title: The impact of autobiographic writing on memory performance in older adults: a preliminary investigation.
abstract: In this pilot study, the authors examined whether participation in a structured autobiographic writing workshop positively influenced memory performance in a group of community-dwelling older adults. Eighteen subjects, aged 62-84 years, were enrolled in an eight-week writing workshop. At baseline and follow up, they completed five memory assessments and submitted two writing samples, which were evaluated for linguistic complexity. The authors found a significant increase in follow-up scores on tests of verbal memory and attention, indicating a possible positive influence of the writing workshop. The authors also found a decline in idea density, suggesting that more research is needed to better understand how interpretation of the language assessment tool may be affected by improvements in writing.
authors.affiliation: Copper Ridge Institute, Sykesville, MD 21784-7650, USA. medeirok@emaseniorcare.org
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Medeiros
authors.forename: Quinn
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lindley
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O' Hara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014956:Writing