title: Compromised verbal episodic memory with intact visual and procedural memory during pregnancy.
abstract: This study investigated episodic and procedural memory performance in early and late pregnancy. Twenty-six women in the third trimester of pregnancy, 20 women in the first trimester of pregnancy, and 24 nonpregnant controls were administered a battery of verbal and visual episodic memory tasks and two procedural memory tasks. Results indicated that compared to controls, both pregnant groups had reduced scores on immediate and delayed verbal episodic memory tasks, but were unimpaired on visual and procedural memory tasks. Verbal memory differences could not be accounted for by mood state or attention; however, progesterone level accounted for a small amount of the variation. Although memory differences were minor, the perception of memory problems may have implications for everyday living for pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Danielle L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Maree
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Lenore
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ellett
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Permezel
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Simon F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Crowe
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*