Concurrent performance of two memory tasks: evidence for domain-specific working memory systems

Previous studies of dual-task coordination in working memory have shown a lack of dual-task interference when a verbal memory task is combined with concurrent perceptuomotor tracking. Two experiments are reported in which participants were required to perform pairwise combinations of (1) a verbal memory task, a visual memory task, and perceptuomotor tracking (Experiment 1), and (2) pairwise combinations of the two memory tasks and articulatory suppression (Experiment 2). Tracking resulted in no disruption of the verbal memory preload over and above the impact of a delay in recall and showed only minimal disruption of the retention of the visual memory load. Performing an ongoing verbal memory task had virtually no impact on retention of a visual memory preload or vice versa, indicating that performing two demanding memory tasks results in little mutual interference. Experiment 2 also showed minimal disruption when the two memory tasks were combined, although verbal memory (but not visual memory) was clearly disrupted by articulatory suppression interpolated between presentation and recall. These data suggest that a multiple-component working memory model provides a better account for performance in concurrent immediate memory tasks than do theories that assume a single processing and storage system or a limited-capacity attentional system coupled with activated memory traces.     

Gender differences in episodic memory and visual working memory including the effects of age

Analysing the relationship between gender and memory, and examining the effects of age on the overall memory-related functioning, are the ongoing goals of psychological research. The present study examined gender and age group differences in episodic memory with respect to the type of task. In addition, these subgroup differences were also analysed in visual working memory. A sample of 366 women and 330 men, aged between 16 and 69 years of age, participated in the current study. Results indicate that women outperformed men on auditory memory tasks, whereas male adolescents and older male adults showed higher level performances on visual episodic and visual working memory measures. However, the size of gender-linked effects varied somewhat across age groups. Furthermore, results partly support a declining performance on episodic memory and visual working memory measures with increasing age. Although age-related losses in episodic memory could not be explained by a decreasing verbal and visuospatial ability with age, women's advantage in auditory episodic memory could be explained by their advantage in verbal ability. Men's higher level visual episodic memory performance was found to result from their advantage in visuospatial ability. Finally, possible methodological, biological, and cognitive explanations for the current findings are discussed.     

Gender differences in episodic memory

The relationship between gender and memory has been largely neglected by research, despite occasional studies reporting gender differences in episodic memory performance. The present study examined potential gender differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, primary memory, and priming. Five hundred thirty women and 470 men, randomly sampled from the city of Umeå, Sweden, 35–80 years of age, participated in the study. There were no differences between men and women with regard to age or education, or on a measure of global intellectual functioning. As has been demonstrated previously, men outperformed women on a visuospatial task and women outperformed men on tests of verbal fluency. In addition, the results demonstrated that women consistently performed at a higher level than did men on the episodic memory tasks, although there were no differences between men and women on the tasks assessing semantic memory, primary memory, or priming. The women’s higher level of performance on the episodic memory tasks could not be fully explained by their higher verbal ability.     

Sex differences in episodic memory: minimal influence of estradiol

Sex differences exist for several cognitive tasks and estrogen has been suggested to influence these differences. Eighteen men and 18 women were matched on age and estradiol level. Potential sex differences were assessed in episodic memory, semantic memory, verbal fluency, problem solving, and visuospatial ability. Significant sex differences, favoring women, were found for tasks assessing episodic memory. Correlations between estradiol level and cognitive performance were significant for face recognition in females. Since sex differences remained in verbal episodic memory tasks and face recognition despite matched levels of estradiol, circulating estradiol does not appear to be of paramount consequence for observed sex differences in episodic memory.     

Sequence‐specific procedural learning deficits in children with specific language impairment

This study tested the procedural deficit hypothesis of specific language impairment (SLI) by comparing children's performance in two motor procedural learning tasks and an implicit verbal sequence learning task. Participants were 7‐ to 11‐year‐old children with SLI (n = 48), typically developing age‐matched children (n = 20) and younger typically developing children matched for receptive grammar (n = 28). In a serial reaction time task, the children with SLI performed at the same level as the grammar‐matched children, but poorer than age‐matched controls in learning motor sequences. When tested with a motor procedural learning task that did not involve learning sequential relationships between discrete elements (i.e. pursuit rotor), the children with SLI performed comparably with age‐matched children and better than younger grammar‐matched controls. In addition, poor implicit learning of word sequences in a verbal memory task (the Hebb effect) was found in the children with SLI. Together, these findings suggest that SLI might be characterized by deficits in learning sequence‐specific information, rather than generally weak procedural learning.     

Sex Differences in Episodic Memory

ABSTRACT— Research shows sex differences in episodic memory. These differences vary in magnitude as a function of the type of material to be remembered. Throughout the life span, verbal episodic-memory tasks yield differences favoring women. In contrast, episodic-memory tasks requiring visuospatial processing result in differences favoring men. There are also sex differences favoring women on episodic-memory tasks requiring both verbal and visuospatial processing and on face-recognition tasks. Thus, there may be a small, general episodic-memory advantage for women—an advantage that can increase by the advantage women have over men in verbal production and can be reversed by the male advantage in visuospatial tasks. In addition, environmental factors affect the magnitude of the sex differences in episodic memory.     

Implicit and explicit memory in pregnant women: An analysis of data-driven and conceptually driven processes

A study by Brindle, Brown, Brown, Griffith, and Turner (1991), reported that pregnant women showed impaired implicit memory (as measured by a stem completion task) in the presence of intact explicit memory. The present study was an attempt to replicate and extend this finding by employing a read/generate encoding manipulation across data-driven (word fragment completion and graphemic cued recall) and conceptually driven (semantic cued recall and category generation) tests. A total of 64 women (32 pregnant) were tested on both data-driven and conceptually driven tasks either directly or indirectly. No differences emerged between pregnant subjects and non-pregnant controls across tasks. Subjects experiencing their first pregnancy did report their memory in the previous 2 weeks as being considerably worse than normal.     

Cognitive changes in pregnancy: mild decline or societal stereotype?

This research compared pregnant and non‐pregnant women's perceptions of cognitive change and their performance on 13 sensitive memory and attention tasks (Study 1) and two complex driving simulation tasks (Study 2). The pregnant, but not the non‐pregnant, women rated their cognitive abilities as worse than before, but only two performance measures from Study 1 differentiated the two groups (speed of language processing and attentional switching). Study 3 examined beliefs about pregnancy‐related cognitive decline. Women and men with and without immediate experience of pregnancy rated pregnant women's cognitive abilities as slightly worse than before pregnancy. Memory ratings were worse from women and from those with immediate experience of pregnancy. It is concluded that there may be some mild effects of pregnancy on performance of some specific cognitive functions but that cultural expectations based on a stereotype of cognitive decline also contribute to pregnant women's perception of cognitive change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial memory following prenatal alcohol exposure: more than a material specific memory deficit.

Spatial memory deficits have been reported following prenatal alcohol exposure and animal studies have demonstrated hippocampal vulnerability to alcohol. This study examined spatial memory in children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol effects (FAE) and matched controls. Spatial memory was examined with location recall measures. Since visual perceptual skills and nonspecific memory impairment could impact spatial memory, tasks assessing perception and verbal memory were administered. Analyses revealed group differences on perceptual and verbal and spatial memory tasks. There was no significant difference in spatial memory once perceptual and verbal memory task performance was taken into account, suggesting that differences in spatial memory were not solely attributable to a material specific memory deficit.     

Developmental changes in the engagement of episodic retrieval processes and their relationship with working memory during the period of middle childhood

We examined the development of children's engagement of the episodic retrieval processes of recollection and familiarity and their relationship with working memory (WM). Ninety‐six children (24 in four groups aged 8, 9, 10, and 11 years) and 24 adults performed an episodic memory (EM) task involving old/new, remember/know (R/K), and source memory judgements and numerous WM tasks that assessed verbal and spatial components of WM and delayed short‐term memory (STM). Developmental changes were observed in EM with younger children (8‐, 9‐, 10‐year‐olds) making fewer remember responses than 11‐year‐olds and adults while 11‐year‐olds did not differ from adults. Only children aged 10 years plus showed a relationship between EM and WM. EM was related to verbal executive WM in 10‐ and 11‐year‐old children suggesting that children at this stage use verbal strategies to aid EM. In contrast, EM was related to spatial executive WM in adults. The engagement of episodic retrieval processes appears to be selectively related to executive components of verbal and spatial WM, the pattern of which differs in children and adults.     

A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF SOMATIC AND EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS OF PREGNANCY

Using a prospective design, this study examined somatic and emotional symptoms of planned pregnancy in a sample of 162 healthy women. All women participated in a baseline (prepregnancy) interview. Seventy women became pregnant and were assessed at each trimester; the 92 nonpregnant controls were interviewed 3, 6, and 9 months after their baseline interview. All participants also completed the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist–Revised (SCL 90-R). No significant group differences were found at baseline. As expected, however, pregnant women reported significantly more instances of digestive symptoms (nausea, vomiting, heartburn), fatigue, and moodiness than nonpregnant controls. Discriminant-function analyses found that in the context of all symptom variables, nausea and fatigue were the primary distinguishing features of the first trimester. In the second and third trimester, fatigue and heartburn contributed to the distinction of pregnant and nonpregnant women. Although pregnancy precipitates many physical and psychological changes in this sample of women who had planned pregnancies, our results did not support the notion that pregnancy is either a time of significant emotional turmoil or of heightened emotional well-being.     

意识是情景记忆加工的必要条件？

在情景记忆的发展历程中,Tulving逐渐地将其与意识相联系。但是,无论来自正常被试的情景记忆中静态的视觉、语词和动态的视觉—动作加工特性方面的研究,还是来自遗忘症患者、婴儿以及动物等方面的情景记忆研究,均表明情景记忆具有无意识特性,这些均与Tulving对情景记忆的界定相矛盾。而情景记忆在人类进化过程中所表现出的自然属性和社会属性,则合理的解释了情景记忆所具有的无意识和意识属性。因此,只有结合情景记忆在人类发展历程所表现出的双重属性,才能宏观、全面地把握情景记忆的整体概貌。     

Sex differences in face recognition--women's faces make the difference

Sex differences favoring women have been found in face recognition tasks as well as in verbal episodic memory tasks. Women's higher face recognition performance was hypothesized to be related to either their higher verbal ability or to their superiority in recognizing female faces, rather than faces in general. Results showed that whereas there were no differences between men and women in the recognition of male faces, or in verbal ability, women performed at a higher level than men in the recognition of female faces. Verbal ability did not influence women's face recognition performance. Potential explanations for this pattern of data, such as sex differences in interest and prior knowledge, are discussed.     

认知功能的性别差异

我们了概述认知功能的性别差异, 尤其是情节记忆功能的性别差异。已有的研究结果表明女性在言语生成、情节记忆、面孔识别任务中比男性存在明显的优势, 而男性的优势则表现在视空间任务中, 如视空间情节记忆任务。本文批判性地讨论了一个流行的假设: 类固醇激素影响认知功能的性别差异, 得出的结论是内源性睾丸激素或雌二醇均未显著影响认知功能的性别差异。     

Examination of the bidirectional influences of leisure activity and memory in old people: A dissociative effect on episodic memory

The present study examined the relationships between different types of social and cognitive activities and different types of episodic and semantic memory. A total of 794 adult men and women from five age cohorts (aged 65–85 at baseline), participating in the longitudinal Betula project on ageing, memory, and health, were included in the study. The participants were studied over 10 years (1995–2005) in three waves. Recognition and recall were used as episodic memory tasks, and knowledge and verbal fluency as semantic memory tasks. The results, after controlling for age, gender, education, and some diseases, including heart disease and hypertension, as covariates, showed unidirectional effects of social activity on episodic memory on all test occasions (β = .10). Also, episodic memory predicted change in cognitive activity for all test waves (β = .21–.22). Findings suggest that social activity can be seen as protective factor against memory decline. It also seems that episodic memory performance is a predictor of cognitive activity in old people. However, the opposite direction does not hold true.     

Immediate memory span, recognition memory for subspan series of words, and serial position effects in recognition memory for supraspan series of verbal and nonverbal items in Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia

Four Broca's aphasics, four Wernicke's aphasics, and four matched controls were investigated on three verbal and one visual short-term memory tasks. Experiment 1 considered memory span and subspan recognition memory for verbal items and Experiment 2 assessed serial position effects in supraspan verbal recognition memory. The Broca's aphasics demonstrated verbal memory deficits, which could not be attributed to linguistic disturbances, while the verbal memory deficiencies seen with the Wernicke's aphasics could be regarded as secondary to linguistic defects. In Experiment 3, where visual recognition memory was investigated, only the Broca's aphasics showed deficient performance. The wider context of deficient mnemonic performance in aphasia is discussed.     

Visual and verbal working memory loads interfere with scene-viewing

Working memory is thought to be divided into distinct visual and verbal subsystems. Studies of visual working memory frequently use verbal working memory tasks as control conditions and/or use articulatory suppression to ensure that visual load is not transferred to verbal working memory. Using these verbal tasks relies on the assumption that the verbal working memory load will not interfere with the same processes as visual working memory. In the present study, participants maintained a visual or verbal working memory load as they simultaneously viewed scenes while their eye movements were recorded. Because eye movements and visual working memory are closely linked, we anticipated the visual load would interfere with scene-viewing (and vice versa), while the verbal load would not. Surprisingly, both visual and verbal memory loads interfered with scene-viewing behavior, while eye movements during scene-viewing did not significantly interfere with performance on either memory task. These results suggest that a verbal working memory load can interfere with eye movements in a visual task.

     

Verified hormone therapy improves episodic memory performance in healthy postmenopausal women

Studies of hormone therapy (HT) and cognition have yielded conflicting results. The aim of this observational study was to examine the effect of estradiol, via serum verified HT (estradiol, estriol, progesterone) and endogenous estradiol, on 108 healthy postmenopausal women's cognitive performance. The results demonstrated that the 43 HT-users performed at a significantly higher level than non-users on episodic memory tasks and on a verbal fluency task, whereas HT-users and non-users did not differ on tasks assessing semantic memory and spatial visualization. In addition, there was a positive relationship between serum estradiol level and episodic memory performance, indicating that postmenopausal HT is associated with enhanced episodic memory and verbal fluency, independent of age and education. These observational results suggest that HT use may be sufficient to exert small, yet positive effects on female sensitive cognitive tasks. Hormone therapy compliance and formulation is discussed as confounding factors in previous research.     

Verified Hormone Therapy Improves Episodic Memory Performance in Healthy Postmenopausal Women

ABSTRACT

Studies of hormone therapy (HT) and cognition have yielded conflicting results. The aim of this observational study was to examine the effect of estradiol, via serum verified HT (estradiol, estriol, progesterone) and endogenous estradiol, on 108 healthy postmenopausal women's cognitive performance. The results demonstrated that the 43 HT-users performed at a significantly higher level than non-users on episodic memory tasks and on a verbal fluency task, whereas HT-users and non-users did not differ on tasks assessing semantic memory and spatial visualization. In addition, there was a positive relationship between serum estradiol level and episodic memory performance, indicating that postmenopausal HT is associated with enhanced episodic memory and verbal fluency, independent of age and education. These observational results suggest that HT use may be sufficient to exert small, yet positive effects on female sensitive cognitive tasks. Hormone therapy compliance and formulation is discussed as confounding factors in previous research.     

老化对睡眠依赖性记忆巩固的影响

随着老化的发生和发展, 老年人的睡眠和记忆问题变得越来越突出。研究显示老年人针对程序性记忆的睡眠依赖性巩固能力受损, 而针对陈述性记忆的睡眠依赖性巩固研究结果尚存分歧。此外, 患有神经退行性疾病的老年人在正常老化的基础上伴有情景记忆睡眠依赖性巩固能力受损。未来研究应考虑同步采集脑电和脑成像数据, 探索增龄通过睡眠影响记忆的神经通路, 尝试搭建老化、睡眠以及记忆三因素的交互模型, 并从睡眠对记忆巩固影响的角度提出针对老年人记忆问题的干预措施。