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An object location memory paradigm for older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment.
- Source :
-
Journal of neuroscience methods [J Neurosci Methods] 2014 Nov 30; Vol. 237, pp. 16-25. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Aug 28. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- Background: Object-location memory is critical in every-day life and known to deteriorate early in the course of neurodegenerative disease.<br />New Method: We adapted the previously established learning paradigm "LOCATO" for use in healthy older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Pictures of real-life buildings were associated with positions on a two-dimensional street map by repetitions of "correct" object-location pairings over the course of five training blocks, followed by a recall task. Correct/incorrect associations were indicated by button presses. The original two 45-item sets were reduced to 15 item-sets, and tested in healthy older adults and MCI for learning curve, recall, and re-test effects.<br />Results: The two 15-item versions showed comparable learning curves and recall scores within each group. While learning curves increased linearly in both groups, MCI patients performed significantly worse on learning and recall compared to healthy controls. Re-testing after 6 month showed small practice effects only.<br />Comparison With Existing Methods: LOCATO is a simple standardized task that overcomes several limitation of previously employed visuospatial task by using real-life stimuli, minimizing verbal encoding, avoiding fine motor responses, combining explicit and implicit statistical learning, and allowing to assess learning curve in addition to recall.<br />Conclusions: Results show that the shortened version of LOCATO meets the requirements for a robust and ecologically meaningful assessment of object-location memory in older adults with and without MCI. It can now be used to systematically assess acquisition of object-location memory and its modulation through adjuvant therapies like pharmacological or non-invasive brain stimulation.<br /> (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Aged
Analysis of Variance
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Pattern Recognition, Visual physiology
Reproducibility of Results
Aging physiology
Cognitive Dysfunction diagnosis
Learning physiology
Mental Recall physiology
Neuropsychological Tests
Spatial Behavior physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1872-678X
- Volume :
- 237
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of neuroscience methods
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 25176026
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.08.020