AMNESTIC PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE WHO REMEMBERED THE KOBE EARTHQUAKE

Background Emotional memory is a special category of memory for events arousing strong emotions. To investigate the effects of emotional inv olvement on memory retention in individuals with Alzheimer's disease w e studied peoples memories of distressing experiences during a devasta ting earthquake. Method Fifty-one subjects with probable Alzheimer's d isease who experienced the Kobe earthquake at home in the greater Kobe area were studied. Memories of the earthquake were assessed 6 and 10 weeks after the disaster in semi-structured interviews, and were compa red with memories of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination gi ven after the earthquake. Results Forty-four (86.3%) of the subjects r emembered the earthquake and 16 (31.4%) of subjects remembered the MRI experience. Factual content of the earthquake was lost in most of the subjects. Conclusions Fear reinforces memory retention of an episode in subjects with Alzheimer's disease but does not enhance retention of its context, despite repeated exposure to the information.