Short-term practice effects in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: implications for diagnosis and treatment.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: Practice effects have been widely reported in healthy older adults, but these improvements due to repeat exposure to test materials have been more equivocal in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: The current study examined short-term practice effects in MCI by repeating a brief battery of cognitive tests across one week in 59 older adults with amnestic MCI and 62 intact older adults. RESULTS: Participants with amnestic MCI showed significantly greater improvements on two delayed recall measures (p < 0.01) compared to intact peers. All other practice effects were comparable between these two groups. Practice effects significantly improved scores in the MCI group so that 49% of them were reclassified as "intact" after one week, whereas the other 51% remained "stable" as MCI. Secondary analyses indicated the MCI-Intact group demonstrated larger practice effects on two memory measures than their peers (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results continue to inform us about the nature of memory deficits in MCI, and could have implications for the diagnosis and possible treatment of this amnestic condition.

Author information

Author/s: Duff, Kevin (K); Beglinger, Leigh J (LJ); Van Der Heiden, Sara (S); Moser, David J (DJ); Arndt, Stephan (S); Schultz, Susan K (SK); Paulsen, Jane S (JS);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1000, USA. kevin-duff(-atsign-)uiowa.edu

Grants: R03 AG025850-01 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: International psychogeriatrics / IPA (Int Psychogeriatr), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Oct; vol 20 (issue 5) : pp 986-99

Dates: Created 2008/08/22; Completed 2008/10/30;

PMID: 18405398, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.