Une nouvelle épreuve de mémoire prospective : Mem-Pro clinic

Abstract

Prospective memory refers to the ability to remember to perform an action at a specific moment in the future, either after a period of time (time-based) or in response to the occurrence of an event (event-based). Its evaluation in clinical practice could contribute to the objectification of prospective memory complaints often reported by people who consult for a neuropsychological examination. This article presents a prospective memory test called Mem-Pro clinic, composed of four tasks (two time-based, two event-based). Preliminary data were collected from fifty participants including thirty-five young and elderly healthy participants, thirteen patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and two patients with mild cognitive impairment. Results showed that the Mem-Pro clinic tool is sensitive to the prospective memory decline that is often reported during normal aging. It is also particularly sensitive to the pronounced and generalized deficit of prospective memory that characterizes Alzheimer’s disease, which also corroborates the complaints reported by patients. These results underline the usefulness of integrating this type of tool into neuropsychological assessments in order, for example, to better understand the difficulties encountered by patients with a subjective memory complaint that is not objectified by conventional tests.