[Episodic memory and Alzheimer's disease: evolution of theories and clinical assessment tools].

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by an impairment of episodic memory in the early stages of the disease. Neuropsychological evaluation is performed for diagnostic purposes and to personalize follow-up. However, although many tests have been developed over the last few decades, not all of them seem to be able to meet this dual challenge.

Music as a mnemonic strategy to mitigate verbal episodic memory in Alzheimer's disease: Does musical valence matter?

: Music is increasingly used to improve cognition in clinical settings. However, it remains unclear whether its use as a mnemonic strategy is effective in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aimed at determining whether a musical mnemonic might mitigate patients' learning of new verbal information and at exploring the effect of factors such as retention delay and emotional valence of the musical excerpt used.

Is music a memory booster in normal aging? The influence of emotion.

Age-related differences in episodic memory have been explained by a decrement in strategic encoding implementation. It has been shown in clinical populations that music can be used during the encoding stage as a mnemonic strategy to learn verbal information. The effectiveness of this strategy remains equivocal in older adults (OA).

Executive functioning and processing speed in age-related differences in time estimation: a comparison of young, old, and very old adults.

Age-related differences in time estimation were examined by comparing the temporal performance of young, young-old, and old-old adults, in relation to two major theories of cognitive aging: executive decline and cognitive slowing. We tested the hypothesis that processing speed and executive function are differentially involved in timing depending on the temporal task used. We also tested the assumption of greater age-related effects in time estimation in old-old participants.

Age-related differences in time-based prospective memory: The role of time estimation in the clock monitoring strategy.

Time-based prospective memory (TBPM) is required when it is necessary to remember to perform an action at a specific future point in time. This type of memory has been found to be particularly sensitive to ageing, probably because it requires a self-initiated response at a specific time. In this study, we sought to examine the involvement of temporal processes in the time monitoring strategy, which has been demonstrated to be a decisive factor in TBPM efficiency.

Protective role of educational level on episodic memory aging: an event-related potential study.

The aim of the present experiment was to investigate whether educational level could modulate the effect of aging on episodic memory and on the electrophysiological correlates of retrieval success. Participants were divided into four groups based on age (young vs. older) and educational level (high vs.

Episodic memory and organizational strategy in free recall in unipolar depression: the role of cognitive support and executive functions.

Executive functioning and memory impairment have been demonstrated in adults with depression. Executive functions and memory are related, mainly when the memory tasks require controlled processes (attentional resource demanding processes)--that is, when a low cognitive support (external aid) is provided. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 45 participants: 21 with depression, and 24 healthy controls matched for age, verbal ability, education level, and anxiety score.

Executive functioning and processing speed in age-related differences in memory: contribution of a coding task.

The aim of the present study was to examine executive dysfunctioning and decreased processing speed as potential mediators of age-related differences in episodic memory. We compared the performances of young and elderly adults in a free-recall task. Participants were also given tests to measure executive functions and perceptual processing speed and a coding task (the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, DSST).

Ageing, remembering, and executive function.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and the age-related decline in episodic memory through the states-of-awareness approach. Following the presentation of a word list, a group of younger adults and a group of older adults undertook a recognition test in which they classified their responses according to the Remember-Know-Guess procedure (Gardiner & Richardson-Klavehn, 2000). In order to operationalise the executive function hypothesis, we investigated three specific executive functions (updating, shifting, and inhibition of a prepotent response) described in Miyake et al.

Aging and implementation of encoding strategies in the generation of rhymes: the role of executive functions.

This experiment examines whether the age-related decrease in the generation effect of rhymes is mediated by executive functioning. Young and elderly adults read and generated pairs of rhyming words for subsequent recall. Participants were also administered neuropsychological tests (executive and mnemonic functions).

Age-related changes in duration reproduction: involvement of working memory processes.

The aim of the present research was to study age-related changes in duration reproduction by differentiating the working memory processes underlying this time estimation task. We compared performances of young and elderly adults in a duration reproduction task performed in simple and concurrent task conditions. Participants were also administered working memory tests to measure storage and central executive functions.

Differential involvement of internal clock and working memory in the production and reproduction of duration: a study on older adults.

The present study uses the inter-individual variability in time perception of a group of elderly participants to differentiate the processes underlying time production and time reproduction. Participants performed duration production and reproduction tasks. They were also administered working memory tests and a spontaneous motor tempo task.

Age-related cognitive slowing: the role of spontaneous tempo and processing speed.

This research studied the relationships between two types of slowing observed in aging-loss of general processing speed and slowing of spontaneous tempo-in an attempt to test the assumption that there is an internal timing mechanism responsible for cognitive age-related decrease. Processing speed has been evaluated as a mediator of the relationship between age and working memory, concurrently with spontaneous tempo measures. The authors compared the performance of young and older adults on tasks involving spontaneous motor tempo, processing speed, and working memory.