Prose Recall Research Articles

Long-term memory performance after surgical treatment of unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE)

Long-term cognitive and memory performance after surgical treatment of unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was investigated in a series of 98 patients. Neuropsychological evaluation was performed preoperatively and after one and three years postoperatively. Fifty-eight patients (59%) became seizure-free (Engel's class I). Verbal learning and memory declined in long-term follow-up in both left and right TLE groups. Visual memory remained stable. Ongoing postoperative seizures were related to decline in the immediate recall of logical prose, and postoperative seizure-freedom to improvement in verbal fluency in patients with left TLE. There was significant variability in the individual postoperative long-term memory performance. Left side of surgery, better baseline performance and older age at surgery were identified as risk factors for individual decline in delayed verbal memory. Selected patients undergoing surgery for drug-resistant TLE are at risk for significant postoperative memory decline especially after left temporal lobe surgery. Preoperative counseling and long-term follow-up of cognitive performance in individual patients is recommended. Additionally, more accurate predictors of individual postoperative memory performance would be needed.

Effects of immediate‐release opioid on memory functioning: a randomized‐controlled study in patients receiving sustained‐release opioids

The effects of opioid medication on cognitive functioning in patients with cancer and non-cancer pain remain unclear. In this mechanistic randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study of patients (n = 20) receiving sustained-release and immediate-release opioid medication as part of their palliative care, we examine memory effects of an additional dose of participants' immediate-release medication (oxycodone or morphine) or placebo. Immediate prose recall and recall of related and unrelated word pairs was assessed pre-and post-drug (placebo or immediate-release opioid). Memory for these stimuli was also tested after a delay on each testing occasion. Finally, performance on an 'interference' word pair task was assessed on the two testing occasions since proactive interference has been posited as a mechanism for acute opioid-induced memory impairment. Unlike previous work, we found no evidence of memory impairment for material presented before or after individually tailored, 'breakthrough' doses of immediate-release opioid. Furthermore, immediate-release opioid did not result in increased memory interference. On the other hand, we found enhanced performance on the interference word pair task after immediate-release opioid, possibly indicating lower levels of interference. These results suggest that carefully titrated immediate-release doses of opioid drugs may not cause extensive memory impairment as previously reported, and in fact, may improve memory in certain circumstances. Importantly, our findings contrast strikingly with those of a study using the same robust design that showed significant memory impairment. We propose that factors, such as depressive symptoms, education level and sustained-release opioid levels may influence whether impairment is observed following immediate-release opioid treatment.

A computational language approach to modeling prose recall in schizophrenia

Many cortical disorders are associated with memory problems. In schizophrenia, verbal memory deficits are a hallmark feature. However, the exact nature of this deficit remains elusive. Modeling aspects of language features used in memory recall have the potential to provide means for measuring these verbal processes. We employ computational language approaches to assess time-varying semantic and sequential properties of prose recall at various retrieval intervals (immediate, 30 min and 24 h later) in patients with schizophrenia, unaffected siblings and healthy unrelated control participants. First, we model the recall data to quantify the degradation of performance with increasing retrieval interval and the effect of diagnosis (i.e., group membership) on performance. Next we model the human scoring of recall performance using an n-gram language sequence technique, and then with a semantic feature based on Latent Semantic Analysis. These models show that automated analyses of the recalls can produce scores that accurately mimic human scoring. The final analysis addresses the validity of this approach by ascertaining the ability to predict group membership from models built on the two classes of language features. Taken individually, the semantic feature is most predictive, while a model combining the features improves accuracy of group membership prediction slightly above the semantic feature alone as well as over the human rating approach. We discuss the implications for cognitive neuroscience of such a computational approach in exploring the mechanisms of prose recall.

A shield against distraction

In this paper, we apply the basic idea of a trade-off between the level of concentration and distractibility to test whether a manipulation of task difficulty can shield against distraction. Participants read, either in quiet or with a speech noise background, texts that were displayed either in an easy-to-read or a hard-to-read font. Background speech impaired prose recall, but only when the text was displayed in the easy-to-read font. Most importantly, recall was better in the background speech condition for hard-to-read than for easy-to-read texts. Moreover, individual differences in working memory capacity were related to the magnitude of disruption, but only in the easy-to-read condition. Making a task more difficult can sometimes facilitate selective attention in noisy work environments by promoting focal-task engagement.

Amnesiacs might get the gist: Reduced false recognition in amnesia may be the result of impaired item-specific memory

It is a common finding in tests of false recognition that amnesic patients recognize fewer related lures than healthy controls, and this has led to assumptions that gist memory is damaged in these patients (Schacter, Verfaellie, & Anes, 1997, Neuropsychology, 11; Schacter, Verfaellie, Anes, & Racine, 1998, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10; Schacter, Verfaellie, & Pradere, 1996, Journal of Memory and Language, 35). However, clinical observations find that amnesic patients typically hold meaningful conversations and make relevant remarks, and there is some experimental evidence highlighting preserved immediate recall of prose (Baddeley & Wilson, 2002, Neuropsychologia, 40; Gooding, Isaac, & Mayes, 2005, Neuropsychologia, 43; Rosenbaum, Gilboa, Levine, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2009, Neuropsychologia, 47), which suggests that amnesiacs can get the gist. The present experiment used false recognition paradigms to assess whether the reduced rate of false recognition found in amnesic patients may be a consequence of their impaired item-specific memory. It examined the effect of increasing the item-specific memory of amnesic patient DA by bringing her to criterion on relevant study-lists and compared her performance on a false recognition paradigm with a group of 32 healthy young adults. Results indicated that when DA’s item-specific memory was increased she was more able to gist and her performance was no different to the healthy young adults. Previous assumptions that gist memory is necessarily damaged in amnesia might therefore be revisited, since the reduced rate of false recognition could be caused by impaired item-specific memory. The experiment also highlights a positive relationship between item-specific and gist memory which has not previously been accounted for in false-recognition experiments.

Intact Memory for Irrelevant Information Impairs Perception in Amnesia

SummaryMemory and perception have long been considered separate cognitive processes, and amnesia resulting from medial temporal lobe (MTL) damage is thought to reflect damage to a dedicated memory system. Recent work has questioned these views, suggesting that amnesia can result from impoverished perceptual representations in the MTL, causing an increased susceptibility to interference. Using a perceptual matching task for which fMRI implicated a specific MTL structure, the perirhinal cortex, we show that amnesics with MTL damage including the perirhinal cortex, but not those with damage limited to the hippocampus, were vulnerable to object-based perceptual interference. Importantly, when we controlled such interference, their performance recovered to normal levels. These findings challenge prevailing conceptions of amnesia, suggesting that effects of damage to specific MTL regions are better understood not in terms of damage to a dedicated declarative memory system, but in terms of impoverished representations of the stimuli those regions maintain.

P3‐169: Functional neuroimaging of prose recall in healthy and pathological aging

P3‐169: Functional neuroimaging of prose recall in healthy and pathological aging

P3‐170: Default mode network activation and prose recall performance

P3‐170: Default mode network activation and prose recall performance

A specific cognitive deficit within semantic cognition across a multi-generational family.

We report a study of eight members of a single family (aged 8-72 years), who all show a specific deficit in linking semantic knowledge to language. All affected members of the family had high levels of overall intelligence; however, they had profound difficulties in prose and sentence recall, listening comprehension and naming. The behavioural deficit was remarkably consistent across affected family members. Structural neuroimaging data revealed grey matter abnormalities in the left infero-temporal cortex and fusiform gyri: brain areas that have been associated with integrative semantics. This family demonstrates, to our knowledge, the first example of a heritable, highly specific abnormality affecting the interface between language and cognition in humans and has important implications for our understanding of the genetic basis of cognition.

Lower but not higher doses of transdermal nicotine facilitate cognitive performance in smokers on gender non-preferred tasks

One of the most widely used treatments for smoking cessation is nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). There is some evidence that smokers experience abstinence-induced deficits in cognitive function, which are attenuated by NRTs. Additionally it's been suggested that the degree of reversal of cognitive deficits may depend on the NRT dose and the smoker's gender. In the present placebo-controlled study we investigated effects of three doses of transdermal nicotine (7mg, 14mg and 21mg) on cognitive performance of 48 male and 48 female smokers after overnight abstinence and 6h of patch application. Cognitive tasks used in the study included the Conners' CPT, emotional Stroop, mental arithmetic, and verbal recall of affective prose passages. The results showed greater probability of attentional problems in the male sample compared to females as identified by the Conners' CPT. Within gender women showed improved performance in the 7mg and 14mg conditions on several measures of the Conners' CPT, and faster hit reaction time on the emotional Stroop test compared to women in the placebo and 21mg of nicotine groups. Conversely, males showed a moderate overall advantage on the mental arithmetic task and were differentially sensitive to nicotine treatment on the prose recall task, on which the greatest improvement in recall of affective material was observed for the 14mg group compared to the 21mg group. The results are explained on the basis of an inverted U-shaped relationship between nicotinic stimulation and cognitive performance as well as greater sensitivity to nicotine dose manipulation on gender non-preferred cognitive tasks.

Cognitive and subjective effects of mephedrone and factors influencing use of a ‘new legal high’

Use of the stimulant drug mephedrone increased dramatically in 2009, and it is still available in the United Kingdom after being controlled in April 2010. This study aimed to assess mephedrone's acute cognitive and subjective effects. A mixed within- and between-subjects design compared 20 mephedrone users, first while intoxicated (T1) and secondly drug free (T2); and 20 controls twice when drug free (T1 and T2). Participants' own homes. Healthy adults recruited from the community. Subjective effects, episodic and working memory, phonological and semantic fluency, psychomotor speed and executive control at were assessed at T1 and T2. Trait schizotypy, depression, changes in mephedrone use since the ban and attitudes influencing use of a hypothetical new legal high were indexed at T2 only. Compared with controls, mephedrone users had generally impaired prose recall (P = 0.037) and higher scores in schizotypy (P < 0.001) and depression (P = 0.01). Mephedrone acutely primed a marked 'wanting' for the drug (P < 0.001), induced stimulant-like effects, impaired working memory (P < 0.001) and enhanced psychomotor speed (P = 0.024). Impulsivity in mephedrone users correlated with the number of hours in an average (nearly 8 hour) mephedrone session (r = 0.6). Users would be drawn to use a new legal high if it were pure, had no long/short term harms, and was positively rated by friends or on the internet. Mephedrone impairs working memory acutely, induces stimulant-like effects in users and is associated with binge use. Factors that influence users' attitudes to new drugs might help to predict future trends in use of the many new psychoactive substances emerging on the internet.

Joint Modeling of Longitudinal Change and Survival

Joint longitudinal-survival models are useful when repeated measures and event time data are available and possibly associated. The application of this joint model in aging research is relatively rare, albeit particularly useful, when there is the potential for nonrandom dropout. In this article we illustrate the method and discuss some issues that may arise when fitting joint models of this type. Using prose recall scores from the Swedish OCTO-Twin Longitudinal Study of Aging, we fitted a joint longitudinal-survival model to investigate the association between risk of mortality and individual differences in rates of change in memory. A model describing change in memory scores as following an accelerating decline trajectory and a Weibull survival model was identified as the best fitting. This model adjusted for random effects representing individual variation in initial memory performance and change in rate of decline as linking terms between the longitudinal and survival models. Memory performance and change in rate of memory decline were significant predictors of proximity to death. Joint longitudinal-survival models permit researchers to gain a better understanding of the association between change functions and risk of particular events, such as disease diagnosis or death. Careful consideration of computational issues may be required because of the complexities of joint modeling methodologies.

Sub-chronic impact of cannabinoids in street cannabis on cognition, psychotic-like symptoms and psychological well-being

Cannabis varies considerably in levels of its two major constituent cannabinoids - (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Recently, we found evidence that those who smoked cannabis containing detectable levels of CBD had fewer psychotic-like symptoms than those whose cannabis had no CBD. The present study aimed, first, to replicate those findings and, second, to determine whether protective effects of CBD may extend to other harms of cannabis, such as memory impairment and reduced psychological well-being. A total of 120 current cannabis smokers, 66 daily users and 54 recreational users were classified into groups according to whether analysis of their hair revealed the presence or absence of CBD and high versus low levels of THC. All were assessed on measures of psychosis-like symptoms, memory (prose recall; source memory) and depression/anxiety. Lower psychosis-like symptoms were found in those whose hair had CBD compared with those without. However, this was seen only in recreational users, who had higher levels of THC in their hair. Higher THC levels in hair were associated with increased depression and anxiety. Prose recall and source memory were poorer in daily users with high THC levels in hair while recognition memory was better in individuals with CBD present in hair. CBD attenuates the psychotic-like effects of cannabis over time in recreational users. Higher THC negatively impacts on memory and psychological well-being. These findings raise concerns for the harms stemming from use of varieties such as 'skunk' (sensimillia), which lack any CBD but currently dominate the supply of cannabis in many countries.

Does reversible MCI exist?

Few studies have documented that some subjects affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) do not develop dementia during the clinical period of observation and actually improve (reversible MCI) or remain stable. Aim: this study investigates whether reversible MCI is a stable clinical entity and its characteristics. Baseline socio-demographic, behavioral and cognitive features of 150 MCI subjects, referred to our memory clinic, were compared on the basis of the clinical evolution (progression to dementia, stable MCI, reverted MCI at 12 (T1) and 24 (T2) months follow-up. Thirty-nine percent had a diagnosis of dementia at T2 (progressed MCI), 47% had a diagnosis of MCI at both T1 and T2 (stable MCI), 9% had a cognitively unimpaired state at both T1 and T2 (reverted MCI) and 5% were cognitively unimpaired at T1 and impaired at T2 (temporary reverted MCI). Progressed MCI had socio-demographic and clinical characteristics similar to stable MCI but were at baseline cognitively more impaired, had more frequently a MMSE score < 27/30 (p < .05). Stable MCI showed a global improvement at T1 returning to a baseline condition at T2. Temporary reverted MCI had socio-demographic characteristics similar to stable MCI and had more frequently a MMSE score > 28/30 (p < .05), their evolution were similar to stable MCI but with greater cognitive scores. Reverted MCI were younger and more educated than other MCI groups and they were more frequently treated with antidepressant drugs (p < .05). Among the neuropsychological measures, temporary reverted MCI performed worse than reverted MCI in delayed prose recall (p < .05). Reversible MCI is an unstable clinical entity, as some patients can only temporarily revert to a cognitive normal condition likely due to a “practice” effect that characterized also stable MCI. Baseline neuropsychological evaluation is helpful in identifying MCI subjects that will temporarily revert, whereas depression is associated with true reversible MCI.

P01-409 - Cognitive impairments in patients with bipolar disorder during different phases of illness

IntroductionSeveral studies have reported that Bipolar Disorder (BD) is characterized by neuropsychological deficits both during affective episodes and euthymic phases; in particular, bipolar patients (BPs) show psychomotor slowing and impairment of memory during Major Depressive Episodes and frontal-executive deficits in Hypomania.AimsThe aim of the present study is to compare possible differences in cognitive performances of BPs during euthymia or during an affective episode.Methods22 BPs with an affective episode (depressive = 7, mixed = 7, manic = 8) and 5 euthymic patients underwent neuropsychological tests, after assessing the diagnosis by SCID-I. The cognitive abilities tested by raters included attention, verbal abilities, memory, abstract reasoning, executive functioning and semantic knowledge. One-way ANOVAs were performed on mean total scores of neuropsychological tests comparing euthymics versus BPs in the different phases of illness.ResultsThe 20% of euthymic patients showed attentive, verbal and memory deficits; the 40% showed perceptual and executive functioning deficits. Depressed (p = 0.03) and manic (p = 0.01) patients showed worse scores at Trail Making Test A (TMT-A) than euthymics. Manic patients presented the most severe deficits in memory as showed by the scores of Corsi's test (F = 4.96, p = 0.01), Recall of Prose (F = 4.06, p = 0.02) and California Verbal Learning Test (F = 3.67, p = 0.03).ConclusionsEuthymic patients showed deficits in several cognitive domains. Manic patients had more severe deficits in attention and memory in comparison with depressed, mixed and euthymic patients. Controlled studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these data.

Impact of cannabidiol on the acute memory and psychotomimetic effects of smoked cannabis: naturalistic study

The two main constituents of cannabis, cannabidiol and Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), have opposing effects both pharmacologically and behaviourally when administered in the laboratory. Street cannabis is known to contain varying levels of each cannabinoid. To study how the varying levels of cannabidiol and THC have an impact on the acute effects of the drug in naturalistic settings. Cannabis users (n = 134) were tested 7 days apart on measures of memory and psychotomimetic symptoms, once while they were drug free and once while acutely intoxicated by their own chosen smoked cannabis. Using an unprecedented methodology, a sample of cannabis (as well as saliva) was collected from each user and analysed for levels of cannabinoids. On the basis of highest and lowest cannabidiol content of cannabis, two groups of individuals were directly compared. Groups did not differ in the THC content of the cannabis they smoked. Unlike the marked impairment in prose recall of individuals who smoked cannabis low in cannabidiol, participants smoking cannabis high in cannabidiol showed no memory impairment. Cannabidiol content did not affect psychotomimetic symptoms, which were elevated in both groups when intoxicated. The antagonistic effects of cannabidiol at the CB(1) receptor are probably responsible for its profile in smoked cannabis, attenuating the memory-impairing effects of THC. In terms of harm reduction, users should be made aware of the higher risk of memory impairment associated with smoking low-cannabidiol strains of cannabis like 'skunk' and encouraged to use strains containing higher levels of cannabidiol.

The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Polymorphism, Hippocampal Volume, and Cognitive Function in Geriatric Depression

The Val66Met polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is associated with geriatric depression. In studies of younger adults without depression, met allele carriers exhibit smaller hippocampal volumes and have poorer performance on neuropsychological tests. The authors examined the relationship between the BDNF gene and hippocampal volumes in depressed and nondepressed older individuals and its relationship with memory functions mediated by the hippocampus. One hundred seventy-six elderly depressed white participants and 88 nondepressed participants completed clinical assessments, neuropsychological testing, and provided blood samples for genotyping. One hundred seventy-three participants also underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. Statistical modeling tested the relationship between genotype and hippocampal volume and function while controlling for diagnosis and other covariates. BDNF genotype was not associated with a difference in performance on tests mediated by the hippocampus, including word list learning, prose recall, nonverbal memory, or digit span. After controlling for covariates, BDNF genotype was not significantly associated with hippocampal volume (F[1, 171] = 1.10, p = 0.30). Despite different findings in younger populations, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is not significantly associated with hippocampal volume or function in a geriatric population. The authors hypothesize that other factors may have a stronger effect on hippocampal structure in older individuals and that the association between the Val66Met polymorphism and geriatric depression is mediated through other mechanisms.

Elementary neurocognitive function, learning potential and everyday life skills in schizophrenia: What is their relationship?

Few studies have investigated the relationships between static, elementary neurocognitive functions, dynamic measures of learning potential and functional status in schizophrenia, despite the putative role of learning potential in models of the relationship between static neurocognitive function and functional status (e.g., Green et al., 2000). The current study sought to clarify these relationships. One-hundred and twenty-five outpatients with schizophrenia were administered the California Verbal Learning Test—II (CVLT-II), as an index of learning potential, along with measures of sustained attention, verbal prose recall, working memory, problem-solving and processing speed, and a capacity measure of everyday life skills (Study 1). A subset of 48 outpatients with schizophrenia who were impaired on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were also administered a test–train–test version of the WCST as a second measure of learning potential (Study 2). As expected, several static, elementary neurocognitive measures were linked to measures of everyday life skills in both samples. There was no evidence, however, that either measure of learning potential contributed unique variance beyond that explained by elementary cognitive skill to measures of everyday life skills. Learning potential was also tested as a mediator and moderator of the relationship between static neurocognitive function and measures of everyday life skills. Neither learning potential measure mediated the relationship between static measures of neurocognition and everyday life skills. Learning potential, as measured by the CVLT-II, was found to moderate the relationship of processing speed and everyday life skills. Taken together, these findings raise questions as to the explanatory value of measures of learning potential as predictors of functional status in schizophrenia.

Acute cognitive effects of donepezil in young, healthy volunteers

The acute nootropic potential of donepezil in young healthy volunteers has not been adequately investigated mainly because in previous studies: (1) effects were assessed before peak-plasma concentration (Tmax) was reached; (2) only a few cognitive processes were assessed. Here we investigated a myriad of cognitive effects of augmentation of acetylcholine using an acute dose of donepezil in healthy adults at theoretical Tmax. This was a double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group design study of cognitive effects of acute oral donepezil (5 mg). Subjects were tested twice after donepezil ingestion: 90 min (time that coincides with previous testing in the literature) and 210 min. (theoretical Tmax). The test battery included tasks that tap cognitive domains that are sensitive to acetylcholine manipulations. At both testing times donepezil improved long-term recall of prose, objects recall, recall of spatial locations, and integration of objects with their locations, some effects having been related to self-reported mood enhancement. However, improvement of performance in the central executive measure (backward digit span) occurred only at Tmax. Positive cognitive effects of acute donepezil can be observed in various cognitive domains including mood, but its full nootropic potential is more clearly found close to theoretical peak-plasma concentration.

Global impairment of prospective memory following acute alcohol

Whilst the deleterious effects of alcohol on retrospective remembering have been widely documented, no study has yet objectively determined alcohol's effects on prospective memory (PM)--remembering to do something in the future. With this aim, the present study determined the acute effects of alcohol upon PM using a laboratory measure that simulates the PM tasks in everyday life--'Virtual Week'--both (a) in its standard form with regular, irregular, event-based and time-based PM tasks; and (b) an adapted version which enabled exploration of how future event simulation at encoding impacted upon subsequent PM. Forty healthy volunteers were administered 0.6 g/kg ethanol or a matched placebo in a double-blind fashion and completed the two versions of Virtual Week along with prose recall (to tap retrospective memory) and an executive function task. Alcohol acutely produced global impairments across all (regular, irregular, event-based and time-based) PM tasks. It also produced impairments of episodic memory which positively correlated with PM performance of irregular tasks. Future-event simulation tended to enhance PM in the placebo but not in the alcohol group. These findings on an objective measure of PM suggest that 4-5 units of alcohol will compromise PM abilities in everyday life.