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Updated: Sep 3, 2025

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: August 30, 2011
Older adults' episodic memory is related to a neurophysiological marker of brain cholinergic activity
Patrick S R Davidson1,2, Galit Karpov3, Lauriane Giguère3
1School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. patrick.davidson@uottawa.ca.
Abstract:
Episodic memory is vulnerable to aging and may be influenced by age-related decline in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. We probed this relation using a novel, minimally invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation marker of brain acetylcholine: short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI). We used neuropsychological testing to construct a composite score of episodic memory in N = 19 community-dwelling older adults, and stratified older adults into Higher- (N = 9) versus Lower-memory (N = 10) groups before SAI. The Higher-memory group showed significantly stronger SAI than the Lower-memory group, indicating an association between higher brain acetylcholine levels and better episodic memory. The two memory groups were equivalent in the potential confounds of age, education, mood, subjective sleep quality, and executive function. These data converge with others to suggest that episodic memory is related to acetylcholine in older adults. This relation should be further investigated, especially with pharmacology and neuroimaging.
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