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Selective Attention and the Three-Process Memory Model for the Interpretation of Verbal Free Recall in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2012

Foteini Christidi ,
Ioannis Zalonis ,
Nikolaos Smyrnis  and
Ioannis Evdokimidis
Foteini Christidi*
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Program in Clinical Neuropsychology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece
Ioannis Zalonis
Affiliation:
Neuropsychological Laboratory, First Department of Neurology, Aiginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece
Nikolaos Smyrnis
Affiliation:
First Department of Psychiatry, Aiginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece
Ioannis Evdokimidis
Affiliation:
First Department of Neurology, Aiginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Foteini Christidi, 72-74, Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, Aiginition Hospital, 115 28, Athens, Greece. E-mail: christidi.f.a@gmail.com
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Abstract

The present study investigates selective attention and verbal free recall in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and examines the contribution of selective attention, encoding, consolidation, and retrieval memory processes to patients’ verbal free recall. We examined 22 non-demented patients with sporadic ALS and 22 demographically related controls using Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test (SNST; selective attention) and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT; immediate & delayed verbal free recall). The item-specific deficit approach (ISDA) was applied to RAVLT to evaluate encoding, consolidation, and retrieval difficulties. ALS patients performed worse than controls on SNST (p < .001) and RAVLT immediate and delayed recall (p < .001) and showed deficient encoding (p = .001) and consolidation (p = .002) but not retrieval (p = .405). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that SNST and ISDA indices accounted for: (a) 91.1% of the variance in RAVLT immediate recall, with encoding (p = .016), consolidation (p < .001), and retrieval (p = .032) significantly contributing to the overall model and the SNST alone accounting for 41.6%; and (b) 85.2% of the variance in RAVLT delayed recall, with consolidation (p < .001) and retrieval (p = .008) significantly contributing to the overall model and the SNST alone accounting for 39.8%. Thus, selective attention, encoding, and consolidation, and to a lesser extent of retrieval, influenced both immediate and delayed verbal free recall. Concluding, selective attention and the memory processes of encoding, consolidation, and retrieval should be considered while interpreting patients’ impaired free recall. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–10)

Keywords

Selective attentionEncodingConsolidationRetrievalVerbal free recallSporadic ALS
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 18 , Issue 5 , September 2012 , pp. 809 - 818
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2012

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Footnotes

Note: This article is dedicated to the memory of Professor Dimitrios Vassilopoulos.

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