MODELING THE IMMEDIATE FREE-RECALL IMPAIRMENT OF PATIENTS WITH SURGICAL REPAIR OF ANTERIOR COMMUNICATING ARTERY ANEURYSM

Free recall of 8 patients with clinical memory impairment following su rgical repair of anterior communicating artery (ACoA-I) aneurysms was compared with free recall of 11 clinically normal ACoA patients (ACoA- N) and with 19 matched controls. Words were studied at 1-, 4-, and 8-s presentation times. The ACoA-I patients recalled fewer words on the f ree recall task (3.69 +/- 0.96) than the ACoA-N patients (5.18 +/- 1.3 2) or the control subjects (5.86 +/- 1.28). The ACoA-N group recalled fewer words than controls only at the longest presentation time. Tests of nonlinear regression models based upon the search of associative m emory theory indicated that ACoA-I memory impairment was associated wi th a large disruption of the formation and/or strengthening of context ual associations and with a slight reduction in the number of words re hearsed.