Minimizing Interference With Early Consolidation Boosts 7-Day Retention in Amnesic Patients

作者：Alber Jessica; Della Sala Sergio; Dewar Michaela^*

来源：Neuropsychology, 2014, 28(5): 667-675.

DOI：10.1037/neu0000091

• amnesia
• interference
• long-term memory
• memory consolidation

Objective: A short wakeful rest immediately after learning boosts memory retention in amnesic patients over several minutes. Here we investigated whether a short wakeful rest could boost memory retention in amnesic patients over a much longer period. Method: The authors tested 15 patients with amnesia associated with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/mild Alzheimer%26apos;s disease (AD) and 15 age- and-education-matched controls. All participants learned 2 prose passages, 1 followed by a 10-min wakeful rest (minimal sensory stimulation), and the other by a 10-min visual spot the difference game. Participants were given a surprise delayed recall test for both prose passages after 15-30 min and after 7 days. Results: Wakeful resting boosted memory substantially in the patients over 15-30 min and 7 days: After 7 days all 15 patients retained %26gt;30% of the prose that had been learned prior to wakeful resting. In contrast, after 7 days, only 4 patients retained %26gt;30% of the prose that had been learned prior to playing the spot the difference game. Conclusions: This striking 7-day memory boost via wakeful resting is remarkable, given that amnesic patients often struggle to remember new information over just a few minutes. Our novel findings indicate that there is substantial capacity for longer-term retention in patients with amnestic MCI/mild AD, and bolster the hypothesis that wakeful resting boosts memory by protecting the compromised memory consolidation system from interfering incoming information.

• 出版日期2014-9