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[Subclinical deficit in the memory of chronic alcoholics. Comparison between 2 learning tests].

Normal subjects and chronic alcoholics without clinical evidence of memory disorders have been compared on two tasks of verbal learning of a word list, one administered with the classical procedure and the other with the "selective reminding" technique developed by Bushke. Results showed that the selective reminding technique has the same discriminative power as the classical procedure: both brought out a remarkable learning deficit in chronic alcoholics. The selective reminding procedure is easier to administer and can distinguish between storage and retrieval deficits; it seems therefore preferable for diagnostic purposes. Practical criteria to distinguish a normal from pathologic performance on this test are suggested. Alcoholics were also inferior on Raven Progressive Matrices. The scope of the impairment produced by chronic alcohol consumption is wider than suggested by clinical observations and deserves careful assessment.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Frontal dysfunction contributes to the genesis of hallucinations in non-demented Parkinsonian patients.

BACKGROUND: Hallucinations occur in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with reported prevalence ranging from 8% to 40%. Hallucinations are significantly associated with dementia in PD, but little is known about possible distinctive cognitive features of non-demented PD patients who develop hallucinations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess selected cognitive abilities in non-demented PD patients with and without hallucinations in order to identify specific neuropsychological correlates of such phenomena. METHODS: Forty-eight consecutive patients with PD and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) > or = 23 were examined for the presence of hallucinations and assessed on standardized neuropsychological tasks for semantic and phonological fluency, verbal learning and logical abstract thinking; disease severity was staged according to Hoehn and Yahr scale. RESULTS: Fourteen (29.2%) of 48 patients experienced hallucinations. There was no difference between hallucinators and non-hallucinators on demographic variables, disease severity and dose of any pharmacological treatment. Disease duration was significantly longer in hallucinator vs non-hallucinator patients (p = 0.02). Patients with hallucinations scored significantly lower than patients without hallucinations only on verbal learning-immediate recall task (p = 0.0324), and semantic and phonological fluency tasks (p = 0.0005 and p = 0.0036, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that PD patients with hallucinations show reduced performance on tasks that explore executive functioning as compared with non-hallucinators. Therefore, executive dysfunction may be considered as a risk factor for the development of hallucinations in non-demented PD patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of malingered and other invalid WAIS-R and clinical memory data.

To further the understanding of malingering and other compromises to data validity on standard neuropsychological tasks, the present study evaluated WAIS-R and clinical memory data produced by two groups from a mildly head-injured sample: Malingerers (MPs; n = 12) were identified via below chance forced-choice testing; "QVs" (n = 10) provided implausible neuropsychological performances but were not clearly malingering. A low level of performance characterized the data of the MPs and QVs: Full Scale IQ and Performance IQ were significantly lower for MPs and QVs than for matched controls, and obtained IQ for MPs and QVs averaged 18 points below estimated IQ. On the California Verbal Learning Test, total words recalled and recognition memory were significantly lower for MPs and QVs than for controls. In contrast, qualitative analyses, such as approximate answers, bizarre responses, "scatter" on the WAIS-R, inconsistency in performance across similar tasks, clustering, and intrusions on memory measures, generally yielded negative findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Baseline performance and learning rate of procedural and declarative memory tasks: younger versus older adults.

Twenty-five older and 25 younger adults were compared on declarative (i.e., Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test and Visual Pair Associations) and procedural (i.e., Tower of Hanoi puzzle and Porteus mazes) learning tasks. A dissociation between learning rate on declarative and procedural tasks was demonstrated for the elderly participants. The younger group showed a steeper learning rate than the older group on the declarative tasks. By contrast, the learning rate of both groups on the procedural tasks did not differ consistently, whether the measure was number of errors/moves or time elapsed (with one exception in which the older group showed a steeper learning rate than the younger group). The younger group's baseline performance was better than that of the older group on all tasks employed in this study. These results reinforce the importance of distinguishing between baseline performance and the rate of learning on procedural learning tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Memory tests distinguish between patients with focal temporal and extratemporal lobe epilepsy.

We examined the ability of preoperative memory performance to distinguish between patients who had been diagnosed as having left (LTLE, n = 31), right (RTLE, n = 37), and extra-(ETLE, n = 17) temporal lobe focal epilepsy. All patients eventually underwent surgical resections. Analyses indicated that the ETLE group performed better than the RTLE group on nonverbal memory measures and better than the LTLE group on verbal memory measures. Discriminant function analyses indicated that use of a combination of measures that assess different aspects of memory were of significant value in distinguishing between patients with focal TLE and ETLE. This approach, as compared the use of single measures, improved classification rates of all three groups. The best single predictor of group membership, an index of verbal learning, yielded a 47% overall correct classification rate, with sensitivities ranging from 25 to 59%, and performed at worse than chance levels in classifying RTLE patients. A multivariate approach, which included an index of verbal and nonverbal learning, incidental nonverbal memory, and consolidation of organized and rote verbal material, yielded a 65% correct classification rate, with sensitivities ranging from 57 to 75%. This compares favorably with the other noninvasive techniques for lateralizing epileptogenic lesions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Performance of healthy subjects and patients with resection from the anterior temporal lobe on matched tests of verbal and visuoperceptual learning.

We examined the equivalence of three matched forms of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and three parallel forms of a new nonverbal analog, the Aggie Figures Learning Test (AFLT). One hundred and fourteen healthy subjects, primarily college students, were administered corresponding forms of the two tasks. For both tasks the three forms proved to be well-matched; as well, overall performance on the RAVLT was comparable to that on the AFLT. The two tasks were also administered to 23 patients with anterior resection from the left or right temporal lobe (ATL). Findings showed that right ATL patients were significantly impaired on the learning trials of the AFLT as compared to their learning on the RAVLT; they showed little forgetting of figures or words over a 20-min delay interval. By contrast, left ATL patients showed severe forgetting of words as compared to figures, but their learning curve for the RAVLT did not differ from that on the AFLT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

A supplementary measure in the Rey AVLT for assessing incidental learning of temporal order.

Temporal order judgment is considered an important aspect of memory, both clinically and theoretically. Theories treat temporal order variously as an example of automatic process, contextual information, or source memory. However, despite its significance, temporal order is not well represented in standard memory tests or batteries. The well-known Rey AVLT (Auditory-Verbal Learning Test) was judged suitable for incorporation of a temporal order measure because it already includes several measures of learning and memory. The measure was administered to 190 healthy subjects divided into four age groups, who then were given list A in random order and asked to rewrite the words in their original order. Memory for temporal order was found to be sensitive to age and gender. Although temporal order judgment was part of incidental learning, scoring was significantly higher than could be attributed to chance. The correlation pattern between temporal order and other Rey AVLT scores suggests that temporal order is related to retention rather than to acquisition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Lexical learning of the English language: a PET study in healthy French subjects.

To investigate the neural correlates of word learning in adults, 10 right-handed French subjects who had learned English without mastering it performed an English and a French naming task during two PET sessions, one before (PET1) and the second after (PET2) a 4-week lexical training in English. Behavioral performance was collected during the two PET exams and 2 months after (T3). At T2, performance on English naming increased in all subjects; this improvement persisted at T3, with no correlation between English performance at T2 and T3. Cerebral activation during French naming mainly showed a left frontal temporal network. The pattern specifically associated with English lexical learning included, in addition to the anterior cingulate cortex involved in attentional processing and BAs 4/6 reflecting speech output, the right cerebellum and the left insular cortex that are linked to speech gesture learning, and the right medial temporal regions, likely to reflect the involvement of episodic memory during verbal learning. Correlations between English T2/T1 performance and English T2/T1 rCBF changes reinforced the hypothesis of intervention of episodic memory since they interested right frontal, hippocampal, and lateral temporal regions. 'Predictive' correlations between English T3/T2 performance and English T2/T1 rCBF changes showed, in good reminders, increased activities in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus and middle temporal cortex probably related to efficient semantic storage of learned words.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Implicit and explicit memory functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with widespread and devastating neurodevelopmental deficits. Numerous reports have suggested memory deficits in both humans and animals exposed prenatally to alcohol. However, the nature of these memory deficits remains to be characterized. Recently children with fetal alcohol syndrome were shown to have learning and memory deficits on a verbal learning and memory measure that involved free recall and recognition memory. The current study seeks to further characterize memory functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure by evaluating priming performance. The choice of task is also relevant given previous studies of memory performance in patient groups with and without involvement of the basal ganglia, a group of structures known to be affected in fetal alcohol syndrome. Three groups were evaluated for lexical priming, free recall, recognition memory, and verbal fluency: (1) children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure; (2) children with Down syndrome; and (3) nonexposed controls. The children with Down syndrome showed significantly less priming than alcohol-exposed children, who did not differ from controls. In addition, the alcohol-exposed children were impaired on the free recall task but not on the recognition memory task, whereas the children with Down syndrome performed significantly worse than the alcohol-exposed group on both tasks. Finally, on the verbal fluency task, children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure were impaired on both category and letter fluency, but the degree of impairment was greater for letter fluency. These results further characterize the memory deficits in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure suggesting that in spite of learning and memory deficits, they are able to benefit from priming of verbal information.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Characteristics of memory dysfunction in body dysmorphic disorder.

Although body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is receiving increasing empirical attention, very little is known about neuropsychological deficits in this disorder. The current study investigated the nature of memory dysfunction in BDD, including the relationship between encoding strategies and verbal and nonverbal memory performance. We evaluated 17 patients with BDD and 17 healthy controls using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). BDD patients differed significantly from healthy controls on verbal and nonverbal learning and memory indices. Multiple regression analyses revealed that group differences in free recall were statistically mediated by deficits in organizational strategies in the BDD cohort. These findings are similar to patterns previously observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), suggesting a potential relationship between OCD and BDD. Studies in both groups have shown that verbal and nonverbal memory deficits are affected by impaired strategic processing.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Increase in the power of human memory in normal man through the use of drugs.

Nootropyl (Piracetam) a drug reported to facilitate learning in animals was tested for its effect on man by administering it to normal volunteers. The subjects were given 3x4 capsules at 400 mg per day, in a double blind study. Each subject learned series of words presented as stimuli upon a memory drum. No effects were observed after 7 days but after 14 days verbal learning had significantly increased.

Female↗
PubMed2002

Gender differences in learning and memory after pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Thirty boys and 30 girls who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) were evaluated within 1 year post injury with the California Verbal Learning Test-children's Version (CVLT-C; D. C. Delis, J. H. Kramer, E. Kaplan, & B. A. Ober, 1994). Boys had statistically significantly lower performance on the CVLT-C than girls in the absence of statistically significant group differences on various demographic and neurological variables. Although the effect size for this difference was modest (eta2 = .09), gender accounted for a statistically significant amount of the variance (5%) in CVLT-C scores in addition to effects of injury severity and age. It is concluded that male gender is associated with an increased risk for retrieval deficits after pediatric TBI, possibly because of reduced speed or efficiency of information processing.

Brain↗
PubMed1981

The impairment of verbal semantic memory: a single case study.

We report our investigations of a single patient in whom there was a selective impairment of semantic memory. She had a marked deficit of individual word comprehension although other language and linguistic skills were relatively preserved. Here we document that her failures in word comprehension were stable over a long time period. She made "phonological" errors in defining meanings, which we argue are analogous to "visual" errors in reading. On verbal learning tasks her performance was shown to be relatively preserved, a finding which provides evidence of the dissociation of verbal semantic memory and episodic (event) memory.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Memory deficits in abstinent MDMA (ecstasy) users: neuropsychological evidence of frontal dysfunction.

Chronic administration of the common club drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is associated with long-term depletion of serotonin (5-HT) and loss of 5-HT axons in the brains of rodents and non-human primates, and evidence suggests that recreational MDMA consumption may also affect the human serotonergic system. Moreover, it was consistently shown that abstinent MDMA users have memory deficits. Recently, it was supposed that these deficits are an expression of a temporal or rather hippocampal dysfunction caused by the serotonergic neurotoxicity of MDMA. The aim of this study is to examine the memory deficits of MDMA users neuropsychologically in order to evaluate the role of different brain regions. Nineteen male abstinent MDMA users, 19 male abstinent cannabis users and 19 male drug-naive control subjects were examined with a German version of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). MDMA users showed widespread and marked verbal memory deficits, compared to drug-naive controls as well as compared to cannabis users, whereas cannabis users did not differ from control subjects in their memory performance. MDMA users revealed impairments in learning, consolidation, recall and recognition. In addition, they also showed a worse recall consistency and strong retroactive interference whereby both measures were previously associated with frontal lobe function. There was a significant correlation between memory performance and the amount of MDMA taken. These results suggest that the memory deficits of MDMA users are not only the result of a temporal or hippocampal dysfunction, but also of a dysfunction of regions within the frontal cortex.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Effect of interferon-beta-1b on cognitive functions in multiple sclerosis.

INTRODUCTION: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is recognised as a central nervous system disease also affecting cognition. The rate of cognitive dysfunction in MS is in the range of 45-65% and adversely affect the quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of 1 year of treatment with interferon-beta-1b (IFNbeta-1b) on cognitive functions in patients suffering from relapsing-remitting MS. METHODS: A battery of cognitive tests was used to assess verbal learning, delayed recall, visual learning and recall, complex attention, concentration and verbal fluency at baseline and after 1 year of treatment with IFNbeta-1b. A group of 23 relapsing-remitting MS patients matched for neurological disability served as controls. RESULTS: Eighteen of 23 patients treated with IFNbeta-1b (74%) completed the study. In the IFNbeta-1b-treated group, complex attention, concentration as well as visual learning and recall improved significantly (p = 0.024, p = 0.006 and p = 0.005, respectively), while no deterioration was observed in the other dimensions. In the control group, complex attention, verbal fluency, as well as visual learning and recall deteriorated significantly (p = 0.02, p = 0.004 and p = 0.01, respectively), while no deterioration was observed in the other dimensions. CONCLUSION: Immunomodulating drugs that reduce the relapse rate and slow the disease progression also inhibit cognitive deterioration in patients with MS.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed2004

Actual and perceived memory deficits in individuals with compulsive hoarding.

Memory problems have been hypothesized to underlie compulsive hoarding behavior [Frost and Hartl, 1996: Behav Res Ther 34:341-350]. This study examined memory performance, memory confidence, and memory beliefs in 22 individuals with severe hoarding symptoms and 24 matched normal control subjects. Participants were administered two measures of learning and memory that required strategic planning and organization for successful performance: the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) and California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Self-reports of memory confidence, perceived consequences of forgetting, importance of remembering, and need to keep possessions in sight also were assessed. In comparison to controls, participants with compulsive hoarding recalled less information on delayed recall of the RCFT and CVLT and used less effective organizational strategies on the RCFT but not the CVLT. Hoarders also reported significantly less confidence in their memory, more catastrophic assessments of the consequences of forgetting, and a stronger desire to keep possessions in sight. Results provide initial evidence of learning and memory impairment and poor memory confidence in subjects with compulsive hoarding.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Acute administration of citalopram facilitates memory consolidation in healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVES: Decreasing serotonergic neurotransmission in humans has been found to impair memory consolidation. Such effects may be relevant to the memory deficits seen in major depression and the cognitive actions of antidepressant drugs used to treat them. However, the improvement in cognitive function often found following successful pharmacological treatment in depression may be confounded by symptom improvement. RATIONALE: The present study assessed the effects of an acute challenge with the selective serotonergic re-uptake inhibitor citalopram in healthy (non-depressed) females. METHODS: Immediate and delayed recall/recognition was assessed using the auditory verbal learning test following 10 mg (intravenous) citalopram or placebo in a double-blind between groups design. RESULTS: Immediate recall on the verbal memory test was unaffected by citalopram administration. However, volunteers receiving citalopram showed enhanced long-term memory performance in terms of delayed recall and recognition relative to those receiving placebo. Sustained attention performance was also comparable in the two groups of subjects suggesting that non-specific increases in information processing are not responsible for this effect. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that augmentation of serotonergic neurotransmission is associated with increased memory consolidation, which may be relevant to its therapeutic and cognitive actions in acutely depressed patients.

Adult↗