Prospective memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Memory in the lab and everyday life: Comparing older adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment
IRAS ID
159987
Contact name
Agnieszka Niedźwieńska
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Hertfordshire
Research summary
Population in Europe is ageing rapidly. Consequently, there is an urgent need to find ways to help the growing population of older people to live independent lives and preserve well being into old age. As clinical diagnosis of dementia is a very late stage for possible therapeutic intervention, current management attempts for dementia target the identification of individuals in the preclinical stage.
The research will therefore focus on: 1) the identification of individuals in the transitional state between normal ageing and Alzheimer’s disease, i.e. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) individuals 2) recognizing memory problems they face in their day-to-day functioning and explaining underlying cognitive mechanisms.
The study will be the first systematic and innovative investigation of prospective memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment individuals. Prospective memory (PM) refers to remembering to do things in future (e.g., remembering to take medication or pay bills on time). Although it is a vitally important skill for one to function independently in everyday life, it has received so far little attention. In order to attain the two research objectives, a large-scale study will be conducted consisting of a laboratory session and diaries of everyday memory failures kept in naturalistic settings.In the study MCI individuals will be systematically compared with healthy older adults matched for age, gender and educational level.
The study will help to clarify which specific type of PM processing is particularly disrupted in MCI and thus could serve as an early marker of cognitive decline and to assess the magnitude and nature of everyday PM problems in MCI. The expected results will allow practitioners to recognize opportunities for early intervention and help older adults in at-risk population maintain well being and independence in their everyday life as long as possible.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EE/1086
Date of REC Opinion
15 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion