Episodic simulation of future events is impaired in mild Alzheimer's disease

NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA

卷:47

Article

Addis, Donna Rose¹  Sacchetti, Daniel C.²  Ally, Brandon A.^3,4  Budson, Andrew E.^3,4  Schacter, Daniel L.^2,5 

[1] Univ Auckland, Dept Psychol, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

[2] Harvard Univ, Dept Psychol, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[3] Boston Univ, Sch Med, Alzheimers Dis Ctr, Boston, MA 02118 USA

[4] Bedford VA Hosp, Geriatr Res Educ Clin Ctr, Ctr Translat Cognit Neurosci, Bedford, MA USA

[5] Athinoula A Martinos Ctr Biomed Imaging, Charlestown, MA USA

关键词: Autobiographical;    Medial temporal lobes;    Prospection;    Specificity;    Fluency;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.05.018

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Recent neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that both remembering the past and simulating the future activate a core neural network including the medial temporal lobes. Regions of this network, in particular the medial temporal lobes, are prime sites for amyloid deposition and are structurally and functionally compromised in Alzheimer's disease (AD). While we know some functions of this core network, specifically episodic autobiographical memory, are impaired in AD, no study has examined whether future episodic simulation is similarly impaired. We tested the ability of sixteen AD patients and sixteen age-matched controls to generate past and future autobiographical events using an adapted version of the Autobiographical Interview. Participants also generated five remote autobiographical memories from across the lifespan. Event transcriptions were segmented into distinct details, classified as either internal (episodic) or external (non-episodic). AD patients exhibited deficits in both remembering past events and simulating future events, generating fewer internal and external episodic details than healthy older controls. The internal and external detail scores were strongly correlated across past and future events, providing further evidence of the close linkages between the mental representations of past and future. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free