Differential memory loss and Alzheimer's Disease
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- Differential memory loss and Alzheimer's Disease
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Differential memory loss and Alzheimer's Disease
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[post_date] => 2024-12-26 11:10:16
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[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-5)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Advances in medicine and science have greatly increased the average human lifespan, but with that increase comes new, difficult problems. One of those problems is dementia, or the loss of cognitive functioning and behavioral abilities. Dementia is incredibly difficult for elderly patients, as it has the ability to interfere with every aspect of a person’s daily life and functioning. Many cases of dementia are linked to Alzheimer’s disease, which is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that results in memory loss and difficulty with other executive functions.
Alzheimer’s disease begins with difficulty learning and remembering new or recent experiences (like names, phone numbers, or new surroundings) but long-term memory is unaffected – patients are still able to remember their personal history. As the disease progresses, patients forget most memories of their life, have trouble coming up with words to sustain a conversation, have difficulty remembering the name of their caregiver, and experience major personality and behavioral changes. Finally, patients lose the ability to perform basic functions – they are unable to dress themselves, eat independently, or use the restroom properly.
A doctor develops a memory test for Alzheimer’s that examines working memory, procedural memory, and episodic memory. He administers the test to three patients who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. His patient's scores are outlined in Table 1. Scores that are closer to 100 indicate higher memory function, while scores that are closer to 0 indicate lower memory function.
Table 1.
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[question] => Which of the following scenarios would test the patient’s episodic memory?
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[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Questions related to general facts (like the presidency) are testing semantic memory.
Questions related to completing a task (like buttoning a blouse) are testing procedural memory.
Questions related to personal memories are testing episodic memory.
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[each_answer] => A. The doctor asks the patient to recall a series of words.
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[each_answer] => B. The doctor asks the patient to describe her wedding day.
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[each_answer] => C. The doctor asks the patient about the current president.
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[each_answer] => D. The doctor asks the patient to button a blouse.
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[question] => Which of the following arguments is supported by the data in Table 1?
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Working memory is short term memory. The patients scored lowest on tests of short term memory, meaning this was profoundly affected.
Procedural memory is task-related memory. Patients scored moderately on tests of task-related memory.
Episodic memory is memory related to a person’s life experiences. The patients had the highest scores on this measurement, even while their other scores were much lower. This indicates that they were able to remember their past.
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease are able to remember how to complete tasks even while experiencing other profound memory deficits.
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[each_answer] => B. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease are able to completely recall new visual patterns even while experiencing other profound memory deficits.
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[each_answer] => C. Patients with Alzheimer’s are able to recall events from their past even while experiencing other profound memory deficits.
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[each_answer] => D. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease typically experience global memory loss that affects all aspects of memory.
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[question] => What is the most important ethical consideration when researching the progression of Alzheimer’s disease?
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[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Generalizability of results is not an ethical concern.
Accuracy in responding is not an ethical concern.
Confidentiality is an issue in all research, and does not have increased implications in Alzheimer’s populations.
Informed consent is the most important issue to consider with Alzheimer’s populations. For a person to give consent, they must have the cognitive capacity to understand what they’re being asked to do and withdraw at any time. Individuals with Alzheimer’s have significant deficits in cognitive functioning and might not truly be able to give consent.
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[each_answer] => A. Confidentiality
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[each_answer] => C. Generalizability
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[each_answer] => D. Informed consent
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[question] => After comparing the results of his test with other current information on Alzheimer’s, the doctor realizes that he made a mistake by only testing long-term episodic memory. What psychometric property has he compromised?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
By solely focusing on long-term episodic memory, the doctor failed to test all aspects of episodic memory.
This means that the episodic memory scores are probably inaccurate and do not accurately represent how the patients are experiencing episodic memory.
The doctor has compromised the content validity of the test.
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[each_answer] => A. Internal consistency
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[each_answer] => B. External validity
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[each_answer] => C. Re-test reliability
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[each_answer] => D. Content validity
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[question] => Based on the information from Table 1, what brain area is associated with the patient’s largest memory deficits?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
The largest deficits were seen in tests of working memory.
Working memory is also known as short term memory.
The prefrontal lobe is associated with short term memory.
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[each_answer] => A. Amygdala
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[each_answer] => B. Hippocampus
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[each_answer] => C. Occipital lobe
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[each_answer] => D. Prefrontal lobe
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