Examining the Nature of Impairment in Visual Paired Associate Learning in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

• Published in: Neuropsychology 2011-11, Vol.25 (6), p.752-762
• Main Authors: Harel, Brian T., Darby, David, Pietrzak, Robert H., Ellis, Kathryn A., Snyder, Peter J., Maruff, Paul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Amnesia; Association Learning - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive Dysfunction - complications; Cognitive Impairment; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Executive Function; Female; Geriatrics; Human; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Memory Disorders; Memory Disorders - diagnosis; Memory Disorders - etiology; Middle Aged; Mild Cognitive Impairment; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Paired Associate Learning; Pattern Recognition (Cognitive Process); Photic Stimulation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Spatial Learning; Statistics, Nonparametric
• ISSN: 0894-4105; 1931-1559
• DOI: 10.1037/a0024237

Objective: Visual spatial learning is impaired in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) although the nature of this impairment is not clear. This study investigated the nature and magnitude of errors made by adults with amnestic MCI (aMCI) when learning pattern-location paired associations in a continuous manner. Method: Visual associate learning was measured using the Continuous Paired Associate Learning (CPAL) task in which 30 adults who met clinical criteria for aMCI and 30 matched controls were required to learn a set of associations between patterns and locations across increasing memory loads (two, four, six, and eight). Results: As hypothesized, the aMCI group made more total errors than controls for all memory loads above two. However, the rate of increase in errors with memory load in the aMCI group was approximately twice that for controls. Conclusions: In controls, errors on the CPAL task reflected almost exclusively difficulty in memory. In the aMCI group, errors on the CPAL reflected limitations in associative learning but also in short-term memory and response monitoring. These results suggest that impairments in specific aspects of executive function and working memory might contribute to poor performance on visual paired associate learning in aMCI.