Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026
11:01
Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: August 30, 2011
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Long-term Perseveration in Alzheimer's Disease: A Case Report
1Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts, USA Current address: Department of Psychiatry and Brain Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA, and Psychiatry Service (116A3), Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
Behavioural Neurology
|February 4, 2014
Summary
This Alzheimer's disease (AD) case study reveals preserved, albeit distorted, memory. A patient with severe amnesia retained a specific response over years, suggesting spared posterior cortical function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Neurology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) commonly presents with progressive memory loss.
- Severe amnesia is a hallmark of advanced dementia in AD.
- Perseveration, a cognitive impairment, is often linked to AD pathology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate memory retention in an Alzheimer's disease patient with profound dementia.
- To analyze the nature of perseverative responses in the context of severe amnesia.
- To explore the neural underpinnings of preserved, albeit distorted, memory in AD.
Main Methods:
- Case study of an Alzheimer's disease patient over 4.5 years.
- Utilized the Brown-Peterson distractor test across 26 encounters.
- Assessed response patterns and memory recall under distractor conditions.
Main Results:
- The patient developed and retained a perseverative trigram response from test 9 to test 26.
- Despite inability to recall heard trigrams, the patient consistently produced the perseverative trigram.
- The perseverative trigram appeared to become integrated into the task procedure, overriding new information.
Conclusions:
- Perseveration in AD may reflect a form of preserved memory, not solely impairment.
- This preserved memory might be supported by posterior cortical regions spared in Alzheimer's disease.
- Findings suggest complex memory processes persist even in profound dementia.
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