Mood, Memory and Cognitive Impairment - Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mood, Memory and Cognitive Impairment: Distinguishing between the Influence of Anxiety and Neuropathology on Verbal Memory Deficits for Individuals Experiencing Cognitive Difficulties.
IRAS ID
183643
Contact name
Rosaleen McCarthy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
When someone begins to experience problems with their memory or thinking, they may be asked to complete a memory assessment using various tests. Assessment results can be important for making a diagnosis, decisions about the future, or planning lifestyle changes. However, taking part in a memory assessment can bring many emotions to the surface (e.g. anxiety), which may cause or worsen memory problems making tests potentially unreliable.
This study aims to explore how people are feeling when their memory is being assessed and specifically, whether feeling anxiety may influence how they do. This research hopes to inform how memory assessments are carried out and how to make them as accurate as possible. This will be achieved by learning more about how anxiety might affect people with memory problems and how to work around this.
This study aims to recruit people who are reporting a cognitive impairment (e.g. problems with memory or other thinking skills), but are still able to carry on independently with everyday tasks. Participants will be recruited from a hospital neurological service and older people’s mental health team’s across Hampshire until early 2016.
Participants who have consented to take part in the study will be invited to a 1 hour 30 minute testing session in either a local clinic or their own home. This will involve completing a variety of assessments which will involve tests of memory, mood (e.g. anxiety), and other thinking skills.
Early identification of cognitive difficulties is crucial as it can motivate lifestyle changes, the learning of compensatory strategies, and the beginning of medical treatments to prevent further decline of memory and thinking skills. In order to do this, assessment tools must be reliable and able to endure any potential bias from our own emotions.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SW/0226
Date of REC Opinion
24 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion