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Learning and memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Contribution of working memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2010

SARAH E. PRICE ,
GLYNDA J. KINSELLA ,
BEN ONG ,
ELIZABETH MULLALY ,
MARGARET PHILLIPS ,
LANKI PANGNADASA-FOX ,
DIANA PERRE  and
ELSDON STOREY
SARAH E. PRICE
Affiliation:
Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
GLYNDA J. KINSELLA*
Affiliation:
Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Psychology, Caulfield Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
BEN ONG
Affiliation:
Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
ELIZABETH MULLALY
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Caulfield Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service, Caulfield Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
MARGARET PHILLIPS
Affiliation:
Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service, Bundoora Extended Care Centre, Bundoora, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
LANKI PANGNADASA-FOX
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
DIANA PERRE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
ELSDON STOREY
Affiliation:
Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service, Caulfield Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Deparment of Neurosciences, Alfred Hospital-Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Glynda Kinsella, Ph.D., Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia. E-mail: g.kinsella@latrobe.edu.au
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Abstract

In addition to deficits in delayed recall, recent research suggests that participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) demonstrate diminished use of strategic encoding strategies during learning. Few studies have explored the cognitive mechanisms underlying this deficit. The aim of this study was to investigate in aMCI whether components of working memory (executive attention – attention set-shifting, dividing and focusing attention; and episodic buffer functions – strategic retrieval and manipulation of information) predict strategic encoding strategies during learning (semantic clustering). Thirty-three participants with aMCI and 33 healthy older adults (HOA) were administered neuropsychological tests assessing word-list learning and working memory. The aMCI group demonstrated significant impairment in acquisition, retrieval of information, and decreased use of semantic clustering strategies. Use of semantic clustering in the aMCI group was not predicted by measures of executive attention or phonemic verbal fluency, but was predicted by semantic verbal fluency performance. In the HOA group, semantic clustering was strongly related to semantic verbal fluency. These findings suggest that in aMCI, diminished strategic encoding strategies during learning (semantic clustering) is selectively related to the strategic function of the episodic buffer, but only when in interaction with the manipulation and retrieval of semantic associations. (JINS, 2010, 16, 342–351.)

Keywords

Semantic clusteringSerial clusteringVerbal fluencyEpisodic bufferExecutive attentionSemantic memory
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 342 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2010

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