Long-term effects of mnemonic training in community-dwelling older adults.
The purpose of our study was to investigate the long-term effect of mnemonic training on memory performance in older adults. Five years after participation in a mnemonic training study, we followed-up 112 community-dwelling older adults, 60 years of age and over. Delayed recall of a word list was assessed prior to, and immediately following mnemonic training, and at the 5-year follow-up. Overall, there was no significant difference between word recall prior to training and that exhibited at follow-up. However, pre-training performance, gain scores in performance immediately post-training and use of the mnemonic predicted performance at follow-up. Individuals who self-reported using the mnemonic exhibited the highest performance overall, with scores significantly higher than at pre-training. Our findings suggest that mnemonic training has long-term benefits for some older adults, particularly those who continue to employ the mnemonic.
O'Hara
Ruth
R
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5550, United States. roh@stanford.edu
Brooks
John O
JO
Friedman
Leah
L
Schröder
Carmen M
CM
Morgan
Kevin S
KS
Kraemer
Helena C
HC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001245:Association Learning; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D012016:Reference Values; D014706:Verbal Learning