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Awareness of memory task impairment versus everyday memory difficulties in dementia
Author(s) -
Morris Robin G.,
Nelis Sharon M.,
Martyr Anthony,
Markova Ivana,
Roth Ilona,
Woods Robert T.,
Whitaker Christopher J.,
Clare Linda
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of neuropsychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1748-6653
pISSN - 1748-6645
DOI - 10.1111/jnp.12062
Subject(s) - psychology , memory impairment , cognitive psychology , dementia , task (project management) , cognitive impairment , cognition , neuroscience , disease , medicine , management , pathology , economics
The study investigated different types of awareness of memory dysfunction in dementia, specifically judgements concerning memory task performance or appraisal of everyday memory functioning and also exploring the neuropsychological correlates of such awareness. This was investigated in 76 people with dementia, comprising 46 patients with A lzheimer's disease ( AD ) and 30 patients with vascular dementia (VaD). The Memory Awareness Rating Scale (Clare et al ., 2002, Neuropsychol Rehabil , 12, 341–362) was used, which includes an Objective‐Judgement Discrepancy ( OJD ) technique involving comparison of subjective evaluation of performance on specific memory tasks with actual performance, and a Subjective Rating Discrepancy ( SRD ) technique, which compares self versus informant judgement of everyday memory function. The AD and VaD groups showed lower awareness than a normal control group for both types of measures, the AD group showing less awareness than the VaD group on the OJD measure. Regression analyses supported associations for both groups between memory impairment and the OJD measure and between naming impairment and the SRD measure. The findings are discussed in terms of neurocognitive theories accounting for loss of awareness in dementia.