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Pavisic IM, Nicholas JM, Pertzov Y, O'Connor A, Liang Y, Collins JD, Lu K, Weston PSJ, Ryan NS, Husain M, Fox NC, Crutch SJ. Visual short-term memory impairments in presymptomatic familial Alzheimer's disease: A longitudinal observational study. Neuropsychologia 2021; 162:108028. [PMID: 34560142 PMCID: PMC8589962 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Visual short-term memory (VSTM) deficits including VSTM binding have been associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from preclinical to dementia stages, cross-sectionally. Yet, longitudinal investigations are lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate VSTM function longitudinally and in relation to expected symptom onset in a cohort of familial Alzheimer's disease. Ninety-nine individuals (23 presymptomatic; 9 symptomatic and 67 controls) were included in an extension cross-sectional study and a sub-sample of 48 (23 presymptomatic carriers, 6 symptomatic and 19 controls), attending two to five visits with a median interval of 1.3 years, included in the longitudinal study. Participants completed the “What was where?” relational binding task (which measures memory for object identification, localisation and object-location binding under different conditions of memory load and delay), neuropsychology assessments and genetic testing. Compared to controls, presymptomatic carriers within 8.5 years of estimated symptom onset showed a faster rate of decline in localisation performance in long-delay conditions (4s) and in traditional neuropsychology measures of verbal episodic memory. This study represents the first longitudinal VSTM investigation and shows that changes in memory resolution may be sensitive to tracking cognitive decline in preclinical AD at least as early as changes in the more traditional verbal episodic memory tasks. VSTM function was investigated in presymptomatic and symptomatic FAD carriers. PMCs showed faster decline in VSTM function (target localisation) than controls. Target localisation accuracy decreased with proximity to expected symptom onset. “What was where?” may be sensitive to tracking preclinical cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivanna M Pavisic
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK.
| | - Jennifer M Nicholas
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Yoni Pertzov
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Antoinette O'Connor
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK
| | - Yuying Liang
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Jessica D Collins
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Kirsty Lu
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Philip S J Weston
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Natalie S Ryan
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK
| | - Masud Husain
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Nick C Fox
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK
| | - Sebastian J Crutch
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK.
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2
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Pavisic IM, Pertzov Y, Nicholas JM, O'Connor A, Lu K, Yong KXX, Husain M, Fox NC, Crutch SJ. Eye-tracking indices of impaired encoding of visual short-term memory in familial Alzheimer's disease. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8696. [PMID: 33888739 PMCID: PMC8062689 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88001-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The basis of visual short-term memory (VSTM) impairments in preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. Research suggests that eye movements may serve as indirect surrogates to investigate VSTM. Yet, investigations in preclinical populations are lacking. Fifty-two individuals from a familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) cohort (9 symptomatic carriers, 17 presymptomatic carriers and 26 controls) completed the "Object-localisation" VSTM task while an eye-tracker recorded eye movements during the stimulus presentation. VSTM function and oculomotor performance were compared between groups and their association during encoding investigated. Compared to controls, symptomatic FAD carriers showed eye movement patterns suggestive of an ineffective encoding and presymptomatic FAD carriers within 6 years of their expected age at symptom onset, were more reliant on the stimuli fixation time to achieve accuracy in the localisation of the target. Consequently, for shorter fixation times on the stimuli, presymptomatic carriers were less accurate at localising the target than controls. By contrast, the only deficits detected on behavioural VSTM function was in symptomatic individuals. Our findings provide novel evidence that encoding processes may be vulnerable and weakened in presymptomatic FAD carriers, most prominently for spatial memory, suggesting a possible explanation for the subtle VSTM impairments observed in the preclinical stages of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivanna M Pavisic
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK. .,UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK.
| | - Yoni Pertzov
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Jennifer M Nicholas
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.,Department of Medial Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Antoinette O'Connor
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.,UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK
| | - Kirsty Lu
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Keir X X Yong
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Masud Husain
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Nick C Fox
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.,UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK
| | - Sebastian J Crutch
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.,UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London, UK
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Pavisic IM, Suarez-Gonzalez A, Pertzov Y. Translating Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Tasks to Clinical Practice: From Theory to Practice. Front Neurol 2020; 11:458. [PMID: 32587567 PMCID: PMC7297911 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ivanna M Pavisic
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, United Kingdom.,UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, UCL, London, United Kingdom
| | - Aida Suarez-Gonzalez
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yoni Pertzov
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Martínez JF, Trujillo C, Arévalo A, Ibáñez A, Cardona JF. Assessment of Conjunctive Binding in Aging: A Promising Approach for Alzheimer’s Disease Detection. J Alzheimers Dis 2019; 69:71-81. [DOI: 10.3233/jad-181154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Analía Arévalo
- Department of Neurology, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile
- Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia
| | - Juan F. Cardona
- Instituto de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
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Yassuda MS, Carthery-Goulart MT, Cecchini MA, Cassimiro L, Fernandes KD, Baradel RR, Garcia RB, Nitrini R, Della Sala S, Parra MA. Free Recall of Bound Information Held in Short-Term Memory is Unimpaired by Age and Education. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2019; 35:165-175. [DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acz015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Revised: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 03/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Objectives
It has been challenging to identify cognitive markers to differentiate healthy brain aging from neurodegeneration due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that are not affected by age and education. The Short-Term Memory Binding (STMB) showed not to be affected by age or education when using the change detection paradigm. However, no previous study has tested the effect of age and education using the free recall paradigm of the STMB. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate age and education effects on the free recall version of the STMB test under different memory loads.
Methods
126 healthy volunteers completed the free recall STMB test. The sample was divided into five age bands and into five education bands for comparisons. The STMB test assessed free recall of two (or three) common objects and two (or three) primary colors presented as individual features (unbound) or integrated into unified objects (bound).
Results
The binding condition and the larger set size generated lower free recall scores. Performance was lower in older and less educated participants. Critically, neither age nor education modified these effects when compared across experimental conditions (unbound v. bound features).
Conclusions
Binding in short-term memory carries a cost in performance. Age and education do not affect such a binding cost within a memory recall paradigm. These findings suggest that this paradigm is a suitable cognitive marker to differentiate healthy brain aging from age-related disease such as AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mônica Sanches Yassuda
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Avenida Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, São Paulo, Brazil
- Gerontology, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo. Avenida Arlindo Bettio, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Maria Teresa Carthery-Goulart
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Avenida Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, São Paulo, Brazil
- Center for Mathemathics, Computing and Cognition, Federal University of ABC, Avenida dos Estados, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mario Amore Cecchini
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Avenida Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luciana Cassimiro
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Avenida Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Katarina Duarte Fernandes
- Center for Mathemathics, Computing and Cognition, Federal University of ABC, Avenida dos Estados, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Roberta Roque Baradel
- Center for Mathemathics, Computing and Cognition, Federal University of ABC, Avenida dos Estados, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ricardo Basso Garcia
- Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Languages of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Avenida Bandeirantes, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ricardo Nitrini
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Avenida Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sergio Della Sala
- Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Mario Alfredo Parra
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Campus, Edinburgh, UK
- Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Calle 90 # 46-112, Barranquilla, Colombia
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Schneegans S, Bays PM. New perspectives on binding in visual working memory. Br J Psychol 2018; 110:207-244. [DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Revised: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Paul M. Bays
- Department of Psychology; University of Cambridge; UK
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