Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. Supplement最新文献

Rather than reviewing once again the published literature on drugs which are capable of modifying the memory process, the authors stress the methodological difficulties which impede the development of such products. At the moment, substances which act on neurotransmission systems, and in particular cholinergic and gabaergic agents, seem to be good candidates. The choice of the molecule to be studied in man depends on the neurochemical physiopathology of the memory disorder which one seeks to correct. For this reason, one tries to select an animal model of memory which is closest to the clinical situation pertaining to man on which the tested molecule might act favorably.

The search for a biochemistry of memory may be divided into two consecutive periods: the search for molecular memory coding in the brain (1960-1975), and the ongoing search for biochemical correlates of learning or memory. During the first period, three main methods were used: chemical analysis of macromolecules after learning, studying the effects on learning of compounds (antibiotics) impairing macromolecule synthesis, and attempting chemical transfer of information items acquired by the brain ("memory transfers"). None of the three methods succeeded in clearly demonstrating that memory is chemically encoded. Subsequent modern work has focused on the search for correlates between brain chemical mechanisms and memory processes: the role of protein synthesis in memorization, peptide modulation of learning, and the role of the main neurotransmitter systems (particularly acetylcholine, catecholamines, GABA and glutamic acid). The correlates, which are to be interpreted with caution, are based on both pharmacological results in animals and clinical data in man.

The capacity to store and retrieve information is a property common to biological organisms and certain artefacts. Psychological models of human memory fall into two rival classes: a) "bionic" models which draw inspiration from the structural and functional properties of the central nervous system (computo bionic models); b) "symbolic information processing" models in which the inspiration for description and explanation of natural processes is drawn from the structural and functional properties of Von Neumann computers (computo-symbolic models).

This study aimed to assess and compare the discriminative validity of two psychometric procedures which have been proposed to investigate memory losses in elderly. The first one relies on the use of the serial position curve paradigm in a test of immediate memory, the second one being a single recognition task. These two procedures were applied to the five following groups of subjects: 95 young-elderly normals, 33 elderly normals, 26 patients with mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT), 17 patients with moderate or moderately severe SDAT and 24 elderly depressed patients. Results from both psychometric procedures confirm the findings of previous studies and support the view that memory impairment associated with SDAT is qualitatively different from that observed in normal aging or in depression. They also suggest that memory loss in elderly depressed patients differs only quantitatively from that of normal controls. However the recognition task seems to have the best validity to qualitatively discriminate the patients with mild dementia from both the normal controls and the elderly depressed patients.

State of memory was evaluated by a Memory Clinic in 367 community-dwelling patients aged from 50 to 80. They performed an exhaustive subjective evaluation including: severity of memory complaint, social status, activity scale, subjective Memory score, Zung's anxiety and depression scales and Well Being Questionnaire. Objective memory performance was evaluated by a complete memory scanning leading to a Global Objective Memory Score. No relationship was found between severity of memory complaints and age, sex, educational level, marital status, living alone or in family, and memory tests performance. More severe complaints were reported in people with poor social network, negative stereotypes on aging, and poor affective status. A strong correlation was found between severity of memory complaints and scores in self-reporting depression questionnaire, even in people with low depression scores.