PRIMING & MEMORY IN AMNESIA & ALZHEIMERS DISEASE

本研究探讨痴呆症患者的启动效应 阿尔茨海默型（DAT）和痴呆症，并将这些影响 感知学习能力和记忆能力。 预充 指的是一种现象， 项目（主要）便于后续处理， 与质数相关的相同项或不同项。 因此，启动 反映了感知的持续后果，因此 代表某种形式的保留。 预充可被视为 位于知觉和记忆功能之间的界面上 因此，允许在一个 感知和记忆过程相互作用的更大背景。 这在比较相对单纯的失忆症和 和DAT，其中记忆缺陷发生在更多的设置 广泛性认知障碍 本研究将确定 两个患者人群中预充的程度和限度，以及 将这些与综合征的理论解释联系起来。 两 重复启动（实验1 - 3）和语义启动 （实验4.5）将进行评估。 实验1比较了引发 已确立代表性的项目， 词汇/语义记忆（真实的单词）对项目的启动， 这样的表示是不存在的（无意义音节）。 实验 2直接比较启动和知觉技能学习， 介绍了已知会影响预充的操作， 识别记忆不同。 在实验3中， 材料，这使得启动'文字' 表示进行比较，以启动表示在一个 更抽象的层次。 实验四是对语义的考察 预充，其中预充-靶向时间差（预充-靶向时间差） 启动和目标刺激开始）被操纵， 两个群体中语义启动的时间过程可以是 确定并与正常受试者进行比较。 在决赛中 启动实验，介绍了启动条件， 产生成本效应， 和启动中的注意过程。 所有 实验还涉及识别记忆的测量。

The study investigates priming effects in patients with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT) and Amnesia and relates these effects to perceptual learning ability and memory performance. Priming refers to a variety of phenomena whereby the presentation of one item (the prime) facilitates subsequent processing of either that same item or a different item related to the prime. Thus, priming reflects persistent consequences of perception and therefore represents some form of retention. Priming may be regarded as lying on the interface between perceptual and mnemonic functions and, therefore, allows memory defects to be investigated within a larger context of interacting perceptual and mnemonic processes. This is important in a comparison between relatively pure amnesia and DAT, where memory deficits occur in the setting of more generalized cognitive impairment. The present study will determine the extent and limits of priming in the two patient populations and relate these to theoretical interpretation of the syndromes. Both repetition priming (experiments 1 to 3) and semantic priming (experiments 4.5) will be assessed. Experiment 1 compares priming of items which have well established representations in lexical/semantic memory (real words) to priming of items for which such representations do not exist (nonsense syllables). Experiment 2 directly compares priming and perceptual skill learning and also introduces manipulations which are known to affect priming and recognition memory differently. In experiment 3, pictorial materials are employed, which allows priming of 'literal' representations to be compared to priming of representations at a more abstract level. Experiment 4 is an investigation of semantic priming where prime-target asynchrony (the time difference between the onset of prime and target stimulus) is manipulated such that the time course of semantic priming in the two populations can be determined and compared to that of normal subjects. In the final priming experiment, conditions are introduced where priming produces cost effects such that the relationship between automatic and attentional processes in priming can be determined. All experiments also involve measures of recognition memory.