TY - JOUR
T1 - Refining memory assessment of elderly people with cognitive impairment
T2 - insights from the short-term memory binding test
AU - Parra, Mario A.
AU - Calia, Clara
AU - Frank García, Ana
AU - Olazarán-Rodrígue, Javier
AU - Hernandez-Tamames, Juan Antonio
AU - Alvarez-Linera, Juan
AU - Della Sala, Sergio
AU - Fernandez Guinea, Sara
PY - 2019/8/31
Y1 - 2019/8/31
N2 - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects temporary memory for bound features more remarkably than for individual features. Such selective impairments manifest from presymptomatic through dementia stages via titration procedures. A recent study suggested that without titration and with high memory load the binding selectivity may disappear in people at risk of AD such as those with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). We compared data from two studies on temporary binding which assessed people with MCI and controls using different memory loads (2 or 3 items). Selective binding impairments were found in MCI, but relative to controls, such selectivity was contingent upon memory load (i.e., present with 2 items). Further analysis with MCI people who tested positive to neuroimaging biomarkers (i.e., hippocampal atrophy) confirmed that this specific binding impairments are a feature of prodromal AD. The temporary binding task has been recently suggested by consensus papers as a potential screening tool for AD. The results presented here inform on task properties that can maximise the reliability of this new assessment tool for the detection of memory impairments in prodromal cases of AD.
AB - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects temporary memory for bound features more remarkably than for individual features. Such selective impairments manifest from presymptomatic through dementia stages via titration procedures. A recent study suggested that without titration and with high memory load the binding selectivity may disappear in people at risk of AD such as those with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). We compared data from two studies on temporary binding which assessed people with MCI and controls using different memory loads (2 or 3 items). Selective binding impairments were found in MCI, but relative to controls, such selectivity was contingent upon memory load (i.e., present with 2 items). Further analysis with MCI people who tested positive to neuroimaging biomarkers (i.e., hippocampal atrophy) confirmed that this specific binding impairments are a feature of prodromal AD. The temporary binding task has been recently suggested by consensus papers as a potential screening tool for AD. The results presented here inform on task properties that can maximise the reliability of this new assessment tool for the detection of memory impairments in prodromal cases of AD.
KW - short term memory binding
KW - mild cognitive impairment
KW - prodromal Alzheimer’s disease
KW - neuropsychological assessment
KW - early detection
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/archives-of-gerontology-and-geriatrics
U2 - 10.1016/j.archger.2019.03.025
DO - 10.1016/j.archger.2019.03.025
M3 - Review article
SN - 0167-4943
VL - 83
SP - 114
EP - 120
JO - Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
JF - Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
ER -