Source memory in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

This research examined whether source memory is preserved in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). In Experiment 1, AD patients and normal elderly controls recalled true facts (information acquired outside of the experimental setting) and made-up facts (information acquired in the experiment), and they determined the source of these memories. Relative to controls, AD patients recalled fewer facts, but when they remembered this information, they attributed their learning to the correct source. In Experiment 2, memory of made-up facts was equated between groups by incorporating a 1-week recall delay for the controls. Again, AD patients accurately determined whether facts were learned inside or outside of the experiment. However, both groups performed 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 relative preservation of source memory in the earliest stages of AD and are discussed in terms of methodological problems in testing source memory in impaired groups and in terms of frontal-lobe functioning.