Prospective memory deficits in euthymic bipolar disorder patients: A preliminary study

Objective: Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to carry out an intended action. Working memory is the ability to store information in mind while processing potentially distracting information. The few previous studies of PM in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yielded inconsistent findings. Studies of working memory ability in ASD have suggested a selective impairment of “visual working memory.” However, it remains unclear whether any such impairment is the result of diminished (domain-specific; visual/verbal) storage capacity or diminished (domain-general) processing capacity. We aim to clarify these issues and explore the relation between PM and working memory in ASD. Method: Seventeen adults with ASD and 17 age- and IQ-matched comparison participants completed experimental measures of both event-based (perform action x when event y occurs) and time-based (perform action a at time b) PM, plus a self-report measure of PM skills. Participants also completed a working memory test battery. Results: Participants with ASD self-reported diminished PM skill, and showed diminished performance on the time-based, but not event-based, PM task. On the working memory test battery, visual but not verbal storage capacity was diminished among participants with ASD, as was processing ability. Whereas visual storage was associated with event-based PM task performance among comparison participants, verbal storage was associated among ASD participants. Conclusions: ASD appears to involve a selective deficit in time-based PM and a selective difficulty with aspects of working memory that depend on the storage of visual information. However, event-based PM may be achieved through compensatory strategies in ASD.

The overall aim of the current thesis was to explore three key components of future-oriented thinking, namely episodic future thinking (EFT), episodic foresight, and prospective memory (PM), in middle childhood. The developmental literature examining each of these future-oriented abilities has generally focused on their emergence in the preschool years, with less known about how these abilities present in middle childhood. In addition, research investigating what cognitive mechanisms may drive these abilities in this age band is limited and findings of those studies that have been conducted are inconsistent. Lastly, the literature has predominantly examined EFT, episodic foresight, and PM in isolation, and research has only just begun to explore interrelations between these future-oriented constructs. The first empirical study therefore aimed to investigate whether EFT ability was associated with age and to examine what cognitive mechanisms may contribute to this skill. The second empirical study aimed to examine, for the first time, whether episodic foresight was associated with age across middle childhood. A second aim of this study was to provide the first investigation of the cognitive mechanisms that may contribute to episodic foresight in this age group, with the particular interest in whether EFT contributed to episodic foresight. The final empirical study aimed to explore whether age was associated with children’s PM performance across event-based and time-based PM tasks. An additional aim of this study was to explore the cognitive abilities that contribute to children’s performance on both event-based and time-based PM tasks, with a particular interest in the contribution of EFT. A single sample of 80 children aged 8 to 12 years were recruited for this research project. Study 1 indicated greater EFT ability was associated with age, consistent with some of the limited studies previously conducted with this age group. Study 1 also demonstrated strong evidence regarding the contribution from episodic memory to children’s EFT and a lack of contribution from executive functions. Study 2 was the first study to examine episodic foresight beyond the preschool years. Results of this study provided the first evidence of an association between age and better episodic foresight performance across the ages of 8 to 12 years. In addition, Study 2 identified age and IQ as significant contributors to successful episodic foresight performance, while retrospective memory, executive functions, and EFT were not found to contribute. The lack of contribution from EFT may have been due to the specific form of episodic foresight task used in this study, which did not require a specific scenario to be envisaged. Further research is now required to investigate whether EFT contributes to other types of episodic foresight task that involve clear scenarios that can be envisaged. The results of Study 3 indicated age was significantly correlated with performance on both event-based and time-based PM tasks. The findings also clearly revealed age, retrospective memory, and EFT were significant contributors to event-based PM performance, while retrospective memory was the only significant contributor to time-based PM performance. Furthermore, the results clearly demonstrated a lack of contribution from executive functions to performance on both task types. Importantly, Study 3 demonstrated that EFT selectively contributed to children’s event-based PM performance. This finding is consistent with the only other study in this age band and used a more comprehensive set of predictors than this previous study. The current research provided novel insights into the profile of children’s future-oriented thinking across the middle childhood period. The findings regarding age-related improvements in EFT, episodic foresight, and PM help to bridge the gap in understanding of the development of these abilities between their emergence in the preschool years and their presentation later in development. Longitudinal research that extends from early childhood to adulthood is now needed to provide a thorough understanding of the developmental trajectory of these abilities across the lifespan. In addition, the current research revealed a clear pattern of results regarding the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to each of these abilities, providing some clarity to the previously mixed findings in the children’s future oriented-thinking literature. Results regarding the inter-relationships between the future-oriented constructs also provided an important extension to current understanding of future-oriented thinking as a broader taxonomy. Furthermore, the current findings bring attention to the need for further theoretical distinction between different forms of episodic foresight and the cognitive processes that contribute to this skill. Overall, the findings from the current thesis have important implications for children’s daily living. In particular, greater understanding of future-oriented thinking in the middle childhood period gained from this thesis may assist in fostering the development of these abilities early in life. This in turn will enable parents and teachers to create reasonable expectations regarding children’s capacity to use these skills in their everyday functioning, thereby maximising success and minimising failure.

Prospective memory (PM) impairment in recreational drug users has been documented in recent years. However, most studies on the effects of drugs on PM contain several methodological challenges, such as small sample size (< 100 participants), unrepresentative sample type (e.g., student or patient), short abstinence period (< 7days), and lack of control of potential confounds (e.g., sleep and IQ). The present study investigated the possible consequences of recreational drug use on prospective memory, using self-report and lab-based prospective memory measures while overcoming the methodological challenges. The sample was composed of 47 non-users (27 females, age range from 18 to 50 +) and 53 drug users (21 females, age range from 18 to 50 +). Recreational drug users reported significantly more deficits in the long-term episodic, short-term habitual, and internally cued PM failures subscales of the Prospective Memory Questionnaire. However, these deficits were eliminated after controlling for covariates (e.g., age, sleep quality, general health, alcohol usage). Recreational drug users also performed worse than non-users in the short-term, long-term, event-based, and time-based PM subscales of the Royal Prince Alfred Prospective Memory Test. These results remained significant after controlling for the covariates. Drug users demonstrated greater impairments on time-based and long-term PM tasks thought to be linked with executive functioning. Taken together, the present study provides further support for recreational drug-related deficits in PM and highlights a dissociation between self-report and lab-based PM measures.

ABSTRACTHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease is commonly associated with deficits in prospective memory (PM), which increase the risk of suboptimal health behaviours, like medication non-adherence. This study examined the potential benefits of a brief future visualisation exercise during the encoding stage of a naturalistic PM task in 60 young adults (aged 19–24 years) with HIV disease. Participants were administered a brief clinical neuropsychological assessment, which included a standardised performance-based measure of time- and event-based PM. All participants were also given a naturalistic PM task in which they were asked to complete a mock medication management task when the examiner showed them the Grooved Pegboard Test during their neuropsychological evaluation. Participants were randomised into: (1) a visualisation condition in which they spent 30 sec imagining successfully completing the naturalistic PM task; or (2) a control condition in which they repeated the task instructions. Logistic regression analyses revealed significant interactions between clinical neurocognitive functions and visualisation. HIV positive (HIV+) participants with intact retrospective learning and/or low time-based PM demonstrated observable gains from the visualisation technique, while HIV+ participants with impaired learning and/or intact time-based PM did not evidence gains. Findings indicate that individual differences in neurocognitive ability moderate the response to visualisation in HIV+ young adults. The extent to which such cognitive supports improve health-related PM outcomes (e.g., medication adherence) remains to be determined.

What impact does a state of alcohol hangover have upon everyday prospective memory and does this differ for men and women

Objective To investigate the event-based prospective memory(EBPM)and time-based prospective memory(TBPM)in the inpatients with abstinent alcoho1 dependence and the relationships between prospective memory and symptoms. Methods 32 male patients with alcoho1 dependence and 30 normal controls matched by age, education, HAMD and HAMA were assessed with a neuropsychological battery of tests including EBPM and TBPM tasks. Results A statistically significant in EBPM was observed between patients with alcoho1 dependence and normal controls (3.91±0.69 vs. 4.47±0.63, t=-3.348, P<0.01) and the same result in TBPM (3.28±0.77 vs. 4.20±0.66, t=-5.032, P<0.01). The positively correlation was showed between the duration of abstinence and EBPM (r=0.444, P<0.05), as well as TBPM (r=0.423, P<0.05) in the patients. Conclusion The results suggest abstinent alcoho1 dependence patients impairs both EBPM and TBPM. PM shows correlated with duration of abstinence moderately in the patients. Key words: Alcohol dependence; Prospective memory; Neuropsychology

Event Abstract Back to Event Is Schizophrenia a Syndrome of Accelerated Aging? Evidence from Prospective Memory Performance Raymond C. Chan1, 2*, Xiaohong Hong3, Zhangjiang Li4, David Shum5, Ya Wang1, 2 and Xin Yu6 1 Chinese Acadamy of Science, Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Institute of Psychology, China 2 Chinese Acadamy of Science, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, China 3 Shantou University, Mental Health Center, China 4 Capital Medical University, Beijing Anding Hospital, China 5 Griffith University, School of Psychology and Griffith Institute for Health and Medical Research, Australia 6 Peking University, Institute of Mental Health, China This study compared prospective memory (PM) performance in schizophrenic patients and healthy younger and older individuals, and to test the accelerated aging hypothesis of schizophrenia. Computerized tests of PM capturing event-and time-based tasks were administered to 30 healthy older people (M = 69.90 years, SD = 7.14 years), 30 schizophrenic patients (M = 27.10 years, SD = 8.28 years), and 30 healthy younger adults (M = 25.47 years, SD = 8.85 years). The findings showed that the healthy older individuals and schizophrenic patients demonstrated deficits in time-based PM as compared to the healthy younger adults. However, schizophrenic patients did not significantly differ from the healthy older individuals in time-based PM, even after controlling for ongoing task performances. In addition, unlike healthy older adults, schizophrenic patients were not found to be impaired in event-based PM as compared to the young adults. Subsequent analyses showed that PM did not correlate with medication level or other clinical symptoms in schizophrenia except for the relation between time-based PM and negative symptoms (r = -0.43, p = 0.018).. Taken together, these findings suggest that, in terms of level of neurocognitive functions, schizophrenia may be a developmental stage analogue to a “mild” grade of aging and support the accelerated aging hypothesis of schizophrenia. Conference: The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Psychiatric Citation: Chan RC, Hong X, Li Z, Shum D, Wang Y and Yu X (2010). Is Schizophrenia a Syndrome of Accelerated Aging? Evidence from Prospective Memory Performance. Conference Abstract: The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00149 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 01 Jul 2010; Published Online: 01 Jul 2010. * Correspondence: Raymond C Chan, Chinese Acadamy of Science, Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China, rckchan@psych.ac.cn Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Raymond C Chan Xiaohong Hong Zhangjiang Li David Shum Ya Wang Xin Yu Google Raymond C Chan Xiaohong Hong Zhangjiang Li David Shum Ya Wang Xin Yu Google Scholar Raymond C Chan Xiaohong Hong Zhangjiang Li David Shum Ya Wang Xin Yu PubMed Raymond C Chan Xiaohong Hong Zhangjiang Li David Shum Ya Wang Xin Yu Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform an action at a specific point in the future. Regarded as multidimensional, PM involves several cognitive functions that are known to be impaired in normal ageing. In the present study we set out to investigate the cognitive correlates of PM impairment in normal ageing. Manipulating cognitive load, we assessed event- and time-based PM, as well as several cognitive functions, including executive functions, working memory, and retrospective episodic memory, in healthy participants covering the entire adulthood. We found that normal ageing was characterised by PM decline in all conditions and that event-based PM was more sensitive to the effects of ageing than time-based PM. Whatever the conditions, PM was linked to inhibition and processing speed. However, while event-based PM was mainly mediated by binding and retrospective memory processes, time-based PM was mainly related to inhibition. The only distinction between high- and low-load PM cognitive correlates lies in an additional, but marginal, correlation between updating and the high-load PM condition. The association of distinct cognitive functions, as well as shared mechanisms with event- and time-based PM, confirm that each type of PM relies on a different set of processes.

Whilst the deleterious effects of alcohol on retrospective remembering have been widely documented, no study has yet objectively determined alcohol's effects on prospective memory (PM)--remembering to do something in the future. With this aim, the present study determined the acute effects of alcohol upon PM using a laboratory measure that simulates the PM tasks in everyday life--'Virtual Week'--both (a) in its standard form with regular, irregular, event-based and time-based PM tasks; and (b) an adapted version which enabled exploration of how future event simulation at encoding impacted upon subsequent PM. Forty healthy volunteers were administered 0.6 g/kg ethanol or a matched placebo in a double-blind fashion and completed the two versions of Virtual Week along with prose recall (to tap retrospective memory) and an executive function task. Alcohol acutely produced global impairments across all (regular, irregular, event-based and time-based) PM tasks. It also produced impairments of episodic memory which positively correlated with PM performance of irregular tasks. Future-event simulation tended to enhance PM in the placebo but not in the alcohol group. These findings on an objective measure of PM suggest that 4-5 units of alcohol will compromise PM abilities in everyday life.

Background While event-based prospective memory refers to enacting intending action in response to a specific event or cue (“e.g., When I tell you there are 10 minutes left, please give me this stopwatch”), time-based prospective memory refers to enacting intending action in relation to a specific time (“In 10 minutes time, please ask me for a pencil”). Relative to event-based prospective memory, little is known about time-based prospective memory in Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS). Method We used behavioral tasks to investigate event- and time-based prospective memory as well as episodic memory and executive function in patients with KS and control participants. Results Analysis demonstrated lower event- and time-based prospective memory in patients with KS than in control participants. Interestingly, we found lower time-based than event-based prospective memory in patients with KS. Further, significant correlations were observed between prospective memory and episodic memory and executive function in the patients. Conclusions Prospective memory is important for everyday life tasks, and failures of prospective memory can endanger patients’ safety. One clinical implication of our findings is the importance of including an evaluation of prospective memory in cognitive evaluation of KS.

Objective To investigate the event-based prospective memory(EBPM)and time-based prospective memory(TBPM)in schizophrenia patients with concomitant metabolism syndrome, and to provide theory basis for early intervention and treatment. Methods According to inclusion standard, 50 schizophrenia patients with concomitant metabolism syndrome and 50 schizophrenia patients without metabolism syndrome matched in age, gender and education were assessed with a neuropsychological battery of tests including EBPM and TBPM tasks. Results In the EBPM task, there was significant difference between schizophrenia patients with and without metabolism syndrome (3.46±0.91 vs 3.86±0.81, t=-2.326, P=0.022). A statistically significant difference in TBPM was observed between schizophrenia patients with and without metabolism syndrome (3.02±1.12 vs 3.78±0.89, t=-3.770, P=0.000). Conclusion The schizophrenia patients with metabolism syndrome have severer prospective memory impairment than those without metabolism syndrome. Key words: Metabolism syndrome; Schizophrenia; Prospective Memory

HIV infection and older age are each independently associated with lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and deficits in prospective memory (PM), which is a distinct aspect of cognition involving the ability to "remember to remember" to do something at a future occasion. The present study investigated associations between PM and HRQoL in 72 older (≥ 50 years) and 41 younger (≤ 40 years) HIV-infected adults. Self-reported PM complaints predicted HRQoL across the entire sample, but there was a significant interaction between performance-based PM and age group on HRQoL, such that lower time-based PM was associated with lower HRQoL only in the younger cohort. Within the younger group, time-based and self-reported PM significantly predicted mental HRQoL independent of other risk factors (e.g. depression). These findings suggest that PM plays a unique role in HRQoL outcomes among younger persons living with HIV infection and support the examination of other age-related factors (e.g. effective use of compensatory strategies) that may regulate the adverse impact of PM on everyday functioning.

Meta-analysis of prospective memory in schizophrenia: Nature, extent, and correlates

The study investigated the prospective memory (PM) functioning among patients with brain metastases (BM), eligible for neurosurgy/radiosurgery, and its relationships with depression and quality of life (QoL). This case-healthy-control, cross-sectional study, comprised 160 participants, including 49 patients with BM from various cancers treated with neurosurgery or radiosurgery. They were compared with 111 matched controls on a set of neuropsychological tests, including the MoCA global cognitive test and an experimental PM task 'PROMESSE'. Participants also completed a depression scale (BDI-II), a generic (SF-12) and a specific (QLQ-C30) QoL instrument for cancer patients. Multivariate analyses were conducted on various PM outcomes, in particular on event-based (EBPM) and time-based (TBPM) PM performances. After adjusting for age and socio-cultural level, patients with BM performed worse than the control on the PM task (p < .0001) [OR 1.05; 95%CI (1.01-1.08)], whatever the location of BM (frontal versus temporal lobe). Patients with infratentorial BM exhibited better TBPM performances than patients with supratentorial BM (p = .02). The global PM performance was positively correlated with the MoCA (r = .45) and the SF-12 global score (r = .34), and negatively with the BDI-II score (r = - .20), the number of BM (r = - .34) and the volumetric of the BM (r = - 29). The TBPM performance was linked to the global QoL (r = .40) in patients. The study showed a significant PM deficit in patients with BM eligible for a neurosurgy/radiosurgery, which is linked to damaged QoL and which likely maintains some depressive affects. Prospective memory rehabilitation program should especially focus on TBPM for post-operative patients with BM.

Prospective memory in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis of comparative studies