title: Three words three shapes: A clinical test of memory.
abstract: Three Words - Three Shapes was designed as an easy "bedside" test for elderly patients that assesses verbal and nonverbal memory within the same modality. In the present study, it was administered to patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (PRAD), a control group of non-demented older subjects (NC) and a group of patients with Korsakoff's amnesia (KA). Incidental recall and several other measures of learning, retention and recognition differentiated control from PRAD and KA subjects. PRAD and KA subjects' performance was similar, but there were some material-specific interactions. This test is relatively easy and some of the derived measures could prove useful in staging amnesia progression beyond the earliest stages of PRAD when more difficult tests yield floor effects.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern Alzheimer's Disease Center, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611, United States of America.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weintraub
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Peavy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janssen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001344:Autopsy; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020915:Korsakoff Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors