creators_name: Tarnow, Eugen creators_id: etarnow@avabiz.com type: other datestamp: 2016-03-24 19:13:57 lastmod: 2016-03-24 19:13:57 metadata_visibility: show title: Preliminary Evidence: Diagnosed Alzheimer’s Disease But Not MCI Affects Working Memory Capacity: 0.7 of 2.7 Memory Slots is Lost ispublished: unpub subjects: clin-psy subjects: cog-psy subjects: neuro-psy full_text_status: public keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, free recall; working memory; short term memory abstract: Recently it was shown explicitly that free recall consists of two stages: the first few recalls empty working memory (narrowly defined) and a second stage, a reactivation stage, concludes the recall (Tarnow, 2015; for a review of the theoretical predictions see Murdock, 1974). It was also shown that the serial position curve changes in mild Alzheimer’s disease – lowered total recall and lessened primacy - are similar to second stage recall and different from recall from working memory. The Tarnow Unchunkable Test (TUT, Tarnow, 2013) uses double integer items to separate out only the first stage, the emptying of working memory, by making it difficult to reactivate items due to the lack of intra-item relationships. Here it is shown that subject TUT selects out diagnosed Alzheimer’s Disease but not MCI. On average, diagnosed Alzheimer’s Disease is correlated with a loss of 0.7 memory slots (out of an average of 2.7 slots). The identification of a lost memory slot may have implications for improved stage definitions of Alzheimer’s disease and for remediation therapy via working memory capacity management. In conjunction with the Alzheimer’s disease process map, it may also be useful to identify the exact location of working memory. date: 2016-03-20 date_type: completed refereed: FALSE referencetext: Bayley PJ, Salmon DP, Bondi MW, Bui BK, Olichney J, Delis DC, Thomas RG, Thal LJ (2000) Comparison of the serial position effect in very mild Alzheimer’s disease, mild Alzheimer’s disease, and amnesia associated with electroconvulsive therapy. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 6, 290-298. Braak, H., & Braak, E. (1995). Staging of Alzheimer's disease-related neurofibrillary changes. Neurobiology of aging, 16(3), 271-278. Cullen, B., O’Neill, B., Evans, J. J., Coen, R. F., & Lawlor, B. A. (2007). A review of screening tests for cognitive impairment. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 78(8), 790-799. Deese J (1959) On the prediction of occurrence of particular verbal intrusions in immediate recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology 58(1) 17-22 Ershova R, Tarnow E. (2016) A Precise Measure of Working Memory Reveals Subjects Difficulties Managing Limited Capacity. Submitted for Publication. Murdock, B. B. (1974). Human memory: Theory and data. Lawrence Erlbaum. Tarnow E (2015) First direct evidence of two stages in free recall and three corresponding estimates of working memory capacity. PFUR Bulletin 2015-4, p. 15-26. Tarnow E (2016) Indirect Evidence: Mild Alzheimer’s Disease & Cannabis Affect the Second Stage of Free Recall Suggesting Localization in Hippocampal CA1. Submitted for publication. Tarnow, E. (2013). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/066,195. citation: Tarnow, Eugen (2016) Preliminary Evidence: Diagnosed Alzheimer’s Disease But Not MCI Affects Working Memory Capacity: 0.7 of 2.7 Memory Slots is Lost. (Unpublished) document_url: http://cogprints.org/10089/1/ADRCPaper.pdf