Impairment of Episodic-Specific Autobiographical Memory in Individuals with Subjective Cognitive Decline and in Patients with Prodromal or Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Bruus, Anna E.^{a; b; *} | Waldemar, Gunhild^{a; c} | Vogel, Asmus^{a; b}

Affiliations: [a] Danish Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark | [b] Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark | [c] Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Anna E. Bruus, MSc, Danish Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. Tel.: +0045 3545 5573; E-mail: anna.elise.bruus@regionh.dk.

Abstract: Background:Autobiographical memory (AM) is a personal form of memory that becomes impaired in the early, clinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the “preclinical” phase of AD, neuropathological hallmarks are present (especially in a brain network underpinning AM), but performance on standardized neuropsychological tests is normal. Even so, some patients have subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Objective:The aim was to 1) investigate AM performance on two tests with different approaches in SCD, and in prodromal and mild AD, and 2) examine the association between the AM tests. Methods:We included 17 SCD patients with heightened risk of AD, 17 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, 17 patients with mild dementia due to AD, and 30 healthy controls. Patients were diagnosed according to international criteria, and all participants had MMSE scores≥24. AM was assessed using the Columbia Autobiographical Memory Interview-Short Form (CAMI-SF) and the Three Events Test. These tests measure the production of contextual details. Results:Significant group effects were found for the Three Events Test and the CAMI-SF. All patient groups produced significantly fewer contextual details than the controls on the Three Events Test. On CAMI-SF, the aMCI and mild AD groups were able to answer fewer questions or gave significantly less detailed answers than the other groups. The SCD patients performed below the controls on CAMI-SF, but the difference was not significant. Conclusion:AM may be impaired in very early AD, even in the phases where standardized episodic memory tests show no decline.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, autobiographical memory, dementia, memory disorder, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive decline

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215113

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 84, no. 4, pp. 1485-1496, 2021