history. We studied 39 BPI outpatients compared with 53 healthy controls (HC) matched by age, educational and intellectual level. All subjects were submitted to a neuropsychological assessment of executive functions, decision-making and declarative episodic memory. When comparing BDI patients, regardless of suicide attempt history or HC, we observed that bipolar patients performed worse than controls on measures of memory, attention, executive functions and decision-making. Patients with a history of suicide attempt performed worse than non-attempters on measures of decision-making and there were a significant negative correlation between the number of suicide attempts and decision-making results (block 3 and net score). We also found significant positive correlation between the number of suicide attempts and amount of errors in Stroop Color Word Test (part 3). The sample studied can be considered small and a potentially confounding variable - medication status - were not controlled. Our results show the presence of neuropsychological deficits in memory, executive functions, attention and decision-making in BPI patients. Suicide attempts BPI scored worse than non-suicide attempt BPI on measures of decision-making. More suicide attempts were associated with a worse decision-making process. Future research should explore the relationship between the association between this specific cognitive deficits in BPIs, serotonergic function and suicide behavior in bipolar patients as well other diagnostic groups.

Brain imaging and cognitive dysfunctions in Huntington's disease

PubMed Central

Montoya, Alonso; Price, Bruce H.; Menear, Matthew; Lepage, Martin

2006-01-01

Recent decades have seen tremendous growth in our understanding of the cognitive dysfunctions observed in Huntington's disease (HD). Advances in neuroimaging have contributed greatly to this growth. We reviewed the role that structural and functional neuroimaging techniques have played in elucidating the cerebral bases of the cognitive deficits associated with HD. We conducted a computer-based search using PubMed and PsycINFO databases to retrieve studies of patients with HD published between 1965 and December 2004 that reported measures on cognitive tasks and used neuroimaging techniques. Structural neuroimaging has provided important evidence of morphological brain changes in HD. Striatal and cortical atrophy are the most common findings, and they correlate with cognitive deficits in attention, working memory and executive functions. Functional studies have also demonstrated correlations between striatal dysfunction and cognitive performance. Striatal hypoperfusion and decreased glucose utilization correlate with executive dysfunction. Hypometabolism also occurs throughout the cerebral cortex and correlates with performance on recognition memory, language and perceptual tests. Measures of presynaptic and postsynaptic dopamine biochemistry have also correlated with measurements of episodic memory, speed of processing and executive functioning. Aided by the results of numerous neuroimaging studies, it is becoming increasingly clear that cognitive deficits in HD involve abnormal connectivity between the basal ganglia and cortical areas. In the future, neuroimaging techniques may shed the most light on the pathophysiology of HD by defining neurodegenerative disease phenotypes as a valuable tool for knowing when patients become “symptomatic,” having been in a gene-positive presymptomatic state, and as a biomarker in following the disease, thereby providing a prospect for improved patient care. PMID:16496032

Disruption of amygdala-entorhinal-hippocampal network in late-life depression.

PubMed

Leal, Stephanie L; Noche, Jessica A; Murray, Elizabeth A; Yassa, Michael A

2017-04-01

Episodic memory deficits are evident in late-life depression (LLD) and are associated with subtle synaptic and neurochemical changes in the medial temporal lobes (MTL). However, the particular mechanisms by which memory impairment occurs in LLD are currently unknown. We tested older adults with (DS+) and without (DS-) depressive symptoms using high-resolution fMRI that is capable of discerning signals in hippocampal subfields and amygdala nuclei. Scanning was conducted during performance of an emotional discrimination task used previously to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and amygdala-mediated emotional modulation of hippocampal pattern separation in young adults. We found that hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG)/CA3 activity was reduced during correct discrimination of negative stimuli and increased during correct discrimination of neutral items in DS+ compared to DS- adults. The extent of the latter increase was correlated with symptom severity. Furthermore, DG/CA3 and basolateral amygdala (BLA) activity predicted discrimination performance on negative trials, a relationship that depended on symptom severity. The impact of the BLA on depressive symptom severity was mediated by the DG/CA3 during discrimination of neutral items, and by the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) during false recognition of positive items. These results shed light on a novel mechanistic account for amygdala-hippocampal network changes and concurrent alterations in emotional episodic memory in LLD. The BLA-LEC-DG/CA3 network, which comprises a key pathway by which emotion modulates memory, is specifically implicated in LLD. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Feasibility and validity of mobile cognitive testing in the investigation of age-related cognitive decline.

PubMed

Schweitzer, Pierre; Husky, Mathilde; Allard, Michèle; Amieva, Hélène; Pérès, Karine; Foubert-Samier, Alexandra; Dartigues, Jean-François; Swendsen, Joel

2017-09-01

Mobile cognitive testing may be used to help characterize subtle deficits at the earliest stages of cognitive decline. Despite growing interest in this approach, comprehensive information concerning its feasibility and validity has been lacking in elderly samples. Over a one-week period, this study applied mobile cognitive tests of semantic memory, episodic memory and executive functioning in a cohort of 114 elderly non-demented community residents. While the study acceptance rate was moderate (66%), the majority of recruited individuals met minimal compliance thresholds and responded to an average of 82% of the repeated daily assessments. Missing data did not increase over the course of the study, but practice effects were observed for several test scores. However, even when controlling for practice effects, traditional neuropsychological tests were significantly associated with mobile cognitive test scores. In particular, the Isaacs Set Test was associated with mobile assessments of semantic memory (γ = 0.084, t = 5.598, p < 0.001), the Grober and Buschke with mobile assessments of episodic memory (γ = 0.069, t = 3.156, p < 0.01, and the Weschler symbol coding with mobile assessments of executive functioning (γ = 0.168, t = 4.562, p < 0.001). Mobile cognitive testing in the elderly may provide complementary and potentially more sensitive data relative to traditional neuropsychological assessment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Memory loss in Alzheimer's disease: implications for development of therapeutics

PubMed Central

Gold, Carl A; Budson, Andrew E

2009-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease marked by a constellation of cognitive disturbances, the earliest and most prominent being impaired episodic memory. Episodic memory refers to the memory system that allows an individual to consciously retrieve a previously experienced item or episode of life. Many recent studies have focused on characterizing how AD pathology impacts particular aspects of episodic memory and underlying mental and neural processes. This review summarizes the findings of those studies and discusses the effects of current and promising treatments for AD on episodic memory. The goal of this review is to raise awareness of the strides that cognitive neuroscientists have made in understanding intact and dysfunctional memory. Knowledge of the specific memorial processes that are impaired in AD may be of great value to basic scientists developing novel therapies and to clinical researchers assessing the efficacy of those therapies. PMID:19086882

Variability in memory performance in aged healthy individuals: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Grön, Georg; Bittner, Daniel; Schmitz, Bernd; Wunderlich, Arthur P; Tomczak, Reinhard; Riepe, Matthias W

2003-01-01

Episodic memory performance varies in older subjects but underlying biological correlates remain as yet ambiguous. We investigated episodic memory in healthy older individuals (n=24; mean age: 64.4+/-6.7 years) without subjective memory complaints or objective cognitive impairment. Episodic memory was assessed with repetitive learning and recall of abstract geometric patterns during fMRI. Group analysis of brain activity during initial learning and maximum recall revealed hippocampal activation. Correlation analysis of brain activation and task performance demonstrated significant hippocampal activity during initial learning and maximum recall in a success-dependent manner. Neither age nor gray matter densities correlated with hippocampal activation. Functional imaging of episodic memory thus permits to detect objectively variability in hippocampal recruitment in healthy aged individuals without subjective memory complaints. Correlation analysis of brain activation and performance during an episodic memory task may be used to determine and follow-up hippocampal malfunction in a very sensitive manner.

Working Memory Differences Between Children Living in Rural and Urban Poverty

PubMed Central

Tine, Michele

2014-01-01

This study was designed to investigate if the working memory profiles of children living in rural poverty are distinct from the working memory profiles of children living in urban poverty. Verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks were administered to sixth-grade students living in low-income rural, low-income urban, high-income rural, and high-income urban developmental contexts. Both low-income rural and low-income urban children showed working memory deficits compared with their high-income counterparts, but their deficits were distinct. Low-income urban children exhibited symmetrical verbal and visuospatial working memory deficits compared with their high-income urban counterparts. Meanwhile, low-income rural children exhibited asymmetrical deficits when compared with their high-income rural counterparts, with more extreme visuospatial working memory deficits than verbal working memory deficits. These results suggest that different types of poverty are associated with different working memory abilities. PMID:25554726

Working Memory Differences Between Children Living in Rural and Urban Poverty.

PubMed

Tine, Michele

2014-10-02

This study was designed to investigate if the working memory profiles of children living in rural poverty are distinct from the working memory profiles of children living in urban poverty. Verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks were administered to sixth-grade students living in low-income rural, low-income urban, high-income rural, and high-income urban developmental contexts. Both low-income rural and low-income urban children showed working memory deficits compared with their high-income counterparts, but their deficits were distinct. Low-income urban children exhibited symmetrical verbal and visuospatial working memory deficits compared with their high-income urban counterparts. Meanwhile, low-income rural children exhibited asymmetrical deficits when compared with their high-income rural counterparts, with more extreme visuospatial working memory deficits than verbal working memory deficits. These results suggest that different types of poverty are associated with different working memory abilities.

Noninvasive stimulation of prefrontal cortex strengthens existing episodic memories and reduces forgetting in the elderly

PubMed Central

Sandrini, Marco; Brambilla, Michela; Manenti, Rosa; Rosini, Sandra; Cohen, Leonardo G.; Cotelli, Maria

2014-01-01

Memory consolidation is a dynamic process. Reactivation of consolidated memories by a reminder triggers reconsolidation, a time-limited period during which existing memories can be modified (i.e., weakened or strengthened). Episodic memory refers to our ability to recall specific past events about what happened, including where and when. Difficulties in this form of long-term memory commonly occur in healthy aging. Because episodic memory is critical for daily life functioning, the development of effective interventions to reduce memory loss in elderly individuals is of great importance. Previous studies in young adults showed that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a causal role in strengthening of verbal episodic memories through reconsolidation. The aim of the present study was to explore the extent to which facilitatory transcranial direct current stimulation (anodal tDCS) over the left DLPFC would strengthen existing episodic memories through reconsolidation in elderly individuals. On Day 1, older adults learned a list of 20 words. On Day 2 (24 h later), they received a reminder or not, and after 10 min tDCS was applied over the left DLPFC. Memory recall was tested on Day 3 (48 h later) and Day 30 (1 month later). Surprisingly, anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC (i.e., with or without the reminder) strengthened existing verbal episodic memories and reduced forgetting compared to sham stimulation. These results provide a framework for testing the hypothesis that facilitatory tDCS of left DLPFC might strengthen existing episodic memories and reduce memory loss in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. PMID:25368577

Exploring the content and quality of episodic future simulations in semantic dementia.

PubMed

Irish, Muireann; Addis, Donna Rose; Hodges, John R; Piguet, Olivier

2012-12-01

Semantic dementia (SD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the amodal loss of semantic knowledge in the context of relatively preserved recent episodic memory. Recent studies have demonstrated that despite relatively intact episodic memory the capacity for future simulation in SD is profoundly impaired, resulting in an asymmetric profile where past retrieval is significantly better than future simulation (referred to as a past>future effect). Here, we sought to identify the origins of this asymmetric profile by conducting a fine-grained analysis of the contextual details provided during past retrieval and future simulation in SD. Participants with SD (n=14), Alzheimer's disease (n=11), and healthy controls (n=14) had previously completed an experimental past-future interview in which they generated three past events from the previous year, and three future events in the next year, and provided subjective qualitative ratings of vividness, emotional valence, emotional intensity, task difficulty, and personal significance for each event described. Our results confirmed the striking impairment for future simulation in SD, despite a relative preservation of past episodic retrieval. Examination of the contextual details provided for past memories and future simulations revealed significant impairments irrespective of contextual detail type for future simulations in SD, and demonstrated that the future thinking deficit in this cohort was driven by a marked decline in the provision of internal (episodic) event details. In contrast with this past>future effect for internal event details, SD patients displayed a future>past effect for external (non-episodic) event details. Analyses of the qualitative ratings provided for past and future events indicated that SD patients' phenomenological experience did not differ between temporal conditions. Our findings underscore the fact that successful extraction of episodic elements from the past is not sufficient for the generation of novel future simulations in SD. The notable disconnect between objective task performance and patients' subjective experience during future simulation likely reflects the tendency of SD patients to recast entire past events into the future condition. Accordingly, the familiarity of the recapitulated details results in similar ratings of vividness and emotionality across temporal conditions, despite marked differences in the richness of contextual details as the patient moves from the past to the future. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Older adults get episodic memory boosting from noninvasive stimulation of prefrontal cortex during learning.

PubMed

Sandrini, Marco; Manenti, Rosa; Brambilla, Michela; Cobelli, Chiara; Cohen, Leonardo G; Cotelli, Maria

2016-03-01

Episodic memory displays the largest degree of age-related decline, a process that is accelerated in pathological conditions such as amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies have shown that the left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) contributes to the encoding of episodic memories along the life span. The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to test the hypothesis that anodal trascranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left lateral PFC during the learning phase would enhance delayed recall of verbal episodic memories in elderly individuals. Older adults learned a list of words while receiving anodal or placebo (sham) tDCS. Memory recall was tested 48 hours and 1 month later. The results showed that anodal tDCS strengthened episodic memories, an effect indicated by enhanced delayed recall (48 hours) compared to placebo stimulation (Cohen's d effect size = 1.01). The observation that PFC-tDCS during learning can boost verbal episodic memory in the elderly opens up the possibility to design-specific neurorehabilitation protocols targeted to conditions that affect episodic memory such as mild cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Processes Supporting Episodic Memory Formation in Childhood: The Role of Source Memory, Binding, and Executive Functioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raj, Vinaya; Bell, Martha Ann

2010-01-01

Episodic memories contain various forms of contextual detail (e.g., perceptual, emotional, cognitive details) that need to become integrated. Each of these contextual features can be used to attribute a memory episode to its source, or origin of information. Memory for source information is one critical component in the formation of episodic…

Stereotype Threat Effects on Older Adults' Episodic and Working Memory: A Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Armstrong, Bonnie; Gallant, Sara N; Li, Lingqian; Patel, Khushi; Wong, Brenda I

2017-08-01

Prior research has shown that exposure to negative age-based stereotype threat (ST) can undermine older adults' memory performance. The objective of the current meta-analysis was to examine the reliability and magnitude of ST effects on older adults' episodic and working memory performance-two forms of memory that typically show the greatest age-related declines. In addition, we examined potential moderators of age-based ST including type of ST manipulation, type and timing of memory task, participant age and education level. A total of 23 samples for episodic memory and 15 samples for working memory were derived from 19 published and 4 unpublished articles and analyzed in two separate meta-analyses. Analyses revealed a reliable effect of ST on both older adults' episodic (d = 0.373) and working memory performance (d = 0.253). Interestingly, the age-based ST effect was only significant when blatant ST manipulations were used with episodic memory tasks or when subtle ST manipulations were used with working memory tasks. Moreover, within episodic memory, the ST effect only reached significance for recall but not cued-recall or recognition performance, and for immediate but not delayed tests of memory. Neither age nor level of education moderated the association between ST and older adults' memory performance. These results highlight the vulnerability of both older adults' episodic and working memory performance to age-based ST. When measuring older adults' memory performance in a research context, we must therefore be wary of exposing participants to common stereotypes about aging and memory. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Chronic traumatic stress impairs memory in mice: Potential roles of acetylcholine, neuroinflammation and corticotropin releasing factor expression in the hippocampus.

PubMed

Bhakta, Ami; Gavini, Kartheek; Yang, Euitaek; Lyman-Henley, Lani; Parameshwaran, Kodeeswaran

2017-09-29

Chronic stress in humans can result in multiple adverse psychiatric and neurobiological outcomes, including memory deficits. These adverse outcomes can be more severe if each episode of stress is very traumatic. When compared to acute or short term stress relatively little is known about the effects of chronic traumatic stress on memory and molecular changes in hippocampus, a brain area involved in memory processing. Here we studied the effects of chronic traumatic stress in mice by exposing them to adult Long Evan rats for 28 consecutive days and subsequently analyzing behavioral outcomes and the changes in the hippocampus. Results show that stressed mice developed memory deficits when assayed with radial arm maze tasks. However, chronic traumatic stress did not induce anxiety, locomotor hyperactivity or anhedonia. In the hippocampus of stressed mice interleukin-1β protein expression was increased along with decreased corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) gene expression. Furthermore, there was a reduction in acetylcholine levels in the hippocampus of stressed mice. There were no changes in brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in the hippocampus of stressed mice. Gene expression of immediate early genes (Zif268, Arc, C-Fos) as well as glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors were also not affected by chronic stress. These data demonstrate that chronic traumatic stress followed by a recovery period might lead to development of resilience resulting in the development of selected, most vulnerable behavioral alterations and molecular changes in the hippocampus. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.