Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

10 p.

Publication Date

2-2009

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Source Publication

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society

Source ISSN

1355-6177

Original Item ID

doi: 10.1017/S1355617708090103; PubMed Central: PMCID 2774216

Abstract

Person identification represents a unique category of semantic knowledge that is commonly impaired in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but has received relatively little investigation in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The current study examined the retrieval of semantic knowledge for famous names from three time epochs (recent, remote, and enduring) in two participant groups: 23 amnestic MCI (aMCI) patients and 23 healthy elderly controls. The aMCI group was less accurate and produced less semantic knowledge than controls for famous names. Names from the enduring period were recognized faster than both recent and remote names in both groups, and remote names were recognized more quickly than recent names. Episodic memory performance was correlated with greater semantic knowledge particularly for recent names. We suggest that the anterograde memory deficits in the aMCI group interferes with learning of recent famous names and as a result produces difficulties with updating and integrating new semantic information with previously stored information. The implications of these findings for characterizing semantic memory deficits in MCI are discussed. (JINS, 2009, 15, 9-18.)

Comments

Published version. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Vol. 15, No. 1 (January 2009): 9-18. DOI. © 2009 Cambridge University Press. Used with permission.

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