Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:29:39.580Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Detection of prospective memory deficits in mild cognitive impairment of suspected Alzheimer’s disease etiology using a novel event-based prospective memory task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2009

ALBERTO BLANCO-CAMPAL ,
ROBERT F. COEN ,
BRIAN A. LAWLOR ,
JOSEPH B. WALSH  and
TERESA E. BURKE
ALBERTO BLANCO-CAMPAL*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland North Eastern Area of the Health Service Executive, Dundalk, Ireland
ROBERT F. COEN
Affiliation:
Mercer’s Institute for Research on Ageing, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
BRIAN A. LAWLOR
Affiliation:
Mercer’s Institute for Research on Ageing, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
JOSEPH B. WALSH
Affiliation:
Mercer’s Institute for Research on Ageing, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
TERESA E. BURKE
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Alberto Blanco-Campal, School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. E-mail: Alberto.Blanco-Campal@hse.ie
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigated the relative discriminatory efficacy of an event-based prospective memory (PM) task, in which specificity of the instructions and perceptual salience of the PM cue were manipulated, compared with two widely used retrospective memory (RM) tests (Rivermead Paragraph Recall Test and CERAD-Word List Test), when detecting mild cognitive impairment of suspected Alzheimer’s disease etiology (MCI-AD) (N = 19) from normal controls (NC) (N = 21). Statistical analyses showed high discriminatory capacity of the PM task for detecting MCI-AD. The Non-Specific-Non-Salient condition proved particularly useful in detecting MCI-AD, possibly reflecting the difficulty of the task, requiring more strategic attentional resources to monitor for the PM cue. With a cutoff score of <4/10, the Non-Specific-Non-Salient condition achieved a sensitivity = 84%, and a specificity = 95%, superior to the most discriminative RM test used (CERAD-Total Learning: sensitivity = 83%; specificity = 76%). Results suggest that PM is an early sign of memory failure in MCI-AD and may be a more pronounced deficit than retrospective failure, probably reflecting the greater self-initiated retrieval demands involved in the PM task used. Limitations include the relatively small sample size, and the use of a convenience sample (i.e. memory clinic attenders and healthy active volunteers), reducing the generalizability of the results, which should be regarded as preliminary. (JINS, 2009, 15, 154–159.)

Keywords

Prospective memoryMild cognitive impairmentMemory disordersNeuropsychological testsDementiaEarly detection
Type
Brief Communications
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 154 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © INS 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.text revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.Google Scholar
Aron, A., Aron, E.N., & Coups, E. (2006). Statistics for Psychology. London: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A., Emslie, H., & Nimmo-Smith, I. (1992). The Speed and Capacity of Language Processing (SCOLP) Test. Bury St Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.Google Scholar
Benton, A.L. & Hamsher, K. (1978). Multilingual Aphasia Examination manual. Iowa City: University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Brandimonte, M.A. & Pasolunghi, M.C. (1994). The Effect of cue-familiarity, cue-distinctiveness, and retention interval on prospective remembering. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Experimental Psychology, 47, 565–588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, W.P. & Semrau, G. (1986). The rated typicality of items in semantic categories: Some Irish norms. Irish Journal of Psychology, 2, 123–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coen, R.F., Kirby, M., Swanwick, G.R., Maguire, C.P., Walsh, J.B., Coakley, D., O’Neill, D., & Lawlor, B.A. (1997). Distinguishing between patients with depression or very mild Alzheimer’s disease using the Delayed-Word-Recall test. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 8, 244–247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Driscoll, I., McDaniel, M.A., & Guynn, M.J. (2005). Apolipoprotein E and prospective memory in normally aging adults. Neuropsychology, 19, 28–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Einstein, G.O. & McDaniel, M.A. (1996). Retrieval processes in prospective memory: Theoretical approaches and some new empirical findings. In Brandimonte, M., Einstein, G.O., & McDaniel, M.A. (Eds.), Prospective Memory: Theory and applications (pp. 115–142). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). “Mini-mental State”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grober, E., Hall, C.B., Lipton, R.B., Zonderman, A.B., Resnick, S.M., & Kawas, C. (2008). Memory impairment, executive dysfunction, and intellectual decline in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; JINS, 14, 266–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henry, J.D., MacLeod, M.S., Phillips, L.H., & Crawford, J.R. (2004). A meta-analysis review of prospective memory in aging. Psychology and Aging, 19, 27–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huppert, F.A., Brayne, C., Gill, C., Paykel, E.S., & Beardsall, L. (1995). CAMCOG- a concise neuropsychological test to assist dementia diagnosis: Sociodemographic determinants in an elderly population sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 34, 529–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazui, H., Matsuda, A., Hirono, N., Mori, E., Miyoshi, N., Ogino, A., Tokunaga, H., Ikejiri, Y., & Takeda, M. (2005). Everyday memory impairment of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 19, 331–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kluger, A., Golomb, J., & Ferris, S.H. (2000). Mild cognitive impairment. In Qizilbash, N. (Ed.), Evidence-based Dementia Practice (pp. 341–354). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Knopman, D.S. & Ryberg, S. (1989). A verbal memory test with high predictive accuracy for dementia of the Alzheimer type. Archives of Neurology, 46, 1097–1105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawton, P.M. & Brody, E.M. (1969). Assessment of older people: Self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist, 9, 179–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manos, P.J. (1999). Ten-point clock test sensitivity for Alzheimer’s disease in patients MMSE scores greater than 23. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14, 454–458.3.0.CO;2-N>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Monsch, A.U., Bondi, M.W., Butters, N., Salmon, D.P., Katzman, R., & Thal, L.J. (1992). Comparison of verbal fluency tasks in the detection of dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Archives of Neurology, 49, 1253–1258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDaniel, M.A. & Einstein, G.O. (2000). Strategic and automatic processes in prospective memory retrieval: A multiprocess framework. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14, S127–S144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDaniel, M.A. & Einstein, G.O. (2007). Prospective memory: A new research enterprise. In McDaniel, M.A. & Einstein, G.O. (Eds.), Prospective Memory: An Overview and Synthesis of an Emerging Field (pp. 1–11). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDaniel, M.A., Einstein, G.O., & Rendell, P.G. (2008). The puzzle of inconsistent age-related declines in prospective memory: A multiprocess explanation. In Kligel, M., McDaniel, M.A. & Einstein, G.O. (Eds.), Prospective Memory: Cognitive, Neuroscience, Developmental, and Applied Perspectives (pp. 141–158). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Nelson, H.E. (1991). National Adult Reading Test (NART). Test Manual (revised). Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Petersen, R.C., Doody, R., & Kuz, A. (2001). Current concepts in mild cognitive impairment. Archives of Neurology, 58, 1985–1992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Portet, F., Ousset, P.J., Visser, P.J., Frisoni, G.B., Nobili, F., Scheltens, P., Vellas, B., & Touchon, J. (2006). Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in medical practice: A critical review of the concept and new diagnostic procedure. Report of the MCI Working Group of the European Consortium on Alzheimer’s Disease (EADC). Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 77, 714–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheikh, J.A. & Yesavage, J.A. (1986). Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); Recent findings and development of a shorter version. In Brink, T.L. (Ed.), Clinical Gerontology: A Guide to Assessment and Intervention (pp. 165–173). New York, NY: Haworth Press.Google Scholar
Swanwick, G.J., Coen, R.F., O’Mahony, D., Tully, M., Bruce, I., Buggy, F., Lawlor, B.A., Walsh, J.B., & Coakley, D. (1996). A memory clinic for the assessment of mild dementia. Irish Medical Journal, 89; 104–105.Google ScholarPubMed
Troyer, A.K. & Murphy, K.J. (2007). Memory for intentions in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Time- and event-based prospective memory. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; JINS, 13, 365–369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Welsh, K.A., Butters, N., Mohs, R.C., Beekly, D., Edland, S., Fillenbaum, G., & Heyman, G. (1994). The consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s disease (CERAD). Part V. A normative study of the neuropsychological battery. Neurology, 44, 609–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, B.A., Cockburn, J., & Baddeley, A.D. (1985). The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test. Bury St Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test.Google Scholar