Episodic and Semantic Memory for Melodies in Alzheimer's Disease

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 501-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley D. Vanstone ◽  
Ritu Sikka ◽  
Leila Tangness ◽  
Rosalind Sham ◽  
Angeles Garcia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Novel Target ◽  
Musical Memory

the present study addressed episodic and semantic memory for melodies in three groups of participants: 35 younger adults, 40 older adults, and 10 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). To assess episodic memory, a study list of eight novel target melodies was presented three times, followed by a test trial in which target melodies were mixed with foil (previously unheard) melodies. Both explicit and implicit measures were obtained. Explicit memory was assessed by the accuracy of discrimination of the target melodies from the foils. Younger adults were significantly more accurate than older adults, who in turn had significantly higher scores than AD adults. Implicit memory was assessed by examining the difference in pleasantness ratings between target and foil melodies. Younger adults showed significantly greater differences in pleasantness ratings than older adults and AD adults; scores for the two latter groups did not differ. To assess semantic memory, participants were asked to identify traditional melodies within a series of traditional and novel melodies. In contrast to the episodic memory results, all three groups showed very high scores on the semantic memory task with no significant differences among groups. The results support the notion that, though other forms of musical memory may be compromised, semantic memory for melody may be preserved in normal aging and in AD.

Memory for Melodies and Lyrics in Alzheimer's Disease

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 479-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lola L. Cuddy ◽  
Jacalyn M. Duffin ◽  
Sudeep S. Gill ◽  
Cassandra L. Brown ◽  
Ritu Sikka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Alzheimer Type ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Contrast Detection ◽  
Severe Stage ◽  
Musical Memory

this research addressed the question: is musical memory preserved in dementia, specifically, dementia of the Alzheimer type (AD)? Six tests involving different aspects of melody and language processing were administered to each of five groups of participants: 50 younger adults, 100 older adults, and 50 AD older adults classified into three levels of AD severity—mild, moderate and severe. No test was immune to, but not all tests were equally sensitive to, the presence of dementia. Long-term familiarity for melody was preserved across levels of AD, even at the severe stage for a few individuals. Detecting pitch distortions in melodies was possible for mild and some of the moderate AD participants. The ability to sing a melody when prompted by its lyrics was retained at the mild stage and was retained by a few individuals through the severe stages of AD. Long-term familiarity with the lyrics of familiar melodies was also found across levels of AD. In contrast, detection of grammatical distortions in the lyrics of familiar melodies and the ability to complete familiar proverbs were affected even at the mild stage of AD. We conclude that musical semantic memory may be spared through the mild and moderate stages of AD and may be preserved even in some individuals at the severe stage.

scholarly journals Do Alzheimer’s Disease Patients Benefit From Prior-Knowledge in Associative Recognition Memory?

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 443-452
Author(s):  
Emma Delhaye ◽  
Adrien Folville ◽  
Isabelle Simoes Loureiro ◽  
Laurent Lefebvre ◽  
Eric Salmon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Healthy Older Adults

AbstractObjectives: Although the influence of prior knowledge on associative memory in healthy aging has received great attention, it has never been studied in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed at assessing whether AD patients could benefit from prior knowledge in associative memory and whether such benefit would be related to the integrity of their semantic memory. Methods: Twenty-one AD patients and 21 healthy older adults took part in an associative memory task using semantically related and unrelated word pairs and were also submitted to an evaluation of their semantic memory. Results: While participants of both groups benefited from semantic relatedness in associative discrimination, related pairs recognition was significantly predicted by semantic memory integrity in healthy older adults only. Conclusions: We suggest that patients benefitted from semantic knowledge to improve their performance in the associative memory task, but that such performance is not related to semantic knowledge integrity evaluation measures because the two tasks differ in the way semantic information is accessed: in an automatic manner for the associative memory task, with automatic processes thought to be relatively preserved in AD, and in a controlled manner for the semantic knowledge evaluation, with controlled processes thought to be impaired in AD. (JINS, 2019, 25, 443–452)

scholarly journals Influence of Aging on the Neural Correlates of Autobiographical, Episodic, and Semantic Memory Retrieval

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 4150-4163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie St-Laurent ◽  
Hervé Abdi ◽  
Hana Burianová ◽  
Cheryl L. Grady
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related

We used fMRI to assess the neural correlates of autobiographical, semantic, and episodic memory retrieval in healthy young and older adults. Participants were tested with an event-related paradigm in which retrieval demand was the only factor varying between trials. A spatio-temporal partial least square analysis was conducted to identify the main patterns of activity characterizing the groups across conditions. We identified brain regions activated by all three memory conditions relative to a control condition. This pattern was expressed equally in both age groups and replicated previous findings obtained in a separate group of younger adults. We also identified regions whose activity differentiated among the different memory conditions. These patterns of differentiation were expressed less strongly in the older adults than in the young adults, a finding that was further confirmed by a barycentric discriminant analysis. This analysis showed an age-related dedifferentiation in autobiographical and episodic memory tasks but not in the semantic memory task or the control condition. These findings suggest that the activation of a common memory retrieval network is maintained with age, whereas the specific aspects of brain activity that differ with memory content are more vulnerable and less selectively engaged in older adults. Our results provide a potential neural mechanism for the well-known age differences in episodic/autobiographical memory, and preserved semantic memory, observed when older adults are compared with younger adults.

The Self-Reference Effect on Episodic Memory Recollection in Young and Older Adults and Alzheimer’s Disease

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1107-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lalanne ◽  
Johanna Rozenberg ◽  
Pauline Grolleau ◽  
Pascale Piolino
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Reference

scholarly journals Decline in verbal memory during preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Examination of the effect of APOE genotype

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 943-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
KELLY L. LANGE ◽  
MARK W. BONDI ◽  
DAVID P. SALMON ◽  
DOUGLAS GALASKO ◽  
DEAN C. DELIS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Apoe Genotype ◽  
Apoe Ε4 ◽  
Dementia Syndrome ◽  
Ε4 Allele

A subtle decline in episodic memory often occurs prior to the emergence of the full dementia syndrome in nondemented older adults who develop Alzheimer's disease (AD). The APOE-ε4 genotype may engender a more virulent form of AD that hastens this decline. To examine this possibility, we compared the rate of decline in episodic memory during the preclinical phase of AD in individuals with or without at least one APOE ε4 allele. Nondemented normal control (NC; n = 84) participants, nondemented older adults who subsequently developed dementia within 1 or 2 years (i.e., preclinical AD; n = 20), and patients with mild AD (n = 53) were examined with 2 commonly employed tests of episodic memory, the Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised and the California Verbal Learning Test. Results revealed a precipitous decline in verbal memory abilities 1 to 2 years prior to the onset of the dementia syndrome, but there was little effect of APOE genotype on the rate of this memory decline. The presence of an APOE-ε4 allele, however, did have a differential effect on the sensitivity of the 2 types of memory tests for tracking progression and made an independent contribution to the prediction of conversion to AD. (JINS, 2002, 8, 943–955.)

scholarly journals Metacognitive domain specificity in feeling-of-knowing but not retrospective confidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Mazancieux ◽  
Claire Dinze ◽  
Céline Souchay ◽  
Chris J A Moulin
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Domain Specificity ◽  
Hierarchical Bayesian ◽  
Hierarchical Bayesian Model ◽  
Feeling Of Knowing ◽  
Theoretical Reasoning ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Previous research has converged on the idea that metacognitive evaluations of memory dissociate between semantic and episodic memory tasks, even if the type of metacognitive judgement is held constant. This often observed difference has been the basis of much theoretical reasoning about the types of cues available when making metacognitive judgements of memory and how metacognition is altered in memory pathologies. Here, we sought to revisit the difference between episodic and semantic feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgements in the light of recent research which has supported a domain general account of metacognition. One hundred participants performed classical episodic and semantic memory tasks with FOK judgements and confidence judgements. Using the meta-d′ framework, we applied a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate metacognitive sensitivity and cross-task covariance. Results revealed a significant correlation in metacognitive efficiency (meta-d′/d′) between the episodic memory task and the semantic memory task for confidence judgements; however, no evidence was found for a cross-task correlation for FOK judgements. This supports the view that FOK judgements are based on different cues in semantic and episodic memory, whereas confidence judgements are domain general.

The Effects of Question Type on Conversational Discourse in Alzheimer's Disease

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 126-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Petryk ◽  
Tammy Hopper
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Question Type ◽  
Conversational Discourse ◽  
Question Types ◽  
Negative Comments ◽  
Multiple Question ◽  
Within Subjects

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of asking open-ended episodic memory questions versus open-ended semantic memory questions on the conversational discourse of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Four females diagnosed with probable AD participated in the study. A within-subjects experimental design was employed to assess the effects of the different question types on participants’ spoken language. Transcripts were analyzed using specific discourse measures used in previous research involving individuals with AD. Results: Participants in this study produced more meaningful and relevant statements, as measured by ratios of on-topic utterances, when responding to the semantic memory questions as compared to episodic memory questions. Participants made few negative comments overall; however, more negative self-evaluative statements were made in the episodic memory condition. When considered in conjunction with previous research, the results support the use of multiple question types in conversation with individuals with mild and moderate AD. However, communication partners should limit their use of open-ended questions that primarily tax episodic memory.

Do You Remember? How Caregivers Question Their Spouses Who Have Alzheimer’s Disease and the Impact on Communication

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff A. Small ◽  
JoAnn Perry
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Similar Extent ◽  
Positive Communication ◽  
Communication Breakdown ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Communication Outcome

This study examined the types of questions caregivers use and their outcomes when conversing with their spouse with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Of particular interest was caregivers’ use of yes-no and open-ended questions and the demands they make on the memory of the person with AD. It was hypothesized that communication between caregivers and their spouses would be more successful when caregivers used yes-no rather than open-ended questions; however, it was also predicted that a more positive communication outcome would occur when caregivers used open-ended questions that requested information from semantic rather than episodic memory. Eighteen caregivers and their spouses diagnosed with AD were audiotaped while they conversed for approximately 10 min on a topic of their choosing. The conversations were transcribed and coded according to the occurrence of questions, the type of question (yes-no, choice, or open-ended), the type of memory required to respond to a question (semantic or episodic), and the outcome of a response to a question (communication breakdown). The results indicated that caregivers used yes-no and open-ended questions to a similar extent, whereas episodic questions were used almost twice as frequently as semantic questions. Communication was more successful when caregivers used yes-no compared with open-ended questions and when questions placed demands on semantic rather than episodic memory. The findings from this study suggest that caregivers can reduce communication problems by avoiding the use of questions that depend on episodic memory. In addition, while yes-no questions were associated with more favorable outcomes than open-ended questions, the latter do not need to be avoided if they refer to information that draws only on semantic memory.

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