title: Delaying interference enhances memory consolidation in amnesic patients.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Human Cognitive Neuroscience and Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. m.dewar@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dewar
authors.forename: Yuriem Fernandez
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Della Sala
mesh_terms: 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
references.citation: Am J Psychol. 1946 Jul;59:439-49
references.pmid: 20998473
references.citation: J Psychiatr Res. 1975 Nov;12(3):189-98
references.pmid: 1202204
references.citation: Science. 2002 Oct 25;298(5594):789-91
references.pmid: 12399581
references.citation: Arch Neurol. 1966 Jul;15(1):52-61
references.pmid: 5937496
references.citation: Nature. 1970 Nov 14;228(5272):628-30
references.pmid: 4990853
references.citation: Br J Psychiatry. 1982 Jun;140:566-72
references.pmid: 7104545
references.citation: Memory. 2005 Apr-May;13(3-4):435-40
references.pmid: 15948630
references.citation: J Exp Psychol. 1956 Feb;51(2):149-54
references.pmid: 13295503
references.citation: Eur Neurol. 1996;36(6):378-84
references.pmid: 8954307
references.citation: Brain. 2002 Oct;125(Pt 10):2152-90
references.pmid: 12244076
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1974 Oct;12(4):419-28
references.pmid: 4437740
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 2004;55:51-86
references.pmid: 14744210
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 2004;55:235-69
references.pmid: 14744216
references.citation: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1957 Feb;20(1):11-21
references.pmid: 13406589
references.citation: Learn Mem. 2006 Sep-Oct;13(5):522-9
references.pmid: 17015849
references.citation: Br Med Bull. 1971 Sep;27(3):272-7
references.pmid: 4937273
references.citation: Arch Neurol. 1999 Mar;56(3):303-8
references.pmid: 10190820
references.citation: Am J Psychol. 1946 Jan;59:1-58
references.pmid: 21015312
references.citation: Cortex. 1978 Mar;14(1):41-9
references.pmid: 16295108
references.citation: Cortex. 2007 Jul;43(5):616-34
references.pmid: 17715797
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Learn. 1980 Mar;6(2):174-215
references.pmid: 7373248
references.citation: J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2001 Jul;7(5):544-55
references.pmid: 11459106
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1978;16(2):169-77
references.pmid: 692841
references.citation: Brain. 2004 Apr;127(Pt 4):825-34
references.pmid: 14749294
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 1999 Sep;11(9):3323-8
references.pmid: 10510197
references.citation: Brain Res. 1966 Mar-Apr;1(3):303-9
references.pmid: 5955961
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1982 Jun 25;298(1089):97-109
references.pmid: 6125979