Cognitive and Neural Correlates of the Picture Superiority Effect in Alzheimer's.

描述（由申请人提供）：图片比文字更能提高记忆力，阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者比健康的老年人表现出更大的改善。这个简单的事实对数百万AD患者有着巨大的影响。如果我们能够更好地了解图片如何改善这些患者的记忆力，就可以开发新的记忆增强技术来进一步提高他们的记忆力，提高生活质量，并为护理人员和医疗保健系统节省资金。本提案将使用实验心理学（基于计算机的行为研究）和认知神经科学（基于EEG的事件相关电位[ERP]研究）的技术，以检查AD患者的强大图片优势效应的认知和神经过程。目的1：研究AD患者对独特视觉信息的完整知觉加工增强了图片的编码、储存和提取。实验1和实验2检查在编码时增加或减少感知细节是否会增加或减少图像优越性效应。实验3使用知觉掩蔽识别任务来确定患者是否可以仅基于存储的知觉信息识别不可识别的测试图片。实验4考察了从提取线索中去除独特的视觉信息是否消除了图片优势效应。目的2检验完整的概念加工增强AD患者图片的编码、储存和提取的假设。实验5使用ERPs来确定图片刺激是否允许更好的编码的概念信息比模糊的图像和概念标签。实验6使用概念内隐记忆测试来确定为图片存储的概念信息是否上级为单词存储的概念信息。实验7使用ERP检查患者是否表现出图片优势效应的类别为基础的检索任务。最后，目标3检查的假设，受损的编码，存储和检索的话有助于强大的图片优势效应在AD患者。实验8使用ERPs来检查成功编码图片与成功编码视觉和非视觉呈现的单词的大脑活动的差异。实验9使用ERPs来检查在编码时生成单词的内部图像表示的能力的限制是否有助于AD中的鲁棒图片优势效应。实验10检验记忆单词和图片的遗忘率是否受到AD的不同影响。最后，实验11检查是否字是不太有效的检索线索相比，图片。成功完成这些目标和实验将为我们提供一个详细的了解图片如何增强记忆的AD。这种理解可以随后改进临床评估方法，并作为有前途的新学习技术的基础，如无错学习。这些新技术可以帮助患者记住如何以及何时服用药物并进行日常生活活动，从而提高他们的生活质量。 公共卫生相关性：阿尔茨海默氏病的标志，通常是表现症状，是情节记忆的显著损害，这导致社会和经济负担。图片可以改善阿尔茨海默病患者的记忆，并可能减轻护理人员和医疗保健系统基础设施的负担。这项拨款提案中的实验将调查图片如何以及为什么能改善阿尔茨海默病患者的记忆，以找到更好的方法来帮助患者解决记忆问题，并在家中和社区中生活更长时间。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pictures improve memory over words, and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show a much greater improvement than healthy older adults. This simple fact has tremendous implications for millions of patients with AD. If we were able to better understand exactly how pictures improve memory in these patients, new memory enhancing techniques could be developed to further increase their memory, improving quality of life and saving money for caregivers and the healthcare system. This proposal will use the techniques of experimental psychology (computer-based behavioral studies) and cognitive neuroscience (EEG-based event- related potential [ERP] studies) to examine the cognitive and neural processes that underlie the robust picture superiority effect in patients with AD. Aim 1 examines the hypothesis that intact perceptual processing of distinctive visual information enhances the encoding, storage, and retrieval of pictures in patients with AD. Expts 1 and 2 examine whether adding or subtracting perceptual detail at encoding increases or decreases the picture superiority effect. Expt 3 uses a perceptual masked identification task to determine whether patients can recognize unidentifiable test pictures based only on stored perceptual information. Expt 4 examines whether removing distinctive visual information from the retrieval cues eliminates the picture superiority effect. Aim 2 examines the hypothesis that intact conceptual processing enhances the encoding, storage, and retrieval of pictures in patients with AD. Expt 5 uses ERPs to determine whether picture stimuli allow for better encoding of conceptual information than ambiguous images with and without conceptual labels. Expt 6 uses a conceptual implicit memory test to determine whether the conceptual information stored for pictures is superior to the conceptual information stored for words. Expt 7 uses ERPs to examine whether patients demonstrate the picture superiority effect for a category-based retrieval task. Finally, Aim 3 examines the hypothesis that impaired encoding, storage, and retrieval of words contributes to the robust picture superiority effect in patients with AD. Expt 8 uses ERPs to examine differences in brain activity for successful encoding of pictures compared to successful encoding of visually and auditorily presented words. Expt 9 uses ERPs to examine whether limitations in the ability to generate an internal image representation of words at encoding contributes to the robust picture superiority effect in AD. Expt 10 examines whether forgetting rates of stored words and pictures are differentially affected by AD. Finally, Expt 11 examines whether words are less effective as retrieval cues compared to pictures. Successful completion of these aims and experiments will provide us with a detailed understanding of how pictures enhance memory in AD. This understanding could subsequently improve methods of clinical assessment, and serve as the basis of promising new learning techniques, such as errorless learning. These new techniques may help patients remember how and when to take their medications and perform activities of daily living, thereby improving their quality of life. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and often the presenting symptom, is significant impairment in episodic memory, which leads to societal and financial burden. Pictures improve memory in Alzheimer's disease and could potentially reduce the burdens placed on caregivers and the infrastructure of the healthcare system. The experiments in this grant proposal will investigate how and why pictures improve memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease in an effort to find better ways to help patients combat memory problems and live at home and in the community longer.