Hormone replacement therapy and everyday memory in mid-aged New Zealand women

While empirical research to date has generally supported positive effects of estrogen on verbal memory performance in women, the literature examining specific effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) on cognitive functioning in mid-life women is more equivocal. The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test-Extended Version (RBMT-E), a measure of everyday memory functioning in adults within an average range of cognitive functioning, was administered to a sample of 104 New Zealand women aged 40 to 60 years who had self-selected to either use or not use HRT (53 HRT users and 51 non-users). Self-report. measures of mood, stress, general health and menopausal symptoms were also administered. These variables, along with age and education level, were used in analyses of group differences on the everyday memory measures. Results showed significant differences between the groups for three sub-tests of the RBMT-E:'Story Immediate', 'Story Delayed', and 'Message Delayed'. Women who use HRT scored higher on these subtests than those who do not use HRT. After calculation of a total profile score (adjusting for age and IQ), HRT users score higher than HRT non-users on the RBMT-E overall measure of Everyday Memory. These pilot results suggest that HRT use in this sample-is related to enhanced verbal memory in everyday memory tasks and that the RBMT-E may be a useful tool for further work in this area of research.

HRT and everyday memory at menopause: A comparison of two samples of mid-aged women

Research on the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on memory in mid-aged women is equivocal although findings indicate that oestrogen may enhance verbal memory. Mood may mediate the relationship between HRT and memory. This study examined the effect of HRT on mood and everyday memory in two samples of women between ages 40 and 60 years. In the cross-sectional comparison (N = 124), HRT users performed significantly better on tests of everyday and verbal memory. A within-woman comparison of 17 women showed that everyday memory, working memory, and delayed verbal memory improved after 3 months of HRT use. The improvement in memory was not mediated by mood. These results suggest that any effect of HRT on mood may be short-term but that some aspects of everyday memory are enhanced, particularly verbal memory. The development of the everyday memory construct and future investigation are discussed.

The effect of hormone replacement therapy on mood and everyday memory in younger mid-life women

Research on the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on both mood and memory indicates that oestrogen may enhance verbal memory in younger mid-aged women. This study examined the effect of HRT on everyday memory, while accounting for mood changes, in women between ages 40 and 60. A within-subjects comparison of 17 women, showed that mood, everyday memory, working memory, and delayed verbal memory improved after 3 months of HRT use. The improvement in memory was not mediated by mood, but changes in mood were moderated by exercise habits. The results suggest that verbal memory in particular may be enhanced by HRT in this age group, and everyday memory is an important construct to consider in future research.

Prospective memory rehabilitation for adults with traumatic brain injury: A compensatory training programme

Primary objective: To describe a prospective memory rehabilitation programme based on a compensatory training approach and report the results of three case studies. Research design: Programme evaluation using pre-and post-intervention assessments and telephone follow-up. Methods and procedures: Three participants with traumatic brain injury completed 8 weeks of training with 1 - 2 hour individual sessions. Assessments were formal prospective memory assessment, self-report and measures of diary use. Experimental interventions: Intervention aimed to identify potential barriers, establish self-awareness of memory deficits, introduce a customized compensatory tool, a cueing system and organizational strategies. A significant other was involved in training to assist generalization. Main outcomes and results: All three participants improved on formal prospective memory assessment and demonstrated successful diary use after the programme. Self-report of prospective memory failure fluctuated and may reflect increased self-awareness. Conclusion: A compensatory approach may be useful in improving prospective memory performance following TBI.

Autobiographical memory specificity in response to verbal and pictorial cues in clinical depression

Background Depressed individuals have been consistently shown to exhibit problems in accessing specific memories of events from their past and instead tend to retrieve categorical summaries of events. The majority of studies examining autobiographical memory changes associated with psychopathology have tended to use word cues, but only one study to date has used images (with PTSD patients). Objective to determine if using images to cue autobiographical memories would reduce the memory specificity deficit exhibited by patients with depression in comparison to healthy controls. Methods Twenty-five clinically depressed patients and twenty-five healthy controls were assessed on two versions of the autobiographical memory test; cued with emotional words and images. Results Depressed patients retrieved significantly fewer specific memories, and a greater number of categorical, than did the controls. Controls retrieved a greater proportion of specific memories to images compared to words, whereas depressed patients retrieved a similar proportion of specific memories to both images and words. Limitations no information about the presence and severity of past trauma was collected. Conclusions results suggest that the overgeneral memory style in depression generalises from verbal to pictorial cues. This is important because retrieval to images may provide a more ecologically valid test of everyday memory experiences than word-cued retrieval.

Prospective Memory in Older Adults : Where We Are Now and What Is Next

M. Kliegel acknowledges financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Estudio de la memoria cotidiana en una muestra de alumnos de Magisterio.

1. Describir y analizar los posibles tipos funcionales de memoria a través de una prueba que responde o pretende replicar un contexto natural; 2. Describir las diferencias que existen entre las dimensiones encontradas en la prueba y distintas variables propuestas (variables independientes: sexo, edad, curso, especialidad, selectividad). Alumnos de la Escuela de Magisterio de Murcia que constituyen un grupo de 559 estudiantes divididos en los tres cursos de la carrera y en las cuatro especialidades existentes. Las edades oscilan entre los 19 y 39 años; media: 20 años; 127 son varones y 432 mujeres. Estudio exploratorio sin intención inferencial. Una primera parte se dedica al estado de la investigación sobre la memoria y al estudio pormenorizado de la prueba: Inventory Memory Experiencies (IME), así como su adaptación al castellano, realizada por Diges, Garzón y Seoane (1982). Una segunda parte, empírica, se dedica a formular hipótesis, seleccionar la muestra y los instrumentos de recogida de información, además del mencionado IME: pruebas de inteligencia general, personalidad y memoria. Se aplicaron todas las pruebas a todos los sujetos y se procedió al tratamiento estadístico con la finalidad de realizar una nueva factorización del cuestionario IME, resultado del nuevo análisis factorial realizado con la amplia muestra de sujetos de la investigación. Análisis de los resultados: características de la memoria cotidiana en la muestra (variable dependiente). Test de factor G de Cattell y AKS (1973, cuarta edición). Cuestionario de Personalidad EPI, TEA, Madrid (1982, tercera edición). Test de Memoria Auditiva Inmediata MAI, de Cordero, A., TEA, Madrid (1986, tercera edición) y el Inventory of Everyday Memory Experiencies, de Herrnan, Douglas y Neisser (1978) y un formulario de datos personales, académicos y familiares a cumplimentar por los sujetos. Paquetes estadísticos: SYSTAT y STATGRAPHICS. 1. Cuanto mayor es la puntuación en memoria lógica mayor es la puntuación del factor G de la inteligencia. También la memoria mecánica (recuerdo inmediato de series de números) guarda relación con la inteligencia. Lo mismo ocurre para la memoria asociativa; 2. Los sujetos cuya inteligencia es más baja, tienen un olvido contextual menor que los sujetos cuya inteligencia implica mayor abstracción (olvido mayor para lugares en los que se ha dejado algo); 3. También es significativo que los sujetos que poseen altas puntuaciones en el recuerdo de los detalles de un relato coherente, suelen olvidar con facilidad lugares o contextos de pérdidas u olvidos; pasa lo mismo con la memoria asociativa; 4. Los varones olvidan menos que las mujeres los lugares o sitios donde dejaron algo; 5. Los sujetos con alta inteligencia tienen un olvido inmediato alto y necesitan ayudas externas para minimizarlo; 6. El olvido inmediato y la memoria asociativa están relacionados en el sentido de que la memoria baja, corresponde a un olvido alto; 7. Los varones poseen más dificultad para retener cualquier información en la memoria a corto plazo que las mujeres; 8. Los alumnos de la especialidad de ciencias poseen mala memoria inmediata y buena los de Preescolar; 9. Las notas más altas se corresponden con un olvido inmediato más alto; 10. La memoria asociativa baja se relaciona con un gran olvido en el reconocimiento de personas; 11. Las personalidades más neuróticas presentan una puntuación alta en lo que se refiere al factor olvido secuencial (parte de una conversación, lagunas, etc.); 12. A mayor estabilidad emocional, menor es el olvido de intenciones (lo que se va a hacer); 13. Los varones presentan un menor olvido de intenciones que las mujeres; 14. Los sujetos con mayor inestabilidad emocional (neuroticismo) presentan puntuación más alta en el factor olvido de nombres; 15. También está unido este factor a la variable especialidad, siendo más alto en Ciencias; 16. El olvido espacial sólo presenta relación significativa con la variable selectividad en el sentido de que más olvidan los que no tienen la selectividad; 17. A mayor inteligencia mayor recuerdo episódico. La buena memoria lógica también se relaciona con este factor; 18. Los sujetos más introvertidos presentan un recuerdo infantil menor, los más abiertos tienen mayor facilidad para rememorar acontecimientos de su infancia; 19. Las mujeres presentan mayor puntuación que los hombres en el factor recuerdos específicos (acontecimientos de importancia personal y vital). La escuela no ha incorporado ni explícitamente en sus currículos, ni en su práctica docente las aportaciones de la Psicología cognitiva sobre la memoria. Aún pervive un mayoritario rechazo del uso de la memoria como resíduo de una concepción estática y representativa de la misma.

Effectiveness of the cognitive differentiation program of the integrated psychological therapy: group versus individual treatment

The aim of the current pilot study was to compare two strategies in the application of the cognitive differentiation program of Integrated Psychological Therapy for people with schizophrenia. Twenty-six outpatients were randomly assigned to the application of the program in group sessions (CDg), or to its application in individualized sessions (CDi). The program provides cognitive exercises to promote better performance in cognition, and both groups of participants completed the same number of exercises following the same number of sessions per week. Outcomes were assessed on neuropsychological measures of attention, executive functioning and everyday memory, and everyday functioning. Effect sizes showed the absence of effects in everyday memory and social functioning, higher improvements in the CDi group in attention, and a higher improvement in the CDg condition in executive functioning. The results suggest that the program application model could be individualized, depending on patient-specific cognitive deficits.

Ecological validity in neuropsychological assessment: A case for greater consideration in research with neurologically intact populations

The focus of the discipline of neuropsychology is shifting towards a greater emphasis on understanding the relationship between assessment results and performance of everyday tasks (ecological validity). To date, the literature has highlighted the importance of this concept in the assessment of patients with brain injury or disease (e.g. in rehabilitation and forensic settings). This paper presents the argument that there is another important area in which the ecological validity of neuropsychological assessments should be considered: in clinical outcomes studies using neurologically intact participants. For example, determining the extent to which a medical procedure or intervention affects performance of everyday cognitive tasks can provide useful information that can potentially guide decision-making regarding treatment options. It is argued that tests designed with ecological validity in mind (the verisimilitude approach), as opposed to traditional tests, may be most effective at predicting everyday functioning. Explanations are proposed as to why researchers may be reluctant to use tests with verisimilitude in favor of more traditional measures. (c) 2006 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions : A diary approach

Peer reviewed

Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions : A diary approach

Peer reviewed

The everyday life of the revolution: gender, violence and memory

The ‘heroic life’ or the life of the revolutionary is one that resists or even seeks to transcend the everyday and the ordinary. The ‘banal’ vulnerabilities of everyday life, however, continue to constitute the unseen, often unspoken background of such a heroic life. This article turns to women’s memories of everyday life spent ‘underground’ in the context of the late 1960s radical left Naxalbari movement of Bengal. Drawing upon recent published memoirs and my own field interviews with middle class female (and male) activists, I outline the ways in which revolutionary femininity was imagined and lived in the everyday life of this political movement. I focus, in particular, on the gendered and classed nature of political labour, the gendering of revolutionary space, and finally, the extent to which everyday life in the ‘underground’ was a site of vulnerability and powerlessness, especially for women. I also signal how these memories of interpersonal conflict and everyday violence tend to remain buried under a collective mythicisation of the ‘heroic life’.

Simulated cataract and low contrast stimuli impair cognitive performance in older adults : implications for neuropsychological assessment and everyday function

Objective: To investigate how age-related declines in vision (particularly contrast sensitivity), simulated using cataract-goggles and low-contrast stimuli, influence the accuracy and speed of cognitive test performance in older adults. An additional aim was to investigate whether declines in vision differentially affect secondary more than primary memory. Method: Using a fully within-subjects design, 50 older drivers aged 66-87 years completed two tests of cognitive performance - letter matching (perceptual speed) and symbol recall (short-term memory) - under different viewing conditions that degraded visual input (low-contrast stimuli, cataract-goggles, and low-contrast stimuli combined with cataract-goggles, compared with normal viewing). However, presentation time was also manipulated for letter matching. Visual function, as measured using standard charts, was taken into account in statistical analyses. Results: Accuracy and speed for cognitive tasks were significantly impaired when visual input was degraded. Furthermore, cognitive performance was positively associated with contrast sensitivity. Presentation time did not influence cognitive performance, and visual gradation did not differentially influence primary and secondary memory. Conclusion: Age-related declines in visual function can impact on the accuracy and speed of cognitive performance, and therefore the cognitive abilities of older adults may be underestimated in neuropsychological testing. It is thus critical that visual function be assessed prior to testing, and that stimuli be adapted to older adults' sensory capabilities (e.g., by maximising stimuli contrast).