title: Episodic autobiographical memory in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment: a population-based study.
abstract: While episodic memory impairment has been extensively studied in normal and pathological aging, studies investigating age-related episodic autobiographical memory among representative samples are scarce. We therefore investigated episodic autobiographical memory in a sample of 395 participants of a population-based prospective study of aging. Three groups were compared, consisting of 194 middle-aged participants, 138 healthy old-aged participants and 63 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Results showed a significant impairment of episodic autobiographical memory performance associated with MCI, but not with normal aging. These deficits were significantly correlated with verbal memory performances, but not with measures of executive functions.
authors.affiliation: Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, Institute of Gerontology, University of Heidelberg, Voss Strasse 4, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berna
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schönknecht
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Seidl
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toro
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schröder
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies