Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026
Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
Published on: August 15, 2010
Evaluation of visual recognition memory in MCI patients
E Barbeau1, M Didic, E Tramoni
1Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie et Neuropsychologie, Inserm EMI-U 9926, Faculté de Médecine, Univ. Mediterranee, Marseille, France. emmanuel.barbeau@medecine.univ-mrs.fr
Background:
Neurofibrillary tangles seen early in Alzheimer disease (AD) initially appear in a subregion of the perirhinal cortex. In the monkey, damage to the perirhinal cortex impairs performance on visual recognition memory tasks. The authors evaluated impairment of visual recognition memory as a potential early diagnostic marker of AD.
Methods:
The authors developed a visual delayed matching-to-sample task (DMS48) designed to assess visual recognition memory in humans. Twenty-three patients fulfilling the criteria of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (mean Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]: 26.6, SD = 1.6) were recruited. All underwent a full neuropsychological evaluation, which included the Free and Cued Selective Reminding (FCSR) test. Their performance was compared with that of 10 patients with mild AD, 20 patients with moderate AD, 20 patients with Parkinson disease (PD), and 40 age-matched controls.
Results:
Control subjects and patients with PD performed close to ceiling. Patients with mild AD had very low scores, while patients with moderate AD answered at random. MCI patients obtained scores that were between those of control subjects and patients with mild AD (78%, SD = 16%). MCI patients who failed on the DMS48 had lower scores on free recall (p < 0.05) and received less benefit from cueing (p < 0.01) on the FCSR than the other MCI, suggesting a profile of genuine memory impairment related to medial temporal lobe lesions.
Conclusion:
The DMS48, a test of visual recognition memory, is impaired early in the course of patients with MCI. Further studies are necessary to determine whether the evaluation of visual recognition memory may contribute to the identification of patients with AD.
Insights
Visual recognition memory is impaired in early Alzheimer disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The DMS48 task shows potential for early AD diagnosis by identifying genuine memory deficits in MCI patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurology
Background:
- Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by early neurofibrillary tangles in the perirhinal cortex.
- Perirhinal cortex damage in monkeys impairs visual recognition memory.
- Evaluating visual recognition memory may offer an early diagnostic marker for AD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess visual recognition memory impairment as a potential early diagnostic marker for Alzheimer disease (AD).
- To evaluate patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using a novel visual recognition memory task.
Main Methods:
- Developed the Delayed Matching-to-Sample task (DMS48) to assess human visual recognition memory.
- Recruited 23 MCI patients and compared their performance to mild AD, moderate AD, Parkinson disease (PD), and control groups.
- Administered comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, including the Free and Cued Selective Reminding (FCSR) test.
Main Results:
- Control subjects and PD patients performed near ceiling on the DMS48.
- Mild AD patients scored very low, and moderate AD patients performed at random.
- MCI patients scored between controls and mild AD patients, with impaired performance linked to genuine memory deficits.
Conclusions:
- The DMS48 task reveals impaired visual recognition memory in early-stage MCI patients.
- This impairment suggests potential for DMS48 in identifying early AD-related memory deficits.
- Further research is needed to confirm visual recognition memory's role in early AD identification.
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