Delaying interference enhances memory consolidation in amnesic patients.
Some patients with amnesia are able to retain new information for much longer than expected when the time that follows new learning is devoid of further stimuli. Animal work shows that the absence or delaying of interference improves long-term memory consolidation. Our study suggests that this is also true for at least some patients with amnesia. Retention of new verbal material was significantly higher in a sample of patients with amnesia (N = 12) when interference occurred at the end of a 9-min delay interval than when it occurred in the middle or at the beginning of the interval. Such findings cannot be accounted for by the mere use of explicit short-term memory rehearsal. Any such rehearsal should have been blocked by the interference, irrespective of interference onset, thus leading to poor retention in all three conditions. The current findings suggest that at least some of the severe forgetting observed in amnesia is the product of a disruption of memory consolidation by immediate postlearning interference.
Dewar
Michaela
M
Human Cognitive Neuroscience and Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. m.dewar@ed.ac.uk
Garcia
Yuriem Fernandez
YF
Cowan
Nelson
N
Della Sala
Sergio
S
D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology
Am J Psychol. 1946 Jul;59:439-49
20998473
J Psychiatr Res. 1975 Nov;12(3):189-98
1202204
Science. 2002 Oct 25;298(5594):789-91
12399581
Arch Neurol. 1966 Jul;15(1):52-61
5937496
Nature. 1970 Nov 14;228(5272):628-30
4990853
Br J Psychiatry. 1982 Jun;140:566-72
7104545
Memory. 2005 Apr-May;13(3-4):435-40
15948630
J Exp Psychol. 1956 Feb;51(2):149-54
13295503
Eur Neurol. 1996;36(6):378-84
8954307
Brain. 2002 Oct;125(Pt 10):2152-90
12244076
Neuropsychologia. 1974 Oct;12(4):419-28
4437740
Annu Rev Psychol. 2004;55:51-86
14744210
Annu Rev Psychol. 2004;55:235-69
14744216
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1957 Feb;20(1):11-21
13406589
Learn Mem. 2006 Sep-Oct;13(5):522-9
17015849
Br Med Bull. 1971 Sep;27(3):272-7
4937273
Arch Neurol. 1999 Mar;56(3):303-8
10190820
Am J Psychol. 1946 Jan;59:1-58
21015312
Cortex. 1978 Mar;14(1):41-9
16295108
Cortex. 2007 Jul;43(5):616-34
17715797
J Exp Psychol Hum Learn. 1980 Mar;6(2):174-215
7373248
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2001 Jul;7(5):544-55
11459106
Neuropsychologia. 1978;16(2):169-77
692841
Brain. 2004 Apr;127(Pt 4):825-34
14749294
Eur J Neurosci. 1999 Sep;11(9):3323-8
10510197
Brain Res. 1966 Mar-Apr;1(3):303-9
5955961
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1982 Jun 25;298(1089):97-109
6125979