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Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
Working memory in individuals with HIV infection
1Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Rockville, Maryland.
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
|April 1, 1994
Summary
Asymptomatic individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) show normal central executive (CE) functioning in working memory tasks. However, early-stage HIV infection is linked to slower processing speeds, not working memory deficits.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Infectious Disease Research
Background:
- The central executive (CE) is crucial for working memory and cognitive control.
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can impact cognitive functions.
- Understanding cognitive changes in early HIV is vital for patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the central executive component of working memory in asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals.
- To determine if early-stage HIV infection is associated with working memory deficits.
- To investigate processing speed in HIV+ individuals.
Main Methods:
- A dual-task working memory paradigm was employed.
- Participants included 26 asymptomatic HIV+ individuals and 23 HIV-control subjects.
- Performance was measured on visual vigilance and letter span tasks, alongside reaction time measures.
Main Results:
- Both HIV+ and HIV- groups exhibited similar performance reductions when tasks were dual-tasked versus single-tasked, suggesting intact CE functioning.
- HIV+ subjects demonstrated significantly longer response latencies in reaction time tests compared to controls.
- No significant working memory deficit was observed in the HIV+ group.
Conclusions:
- Early-stage HIV infection in asymptomatic individuals does not appear to impair central executive functioning in working memory.
- Slower processing speed, indicated by increased reaction times, is present in early HIV infection.
- Cognitive slowing in early HIV is dissociable from working memory deficits.
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