Abstract
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.
Highlights
Popular literature is full of proposals and promises that memory skills may be enhanced through specific exercises
Implicit memory may impair performance when the source of the information is forgotten and the learner does not explicitly remember that the response was an error (Jacoby et al, 1989; Squire and McKee, 1993), which is relevant in view of the use of errorless learning in memory rehabilitation
We found a similar result in SK, a patient with severe amnesia following traumatic brain injury who was asked to learn eight names of staff members shown on photographs
Summary
Popular literature is full of proposals and promises that memory skills may be enhanced through specific exercises. Implicit memory may impair performance when the source of the information is forgotten and the learner does not explicitly remember that the response was an error (Jacoby et al, 1989; Squire and McKee, 1993), which is relevant in view of the use of errorless learning (a learning technique using conditions that attempt to limit the production of errors) in memory rehabilitation. Another important line of research has attempted to identify the cognitive processes that are involved in the formation of memory traces.
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