Understanding memory for pictures in Alzheimer's disease

描述（由申请人提供）：阿尔茨海默病（AD）的记忆研究通常集中在基于单词或口头刺激。然而，图片可能具有更多的临床和生态重要性，因为患者通常面临视觉刺激，例如人物、地标和药物。研究表明，图片可以帮助健康的老年人提高辨别力，减少错误记忆，并转向更保守的反应偏见。反应偏差是一个人在再认记忆测试中倾向于回答“旧”或“新”。AD患者表现出异常高的错误记忆率和自由反应偏差。初步研究表明，AD患者也可能能够使用图片提供的独特信息来提高他们的辨别力，减少错误记忆的数量。目前的应用将使用实验心理学和认知神经科学的技术来检查图片对AD患者记忆表现的影响。两个行为和两个事件相关电位（ERP）的实验，提出了评估三个具体的目标。目标1将在一个单一的实验中比较图片与文字的辨别和反应偏差，该实验在学习和测试中系统地改变图片和文字。目的2将使用标准的神经心理学测量的内侧颞叶和额叶的功能，以评估神经解剖区域，可能有助于图片在AD的歧视和反应偏差的影响。最后，目标3将使用灰度与彩色图片和处理操作的水平，以评估两个假设，图片如何可能影响记忆过程中的AD。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Memory research in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has typically focused on word-based or verbal stimuli. However, pictures may have more clinical and ecological importance, as patients are commonly faced with visual stimuli, such as people, landmarks, and medications. Research has shown that pictures can help healthy older adults improve discrimination, reduce false memories, and shift to a more conservative response bias. Response bias is one's tendency to respond "old" or "new" on a recognition memory test. AD patients exhibit an abnormally high rate of false memories and a liberal response bias. Preliminary studies suggest that AD patients may also be able to use the distinctive information provided by pictures to improve their discrimination and reduce their number of false memories. The current application will use techniques of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience to examine the effect of pictures on memory performance in AD patients. Two behavioral and two event-related potential (ERP) experiments are proposed to evaluate three specific aims. Aim 1 will compare discrimination and response bias for pictures versus words in a single experiment systematically varying pictures and words at study and test. Aim 2 will use standard neuropsychological measures of medial temporal lobe and frontal lobe function to evaluate neuroanatomical regions that may contribute to the effect of pictures on discrimination and response bias in AD. Finally, Aim 3 will use grayscale versus color pictures and a level of processing manipulation to evaluate two hypotheses regarding how pictures might affect memory processes in AD.