Mnemonic strategy training increases neocortical activation in healthy older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment

Publication date: Available online 5 May 2019Source: International Journal of PsychophysiologyAuthor(s): Benjamin M. Hampstead, Anthony Y. Stringer, Randall F. Stilla, K. SathianAbstractLearning and memory deficits characterize the diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), which is widely viewed as a clinical precursor to Alzheimer's type dementia. There is a growing interest in non-pharmacologic interventions, such as mnemonic strategies, for improving learning and memory in patients with aMCI as well as for maintaining functioning in healthy older adults. Using an ecologically relevant object-location association paradigm, we conducted a randomized, controlled, single-blind study in which healthy older adults and patients with aMCI were randomized to either mnemonic strategy training or a control group that was matched for stimulus exposure. We previously reported that mnemonic strategy training resulted in significantly greater learning and memory improvements compared to the matched exposure condition, in both aMCI patients and healthy controls. The current study examined changes in neocortical activation during encoding in a subset of participants who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning both before and after training. To minimize potential confounds in between-group comparisons, we employed non-linear cortex based alignment and included only correctly encoded stimuli in our analyses. When re-encoding stimuli learned during traini...
Source: International Journal of Psychophysiology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research