Abstract
Two experiments examined short-term memory for order information in six patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) and six control subjects while event related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The subjects were tested for recognition of abstract spatial designs and words after a 5 s retention interval. The PD patients failed to respond in 29% of all trials, but the overall accuracy was similar to that in the control group when these trials were excluded. The corresponding ERP results show serial position variations both after presentation of the probe items, and after presentation of the memory set items. The amplitudes were generally lower at all positions for the PD patients at the parietal midline electrode, and the amplitudes were similar for both groups at the frontal electrode. Also, the ERP latencies were significantly slower for the PD patients than for the control group at all conditions. Indirectly the data are consistent with an interpretation of cognitive deficit in PD stressing attention resources.
Highlights
Human memory for a list of items is better for the first and last items than it is for the middle items, giving rise to the V-shaped list position function
The Parkinson's disease (PD) patients failed to respond within the available 5 s in 29% of all trials evenly distributed at all list positions and between stimuli conditions, and the control group in 3°/.) of all trials
The results do not identify a behavioural deficit in PD related to list position recognition for abstract spatial patterns, but indicate individual variation in the recency performance of the PD group on a task which is more demanding on working memory
Summary
Human memory for a list of items is better for the first and last items than it is for the middle items, giving rise to the V-shaped list position function. List position designs represent well established methods for assessment of performance differences in short-term memory. Studies have concluded (Craik, 1968; Korsnes and Gilinsky, 1993; Korsnes and Magnussen, 1996; Lewandosky and Murdock, 1989; Wright et at., 1985) that basic memory processes producing the list position functions are similar for young and older healthy subjects, and even for monkeys and pigeons. Previous reports have concluded that Parkinson's disease (PD) affects memory Studies have reported findings indicating deficits in short-term
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