Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:03:34.017Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Proactive and retroactive interference in young adults, healthy older adults, and older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2009

PATRICIA L. EBERT  and
NICOLE D. ANDERSON
PATRICIA L. EBERT
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre, Capital District Health Authority Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
NICOLE D. ANDERSON*
Affiliation:
Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Nicole D. Anderson, PhD, CPsych, Baycrest – KLARU, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M6A 2E1 Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigated memory interference in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and normal aging. Participants were 27 young adults, 44 healthy older adults, and 15 older adults with aMCI. Memory interference was examined on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and on a modified AB-AC paradigm. Despite significant differences in memory performance on the CVLT, interference measures on this test did not distinguish individuals with aMCI and healthy older adults. The AB-AC task involved first learning a list (AB list) of 12 semantically related word pairs (e.g., knee-bone). Twenty minutes later, a second list (AC list) was learned in which the same stimulus words were paired with new response words (e.g., knee-bend). Both lists were repeated until 100% accurate recall was achieved. Finally, participants recalled the first (AB) list. Proactive interference (PI) was greater among older than younger adults, and greater still among individuals with aMCI, but the older and aMCI groups showed similar levels of retroactive interference. This study suggests that PI contributes to the memory deficits seen in aMCI and that tests sensitive to PI may assist in the early identification of aMCI. Memory interventions aimed at alleviating PI may improve memory functioning in individuals with aMCI. (JINS, 2009, 15, 83–93.)

Keywords

AgingMemoryRecallNeuropsychologyAlzheimer diseasePaired associate learning
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 83 - 93
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

Adlam, A.L., Bozeat, S., Arnold, R., Watson, P., & Hodges, J.R. (2006). Semantic knowledge in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex, 42, 675–684.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ahmed, S., Arnold, R., Thompson, S.A., Graham, K.S., & Hodges, J.R. (2008). Naming of objects, faces and buildings in mild cognitive impairment. Cortex, 44, 746–752.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, N.D., Ebert, P.L., Jennings, J.M., Grady, C.L., Cabeza, R., & Graham, S.J. (2008). Recollection- and familiarity-based memory in healthy aging and amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychology, 22, 177–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balota, D.A. & Duchek, J.M. (1991). Semantic priming effects, lexical repetition effects, and contextual disambiguation effects in healthy aged individuals and individuals with senile dementia of the Alzhiemer type. Brain and Language, 40, 181–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balota, D.A., Watson, J.M., Duchek, J.M., & Ferraro, F.R. (1999). Cross-modal semantic and homograph priming in healthy young, healthy old, and in Alzheimer’s disease individuals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 5, 626–640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayles, K.A., Tomoeda, C.K., & Cruz, R.F. (1999). Performance of Alzheimer’s disease patients in judging word relatedness. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 5, 668–675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bell, E.E., Chenery, H.J., & Ingram, J.C.L. (2000). Strategy-based semantic priming in Alzheimer’s dementia. Aphasiology, 14, 949–965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binetti, G., Magni, E., Padovani, A., Cappa, S.F., Bianchetti, A., & Trabucchi, M. (1995). Release from proactive interference in early Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychologia, 33, 379–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butters, N. & Cermak, L.S. (1980). Alcoholic Korsakoff’s Syndrome: An Information-processing Approach to Amnesia. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cushman, L.A., Como, P.G., Booth, H., & Caine, E.D. (1988). Cued recall and release from proactive interference in Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 10, 685–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, K.L., Price, C.C., Kaplan, E., & Libon, D.J. (2002). Error analysis of the nine-word California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-9) among older adults with and without dementia. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 16, 81–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Leon, M.J., Mosconi, L., Blennow, K., DeSanti, S., Zinkowski, R., Mehta, P.D., Pratico, D., Tsui, W., Saint Louis, L.A., Sobanska, L., Brys, M., Li, Y., Rich, K., Rinne, J., & Rusinek, H. (2007). Imaging and CSF studies in the preclinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1097, 114–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delis, D.C., Kramer, J.H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B.A. (1987). California Verbal Learning Test: Adult Version. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, SE., & 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
Gauthier, S., Reisberg, B., Zaudig, M., Petersen, R.C., Ritchie, K., Broich, K., Belleville, S., Brodaty, H., Bennett, D., Chertkow, H., Cummings, J.L., de Leon, M., Feldman, H., Ganguli, M., Hampel, H., Scheltens, P., Tierney, M.C., Whitehouse, P., & Winblad, B. (2006). Mild cognitive impairment. Lancet, 367, 1262–1270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenaway, M.C., Lacritz, L.H., Binegar, D., Weiner, M.F., Lipton, A., & Munro Cullum, C. (2006). Patterns of verbal memory performance in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease, and normal aging. Cognitive Behavioural Neurology, 19, 79–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartman, M. & Hasher, L. (1991). Aging and suppression: Memory for previously relevant information. Psychology and Aging, 6, 587–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hogge, M., Adam, S., & Collette, F. (2008). Directed forgetting and aging: The role of retrieval processes, processing speed, and proactive interference. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 15, 471–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacoby, L.L. (1996). Dissociating automatic and consciously controlled effects of study/test compatibility. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, 32–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonides, J. & Nee, D.E. (2006). Brain mechanisms of proactive interference in working memory. Neuroscience, 139, 181–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, J.H., Nelson, A., Johnson, J.K., Yaffe, K., Glenn, S., Rosen, H.J., & Miller, B.L. (2006). Multiple cognitive deficits in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 22, 306–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawton, M.P. & Brody, E.M. (1969). Assessment of older people: Self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. The Gerontologist, 9, 179–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Locascio, J.J., Growdon, J.H., & Corkin, S. (1995). Cognitive test performance in detecting, staging, and tracking Alzheimer’s disease. Archives of Neurology, 52, 1087–1099.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loewenstein, D.A., Acevedo, A., Agron, J., & Duara, R. (2007). Vulnerability to proactive semantic interference and progression to dementia among older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 24, 363–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loewenstein, D.A., Acevedo, A., Luis, C., Crum, T., Barker, W.W., & Duara, R. (2004). Semantic interference deficits and the detection of mild Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment without dementia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; JINS, 10, 91–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattis, S. (1988). Dementia Rating Scale: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
Multhaup, K.S., Balota, D.A., & Faust, M.E. (2003). Exploring semantic memory by investigating buildup and release of proactive interference in healthy older adults and individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer type. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; JINS, 9, 830–838.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, R.C. (2004). Mild cognitive impairment as a diagnostic entity. Journal of Internal Medicine, 256, 183–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, R.C., Smith, G.E., Waring, S.C., Ivnik, R.J., Kokmen, E., & Tangelos, E.G. (1997). Aging, memory, and mild cognitive impairment. International Psychogeriatrics, 9(Suppl. 1), 65–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, R.C., Smith, G.E., Waring, S.C., Ivnik, R.J., Tangalos, E.C., & Kokmen, E. (1999). Mild cognitive impairment: Clinical characterization and outcome. Archives of Neurology, 56, 1133–1142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raven, J.C. (1965). Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale. London: H.K. Lewis.Google Scholar
Shenaut, G.K. & Ober, B.A. (1996). Methodological control of semantic priming in Alzheimer’s disease. Psychology and Aging, 11, 443–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shimamura, A.P. & Jurica, P.J. (1994). Memory interference effects and aging: Findings from a test of frontal lobe function. Neuropsychology, 8, 408–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traykov, L., Raoux, N., Latour, F., Gallo, L., Hanon, O., Baudic, S., Bayle, C., Wenisch, E., Remy, P., & Rigaud, A.S. (2007). Executive functions deficit in mild cognitive impairment. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 20, 219–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vogel, A., Gade, A., Stokholm, J., & Waldemar, G. (2005). Semantic memory impairment in the earliest phases of Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 19, 75–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (1987). The Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Manual. San Antonia, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1997). The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1999). The Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Welsch, K.A., Butters, N., Hughes, J.P., Mohs, R.C., & Heyman, A. (1992). Detection and staging of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease: Use of the neuropsychological measures developed for the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease. Archives of Neurology, 49, 448–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winblad, B., Palmer, K., Kivipelto, M., Jelic, V., Fratiglioni, L., Wahlund, L.-O., Nordberg, A., Bäckman, L., Albert, M., Almkvist, O., Arai, H., Basun, H., Blennow, K., De Leon, M., DeCarli, C., Erkinjuntti, T., Giacobini, E., Graff, C., Hardy, J., Jack, C., Jorm, A., Ritchie, K., Van Duijn, C., Visser, P., & Petersen, R. C. (2004). Mild cognitive impairment—beyond controversies, towards a consensus: Report of the International Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment. Journal of Internal Medicine, 256, 240–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winocur, G. & Moscovitch, M. (1983). Paired-associate learning in institutionalized and noninstitutionalized old people: An analysis of interference and contextual effects. Journal of Gerontology, 38, 455–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodard, J.L., Dunlosky, J., & Salthouse, T.A. (1999). Task decomposition analysis of intertrial free recall performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 21, 666–676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zigmund, A.S. & Snaith, R.P. (1983). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 67, 361–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar