Duration of Fame and Extent of Semantic Knowledge of Famous Names in Cognitively Intact Older Adults

Abstract Objective The greater resilience of older memories relative to recent memories has primarily been demonstrated in clinical groups, but this phenomenon has been less extensively examined in cognitively intact older adults. Additionally, most studies of person-identity have only examined recognition or familiarity of a famous face or name, and there has been less systematic study of access to more specific person-identity semantic knowledge. The current study examined the effect of both memory age and extent of semantic knowledge on famous name recognition and retrieval of person-identity biographical information in healthy older adults. Method We examined recognition accuracy and response time of famous names at three time epochs (recent fame, transitory fame and enduring fame) in cognitively intact older adults. We also compared access to semantic knowledge that differed on the degree of specificity of biographical information: categorical, associative, and attribute knowledge. Results As predicted, participants recognized transitory famous names more quickly and accurately than recent famous names. Additionally, participants recognized enduring famous names more accurately than transitory famous names and recent names. We also found that categorical semantic knowledge was accessed more quickly and accurately than semantic knowledge for associative and attribute information. Conclusions These findings provide data on the cognitive structure and retrieval of person-identity knowledge and memory age in older cognitively intact individuals.

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Do Alzheimer’s Disease Patients Benefit From Prior-Knowledge in Associative Recognition Memory?

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617718001212 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (04) ◽

pp. 443-452

Author(s):

Emma Delhaye ◽

Adrien Folville ◽

Isabelle Simoes Loureiro ◽

Laurent Lefebvre ◽

Eric Salmon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Prior Knowledge ◽

Semantic Memory ◽

Associative Memory ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Memory Task ◽

Semantic Knowledge ◽

Healthy Older Adults

AbstractObjectives: Although the influence of prior knowledge on associative memory in healthy aging has received great attention, it has never been studied in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed at assessing whether AD patients could benefit from prior knowledge in associative memory and whether such benefit would be related to the integrity of their semantic memory. Methods: Twenty-one AD patients and 21 healthy older adults took part in an associative memory task using semantically related and unrelated word pairs and were also submitted to an evaluation of their semantic memory. Results: While participants of both groups benefited from semantic relatedness in associative discrimination, related pairs recognition was significantly predicted by semantic memory integrity in healthy older adults only. Conclusions: We suggest that patients benefitted from semantic knowledge to improve their performance in the associative memory task, but that such performance is not related to semantic knowledge integrity evaluation measures because the two tasks differ in the way semantic information is accessed: in an automatic manner for the associative memory task, with automatic processes thought to be relatively preserved in AD, and in a controlled manner for the semantic knowledge evaluation, with controlled processes thought to be impaired in AD. (JINS, 2019, 25, 443–452)

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Physically active lifestyle is associated with attenuation of hippocampal dysfunction in healthy older adults

10.1101/2021.05.27.445934 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tamir Eisenstein ◽

Nir Giladi ◽

Talma Hendler ◽

Ofer Havakuk ◽

Yulia Lerner

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Activity Level ◽

Memory Encoding ◽

Hippocampal Function ◽

Active Lifestyle ◽

Physically Active ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Hippocampal Dysfunction ◽

Cognitively Intact

Alterations in hippocampal function have been shown in older adults, expressed as changes in hippocampal activity and connectivity. While hippocampal activation during memory demands have been demonstrated to decrease with age, some older individuals present increased activity, or hyperactivity, of the hippocampus which is associated with increased neuropathology and poorer memory function. In addition, lower functional coherence between the hippocampus and core hubs of the default mode network (DMN), namely the posteromedial and medial prefrontal cortices, as well as increased local intrahippocampal connectivity, were also demonstrated in cognitively intact older adults. Aerobic exercise has been shown to elicit neuroprotective effects on hippocampal structure and vasculature in aging, and improvements in maximal aerobic capacity (MAC) have been suggested to mediate these exercise-related effects. However, how these lifestyle factors relate to hippocampal function is not clear. Fifty-two cognitively intact older adults (age 65-80) have been recruited and divided into physically active (n=29) or non-active (n=23) groups based on their aerobic activity lifestyle habits. Participants underwent resting-state as well as task-based fMRI experiments which included an associative memory encoding paradigm followed by a post-scan memory recognition test. In addition, forty-four participants also performed cardiopulmonary exercise tests to evaluate MAC. While both groups demonstrated increased anterior hippocampal activation during memory encoding, physically active lifestyle was associated with significantly lower activity level and higher memory performance in the recognition task. In addition, the physically active group also demonstrated higher functional connectivity of the anterior and posterior hippocampi with the core hubs of the DMN, and lower local intra-hippocampal connectivity within and between hemispheres. MAC was negatively associated with hippocampal activation level and demonstrated positive correlation with hippocampal-DMN connectivity. According to these findings, aerobically active lifestyle may be associated with attenuation of hippocampal dysfunction in cognitively healthy older adults.

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Partner-Specific Communication Deficits in Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-19-00094 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Eun Jin Paek ◽

Si On Yoon

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Referential Communication ◽

Sorting Task ◽

Audience Design ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Communication Task ◽

Design Skills ◽

Referential Expressions

Purpose Speakers adjust referential expressions to the listeners' knowledge while communicating, a phenomenon called “audience design.” While individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show difficulties in discourse production, it is unclear whether they exhibit preserved partner-specific audience design. The current study examined if individuals with AD demonstrate partner-specific audience design skills. Method Ten adults with mild-to-moderate AD and 12 healthy older adults performed a referential communication task with two experimenters (E1 and E2). At first, E1 and participants completed an image-sorting task, allowing them to establish shared labels. Then, during testing, both experimenters were present in the room, and participants described images to either E1 or E2 (randomly alternating). Analyses focused on the number of words participants used to describe each image and whether they reused shared labels. Results During testing, participants in both groups produced shorter descriptions when describing familiar images versus new images, demonstrating their ability to learn novel knowledge. When they described familiar images, healthy older adults modified their expressions depending on the current partner's knowledge, producing shorter expressions and more established labels for the knowledgeable partner (E1) versus the naïve partner (E2), but individuals with AD were less likely to do so. Conclusions The current study revealed that both individuals with AD and the control participants were able to acquire novel knowledge, but individuals with AD tended not to flexibly adjust expressions depending on the partner's knowledge state. Conversational inefficiency and difficulties observed in AD may, in part, stem from disrupted audience design skills.

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Talk or Walk? Gait Speed over Self-Report in Association with Cognitive Speed in Healthy Older Adults

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000202 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 41-52

Author(s):

Matthew C. Costello ◽

Shane J. Sizemore ◽

Kimberly E. O’Brien ◽

Lydia K. Manning

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Older Adult ◽

Gait Speed ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Report ◽

Subjective Report ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Relative Value ◽

Cognitive Speed ◽

Age Range

Abstract. This study explores the relative value of both subjectively reported cognitive speed and gait speed in association with objectively derived cognitive speed. It also explores how these factors are affected by psychological and physical well-being. A group of 90 cognitively healthy older adults ( M = 73.38, SD = 8.06 years, range = 60–89 years) were tested in a three-task cognitive battery to determine objective cognitive speed as well as measures of gait speed, well-being, and subjective cognitive speed. Analyses indicated that gait speed was associated with objective cognitive speed to a greater degree than was subjective report, the latter being more closely related to well-being than to objective cognitive speed. These results were largely invariant across the 30-year age range of our older adult sample.

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