No Evidence for Improved Associative Memory Performance Following Process-Based Associative Memory Training in Older Adults

Cultural stereotypes that equate aging with decreased competence and increased forgetfulness have persisted for decades. Stereotype threat (ST) refers to the psychological discomfort people experience when confronted by a negative, self-relevant stereotype in a situation where their behavior could be construed as confirming that belief. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of ST on memory performance in older adults over 24 months. The ST levels on average significantly declined, or improved in the memory training, but not the health training group. Although not significant at the .01 level, the bivariate correlation indicated that change in ST was moderately related to change in verbal memory, suggesting the possibility that improvements (or reductions) in ST may be related to increases in verbal memory scores. We discovered that the unique contribution of ST into the memory performance of healthy older adults offers a possible malleable trait.

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Does Strategic Memory Training Improve the Working Memory Performance of Younger and Older Adults?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.54.4.311 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 311-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Barbara Carretti ◽

Erika Borella ◽

Rossana De Beni

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Memory Task ◽

Memory Training ◽

Control Groups ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Strategic Training ◽

Strategic Memory ◽

Experimental Group

Abstract. The paper examines the effect of strategic training on the performance of younger and older adults in an immediate list-recall and a working memory task. The experimental groups of younger and older adults received three sessions of memory training, teaching the use of mental images to improve the memorization of word lists. In contrast, the control groups were not instructed to use any particular strategy, but they were requested to carry out the memory exercises. The results showed that strategic training improved performance of both the younger and older experimental groups in the immediate list recall and in the working memory task. Of particular interest, the improvement in working memory performance of the older experimental group was comparable to that of the younger experimental group.

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Improved Mood Boosts Memory Training Gains in Older Adults With Subjective Memory Complaints: A Randomized Controlled Trial

10.21203/rs.3.rs-164434/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shufei Yin ◽

Xinyi Zhu ◽

Rui Li ◽

Lijuan Huo ◽

Weicong Ren ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Group Counseling ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Memory Training ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Subjective Memory ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Symptoms Of Depression

Abstract Objective: Older adults with subjective memory complaints (SMC) have a higher risk of dementia and commonly demonstrate symptoms of depression and anxiety. The study aimed to examine the effect of a memory training program for individuals with SMC, and whether memory training combined with group counseling aimed at alleviating depression and anxiety would boost memory training gains.Design: A three-armed, double-blind, randomized controlled trial.Setting and Participants: Community-dwelling older adults with SMC, aged ≥ 60 years.Methods: Participants (n = 124) were randomly assigned to memory training (MT), group counseling (GC), or GC+MT intervention. The GT+MT group received 4-hour group counseling followed by a 4-week memory training, while the MT group attended reading and memory training, and the GC group received group counseling and health lectures. Cognitive function and symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed at baseline, mid-, and post-intervention. The GC+MT group and GC group had resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging at mid- and post-intervention.Results: After group counseling, the GC+MT and GC groups showed reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, compared to the MT group. Memory training enhanced memory performance in both MT and GC+MT groups, but the GC+MT group demonstrated larger memory improvement (Cohen’s d = 0.96) than the MT group (Cohen’s d = 0.62). Amygdala-hippocampus connectivity was associated with improved mood and memory gains.Conclusion and Implications: Group counseling reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, and memory training enhanced memory performance. Specifically, improved mood induced larger memory training effects. The results suggest that it may need to include treatment for depression and anxiety in memory intervention for older adults with SMC.Trial Registration: ChiCTR-IOR-15006165 in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.

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Prognostic Models for Changes in Memory Performance After Memory Training in Healthy Older Adults: a Systematic Review

Journal of Cognitive Enhancement ◽

10.1007/s41465-020-00194-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mandy Roheger ◽

Ann-Kristin Folkerts ◽

Fabian Krohm ◽

Nicole Skoetz ◽

Elke Kalbe

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Older Adults ◽

Prognostic Factors ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Prognostic Models ◽

Memory Training ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

Future Outcomes

Abstract Identifying individuals’ profiles of prognostic factors that predict improvements after nonpharmacological interventions such as memory trainings may help to not only predict individuals’ future outcomes after such intervention, but also tailor new trainings for individuals with specific characteristics. However, until now, no systematic review on prognostic models, defined as a set of multiple prognostic factors to predict a future outcome, for changes in memory performance after memory training exist. MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, CENTRAL, and PsycInfo were searched up to November 2019 to identify studies investigating prognostic models on verbal and non-verbal short- and long-term memory after conducting memory training in healthy older adults. The PROBAST tool was used to assess risk of bias. After screening n = 10,703 studies, n = 12 studies were included. These studies and the investigated statistical models are highly heterogeneous, so that conclusions are limited. However, one consistent result was that lower age combined with higher education seems to predict higher improvements after memory training. More studies on prognostic models for memory changes after memory training have to be conducted before clear conclusions which will help to tailor memory trainings to individuals’ profiles can be drawn. Registration: CRD42018105803, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO

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Direct-Current Stimulation Does Little to Improve the Outcome of Working Memory Training in Older Adults

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797617698139 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (7) ◽

pp. 907-920 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Jonna Nilsson ◽

Alexander V. Lebedev ◽

Anders Rydström ◽

Martin Lövdén

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Training ◽

Direct Current ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Working Memory Training ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Memory Training ◽

Older Individuals ◽

Direct Current Stimulation

The promise of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) as a modulator of cognition has appealed to researchers, media, and the general public. Researchers have suggested that tDCS may increase effects of cognitive training. In this study of 123 older adults, we examined the interactive effects of 20 sessions of anodal tDCS over the left prefrontal cortex (vs. sham tDCS) and simultaneous working memory training (vs. control training) on change in cognitive abilities. Stimulation did not modulate gains from pre- to posttest on latent factors of either trained or untrained tasks in a statistically significant manner. A supporting meta-analysis ( n = 266), including younger as well as older individuals, showed that, when combined with training, tDCS was not much more effective than sham tDCS at changing working memory performance ( g = 0.07, 95% confidence interval, or CI = [−0.21, 0.34]) and global cognition performance ( g = −0.01, 95% CI = [−0.29, 0.26]) assessed in the absence of stimulation. These results question the general usefulness of current tDCS protocols for enhancing the effects of cognitive training on cognitive ability.

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A Meta-analysis of Cognitive Training on Memory Functioning in Normal Elderly Adults

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.962 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S609-S609 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. Piryaei ◽

M. Khademi Ashkzari

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Memory Training ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Training Interventions ◽

Memory Functioning ◽

Study Heterogeneity ◽

Competing Interest

IntroductionThe major issues in cognitive literature related to memory and aging concentrate on the different methodological issues in research examining the effectiveness of memory training programs in improving memory performance of older adults along with the clinical implications of this kind of research.ObjectivesThe review will address how researchers differ within their collection of participants, the various aspects of memory intervention programs by a systematic review on recent researches.AimsThe present study aims to review the cognitive literature related to memory and aging through a meta-analysis in recent years.MethodMeta-analysis was conducted of researches on memory training interventions for cognitively normal/healthy older adults published in 1995–2014. Computerized databases (e.g PsychInfo) were searched using combinations of these key words in English: memory, mnemonic, rehabilitation, older adult, aging, elderly and impairment. All participants must be at least 55 years old at the time of training/intervention. Due to the fact and Studies must have used a non-pharmacological approach toward memory or memory problems. Between-study heterogeneity was quantified using χ2 and I2 statistics. All analyses were performed utilizing the CMA2.ResultsEffect sizes with 95% confidence intervals for each study indicated that the overall pre-post training gain was 0.37 SD (95% CI: 0.18, 0.47) and the mean retest effect among control groups was 0.11 SD (95% CI: −0.11, 0.16) and this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001).ConclusionThe key challenge of memory training studies is that they often don’t train abilities that generalize to everyday functioning. These results have numerous clinical and practical implications.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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I know your face but can’t remember your name: Age-related differences in the FNAME-12NL

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/acaa107 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

S Enriquez-Geppert ◽

J F Flores-Vázquez ◽

M Lietz ◽

M Garcia-Pimenta ◽

P Andrés

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Associative Memory ◽

Recognition Performance ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Age Groups ◽

Systematic Investigation ◽

Age Effects ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Related ◽

Effects Of Aging

Abstract Objective The Face-Name Associative Memory test (FNAME) has recently received attention as a test for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. So far, however, there has been no systematic investigation of the effects of aging. Here, we aimed to assess the extent to which the FNAME performance is modulated by normal ageing. Method In a first step, we adapted the FNAME material to the Dutch population. In a second step, younger (n = 29) and older adults (n = 29) were compared on recall and recognition performance. Results Significant age effects on name recall were observed after the first exposure of new face-name pairs: younger adults remembered eight, whereas older adults remembered a mean of four out of twelve names. Although both age groups increased the number of recalled names with repeated face-name exposure, older adults did not catch up with the performance of the younger adults, and the age-effects remained stable. Despite of that, both age groups maintained their performance after a 30-min delay. Considering recognition, no age differences were demonstrated, and both age groups succeeded in the recognition of previously shown faces and names when presented along with distractors. Conclusions This study presents for the first time the results of different age groups regarding cross-modal associative memory performance on the FNAME. The recall age effects support the hypothesis of age-related differences in associative memory. To use the FNAME as an early cognitive biomarker, further subscales are suggested to increase sensitivity and specificity in the clinical context.

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Implicit Relational Memory in Young and Older Adults

Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1027/0044-3409.215.1.25 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 215 (1) ◽

pp. 25-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ilana T.Z. Dew ◽

Ute J. Bayen ◽

Kelly S. Giovanello

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Adults ◽

Implicit Memory ◽

Associative Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Relational Memory ◽

Memory Research ◽

New Associations ◽

Associative Deficit ◽

Theoretical Issues

Abstract. Older adults do not perform as well as young adults in explicit episodic memory tasks that require the formation and retrieval of new associations. Relatively few studies have investigated the effects of older adults' associative deficit on implicit-memory performance. After introducing the reader to the area of implicit-memory research at large, the authors review studies that have investigated young and older adults' performance in implicit associative memory tasks. Core theoretical issues and methodological challenges are discussed.

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The effects of stereotype threat on the associative memory deficit of older adults

10.32469/10355/57737 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Matthew S. Brubaker

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Stereotype Threat ◽

Associative Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Memory Deficit ◽

Item Memory ◽

University Of Missouri ◽

Age Related ◽

Associative Deficit ◽

Negative Effect

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] One of the suggestions made in the literature regarding older adults' episodic memory decline is that it is caused by their reduced ability to bind together components of an episode and retrieve the binding (termed an associative deficit). The purpose of the current research is to assess whether the age-related associative memory deficit is at least partially mediated by stereotype threat, which has been shown to negatively affect performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks, including memory performance of older adults. To date the effects of stereotype threat on older adults' memory performance have only been shown using tests of item memory, and between subject manipulations. The question assessed in the current research is whether older adults' associative memory will be affected by stereotype threat more than item memory, rendering it one potential factor underlying the associative deficit. To answer this question, three experiments were conducted, which used an item-associative recognition memory paradigm while manipulating stereotype threat both within and between subjects. The first two experiments attempted to establish the baseline effect by directly comparing item and associative memory in younger and older adults under induced stereotype threat, reduced stereotype threat, and no stereotype threat (i.e. control) conditions. While a baseline age-related associative deficit was not shown in the control condition, inducing stereotype threat did have a significant negative effect on older adults' associative memory performance without affecting item memory performance -- suggesting that stereotype threat does increase the age-related associative deficit. The third experiment further assessed the stage of processing -- encoding, retrieval, or both -- during which the effect of stereotype threat on older adults' memory occurs. Results showed that when stereotype threat was induced only at retrieval, memory performance was in line with performance with the reduced stereotype threat and control conditions, suggesting that this effect of stereotype threat occurs primarily during encoding of the information.

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Differential Age Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Associative Memory

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gby003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 74 (7) ◽

pp. 1163-1173 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Ryan C Leach ◽

Matthew P McCurdy ◽

Michael C Trumbo ◽

Laura E Matzen ◽

Eric D Leshikar

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Associative Memory ◽

Direct Current ◽

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽

Recognition Performance ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Cued Recall ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Delayed Effects ◽

Direct Current Stimulation

Abstract Objectives Older adults experience associative memory deficits relative to younger adults (Old & Naveh-Benjamin, 2008). The aim of this study was to test the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on face-name associative memory in older and younger adults. Method Experimenters applied active (1.5 mA) or sham (0.1 mA) stimulation with the anode placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during a face-name encoding task, and measured both cued recall and recognition performance. Participants completed memory tests immediately after stimulation and after a 24-h delay to examine both immediate and delayed stimulation effects on memory. Results Results showed improved face-name associative memory performance for both recall and recognition measures, but only for younger adults, whereas there was no difference between active and sham stimulation for older adults. For younger adults, stimulation-induced memory improvements persisted after a 24-h delay, suggesting delayed effects of tDCS after a consolidation period. Discussion Although effective in younger adults, these results suggest that older adults may be resistant to this intervention, at least under the stimulation parameters used in the current study. This finding is inconsistent with a commonly seen trend, where tDCS effects on cognition are larger in older than younger adults.

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