SOURCE MEMORY IN MILD-TO-MODERATE ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

This research examined whether source memory is preserved in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). In Experiment 1, AD pa tients and normal elderly controls recalled true facts (information ac quired outside of the experimental setting) and made-up facts (informa tion acquired in the experiment), and they determined the source of th ese memories. Relative to controls, AD patients recalled fewer facts, but when they remembered this information, they attributed their learn ing to the correct source. In Experiment 2, memory of made-up facts wa s equated between groups by incorporating a 1-week recall delay for th e controls. Again, AD patients accurately determined whether facts wer e learned inside or outside of the experiment. However, both groups pe rformed at chance in terms of their memory for whether a made-up fact was read on a card or told by the examiner. The findings indicate rela tive preservation of source memory in the earliest stages of AD and ar e discussed in terms of methodological problems in testing source memo ry in impaired groups and in terms of frontal-lobe functioning.