Author:

Abstract

[Preserved Memory Abilities in Dementia]

During the last years, many studies of memory abilities in dementia have been carried out. Researches using explicit memory tasks lead to conclude that Alzheimer disease is associated with an actual amnesic syndrome. Impairments described in sub-cortical dementias (associated to Huntington’s disease or to Parkinson’s disease) are probably much more the consequence of an inability to bring into initiation and search processes in memory rather than a direct impairment of these processes themselves. Researches using implicit memory tasks show that procedural learning is impaired in sub-cortical dementia while preserved in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Conversely, lexical priming would be preserved in sub-cortical dementia while impaired in Alzheimer patients. However data are still controversial. Complementary research, including systematic investigations of memory abilities in elderly normal subjects, is still needed.