Publications [#178174] of Gayathri R Devi

Papers Published

1. G Devi, E Zhivotovskaya, S Schultz, Which presidents are most memorable?, American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, vol. 25 no. 1 (February, 2010), pp. 32-6, ISSN 1938-2731 [doi]
   (last updated on 2010/08/09)

   Abstract:
   BACKGROUND/RATIONALE: Episodic memory loss is a hall-mark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), with recall of recent events becoming progressively difficult. A commonly used tool, the recollection of US presidents, was assessed in evaluating episodic versus semantic memory loss among AD patients compared with spouse controls. METHODS: A total of 36 patients (12 men, 24 women) with possible or probable AD were asked to "give the names of 5 US presidents" and concurrently administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Twenty-three spouses (12 men, 11 women) were controls. The year 1980 demarcated "remote" versus "recent" presidents. RESULTS: Patients were older, had lower MMSE scores (P < .001), and recalled fewer presidents than controls (P < .005), after controlling for age. Among patients, men were more educated than women (P < .05) and recalled more presidents (P < .001). No gender differences were observed in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AD preferentially recalled remote presidents, supporting retention of semantic memory in this group. There were no gender differences between groups.

   Keywords:
   Aged • Alzheimer Disease • Famous Persons* • Female • Humans • Male • Memory Disorders • Mental Recall • Neuropsychological Tests • Politics* • Recognition (Psychology) • Semantics • Severity of Illness Index • United States • diagnosis* • epidemiology