Memory in pregnancy. II: Implicit, incidental, explicit, semantic, short-term, working and prospective memory in primigravid, multigravid and postpartum women

Abstract

This study, using an information processing model of memory, made a detailed examination of the possible locus (loci) of any memory change in gravid and postpartum women using a battery of seven objective memory tests: implicit, incidental, explicit, semantic, short-term, working, and prospective memory. In addition, links were sought both between (a) self-reported data on sleep, health, and memory performance, and (b) these variables and objective memory performance. Five groups of women were tested (n = 22/23 per group), (1) primigravid, (2) multigravid, (3) postpartum, (4) non-pregnant parents with children, and (5) never been pregnant, on self-report and objective memory tests. The gravid and postpartum groups reported significantly more everyday forgetting than the non-pregnant groups but on the objective tests performed no differently from the non-pregnant groups on all tests. Sleep loss was a significant predictor of reported memory change, but not of any memory test performance, and may contribute to a perceived memory change. Pregnant women and new mothers generally should be confident of performing to their normal cognitive capabilities, but may be more affected than usual by a high cognitive load.

Sleep disorders in pregnancy

“…The cognitive processes associated with the pregnant woman's understanding of her present condition seem to extend to the PG state, producing a biased set of memories 22 . As a result of this fact another consequence arises: answers given in the T2 and T3 might have suffered influences of the experiences related to the sleep pattern of previous trimesters.…”

Self‐perception of cognitive changes during pregnancy and the early postpartum: salience and attentional effects

“…The majority of previous studies have asked only for ratings of general memory ability (Brindle et al, 1991;Casey et al, 1999;Christensen et al, 1999;Janes et al, 1999;McDowell and Moriarty, 2000;Sharp et al, 1993). Those that have examined other aspects of cognition Kane et al, 1968;Parsons and Redman, 1991;Poser et al, 1986) have shown that in addition to memory difficulties, some pregnant women also report increased absentmindedness and impairments in concentration, reading ability and clarity of thought.…”

“…Nevertheless, studies in which women rate their cognitive abilities in pregnancy compared with their usual performance show that many perceive a decline during pregnancy (e.g. Brindle et al, 1991;Casey et al, 1999;Christensen et al, 1999;Janes et al, 1999;McDowell and Moriarty, 2000;Parsons and Redman, 1991;Poser et al, 1986;Sharp et al, 1993). Yet it is not clear how salient these changes are in the overall context of the many changes accompanying pregnancy.…”

Implicit memory varies across the menstrual cycle: estrogen effects in young women

“…Data from our previous study of implicit memory across the lifespan [30] indicate a slight female advantage on CEG priming (P =0.06) and a significant advantage on conceptual explicit memory (see Appendix A). Conversely, studies of memory during pregnancy lead to the speculation that unusually high levels of sex steroid hormones may detrimentally affect performance on both explicit and implicit memory tests [5,7,23,42]. Pregnancy is characterized by dramatic hormonal fluctuations, including unusually high levels of estrogen, progesterone, oxytocin, and other hormones [15].…”

“…word-stem completion). Two studies reported impairments among pregnant women [5,42], and two other studies found no difference between pregnant and nonpregnant women on the test [7,23]. Isolating and understanding the influence of estrogen on memory in pregnancy is difficult because the hormonal milieu is complex and fluctuates throughout pregnancy and the relation between estrogen levels and memory performance may be nonlinear.…”