EXPLICIT AND PROCEDURAL MEMORY IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

One of the aims of cognitive psychology is to breakdown complex tasks into their most basic components. The components of explicit (declarat ive) and implicit (procedural) memory were thus analyzed in undemented , non-depressed Parkinsonian patients under anti-Parkinsonian treatmen t, and compared with young and elderly healthy subjects. Three series of experiments were conducted in 61 patients in total. Statistically s ignificant results revealed an impairment of explicit memory (verbal r ecall of words and drawings) with preserved recall of faces, in Parkin sonians. Implicit memory was also deficient, only in association tests (sound-form; arithmetical alphabet) and maze tests. Braille reading t ests and Toronto tower tests did not discriminate between Parkinsonian s and elderly subjects. Lastly, analyzing learning and automation reve aled a dysfunctioning in Parkinsonian patients. All these data indicat e a dysregrulation of the cortical-sub-cortical systems, not essential ly pre-frontal, and not necessarily dopaminergic. Cognitively, it appe ars that procedural and implicit memories should be dissociated concep tually.