Memory for verbal information in individuals with HIV-associated dementia complex

Abstract

Patterns of memory performance were examined for 9 participants with HIV-associated dementia (HAD), 15 HIV-seropositive participants without dementia, and 15 HIV-seronegative controls. Episodic and semantic memory were assessed using the California Verbal Learning Test, the Boston Naming Test, and Verbal Fluency tests. The HAD group showed deficits in episodic memory, with relative sparing of semantic memory. In addition, results suggest a retrieval deficit in HAD rather than a deficit in retention of information. This pattern is consistent with the presence of a subcortical dementing process and supports findings from previous neuropathological, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological studies suggesting that subcortical brain dysfunction is frequently associated with HIV disease (e.g., Navia, Jordan, & Price, 1986).

Retrograde Amnesia in Dementia: Comparison of HIV-Associated Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, and Huntington's Disease.

“…The similarity between HIV-D and HD in benefits from retrieval cues suggests that the remote memory impairment involved is due in part to a retrieval deficit and, furthermore, that remote memory impairment in HIV-D may be largely mediated by subcortical pathology (Navia et al, 1986), as appears to be the case in HD (Becker et al, 1997;Peavy et al, 1994;White et al, 1997). However, the inability of the HIV-D and HD groups to benefit from cuing to the same degree as the YHC group suggests that another factor, such as loss of remote memory, may also contribute to the RA pattern.…”

“…The relatively mild, non-temporally graded RA associated with HIV-D and HD may be indicative of a general retrieval deficit that equally affects recall of information from any past time period. Such a retrieval deficit has been postulated as a contributory factor in the anterograde memory deficit observed with HIV-D or HD (Becker et al, 1997;Butters, Wolfe, Martone, Granholm, & Cermak, 1985;White et al, 1997; for a review, see Paulsen & Robinson, 2001) and has been attributed to the frontostriatal dysfunction that characterizes these disorders. In contrast, the severe and temporally graded RA associated with AD may reflect the interruption of a long-term consolidation process that is dependent on medial temporal lobe structures such as the hippocampus.…”

Antiretroviral Adherence and the Nature of HIV-Associated Verbal Memory Impairment

“…23 Moreover, the data on the profile of HIV-related verbal memory impairment are mixed, with some evidence of a primary encoding deficit 24–26 and other evidence of both retrieval and encoding deficits. 27–29 One explanation for this difference is that studies finding retrieval deficits (in addition to encoding deficits) were either conducted before the advent of HAART 27,28 or with samples evidencing relatively low rates of HAART use, 29 whereas those mainly implicating encoding deficits were conducted after HAART use was widespread. 24–26 However, another possibility is that the discrepant findings were due to methodological differences between the studies.…”

“…More recent studies that support the encoding-deficit hypothesis were based on the examination of list-learning characteristics (semantic clustering, 24 serial-position effects 25,26 ) and suggested that HIV-associated verbal memory impairment resulted from strategic processing-deficits at encoding; similar deficits have been found in the investigation of working memory in HIV+ participants. 30 The studies finding retrieval-deficits did so primarily by showing disproportionate memory performance benefits with recognition cueing (i.e., better recognition than recall 27,28 ). This method assumes that greater recognition than recall is suggestive of partial retrieval-deficits.…”

Theoretically derived CVLT subtypes in HIV-1 infection: Internal and external validation

“…The CVLT is regarded as a useful tool for characterizing memory profiles associated with different neuropsychological disturbances, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Huntington's disease (HD), and Korsakoff 's syndrome (e.g., Delis et al, 1991), HIV-1 infection (Becker et al, 1995;Delis et al, 1995;Peavy et al, 1994;White et al, 1997), depression (Massman et al, 1992), and schizophrenia (Paulsen et al, 1995). The scoring system of the CVLT allows quantification of several indices including style of learning (e.g., semantic categorization of related words), consistency of item recall across learning trials, retention of information over short and longer delays, vulnerability to interference, recall errors (e.g., intrusions), and discriminability (ability to detect target words from distracters on recognition testing).…”