Feelings without memory in Alzheimer disease

Edmarie Guzmán-Vélez; Justin S Feinstein; Daniel Tranel

doi:10.1097/wnn.0000000000000020

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Feelings without memory in Alzheimer disease

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Feelings without memory in Alzheimer disease

Edmarie Guzmán-Vélez, Justin S Feinstein and Daniel Tranel

Cognitive and behavioral neurology, Vol.27(3), pp.117-129

09/2014

DOI: 10.1097/wnn.0000000000000020

PMCID: PMC4175156

PMID: 25237742

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Abstract

Patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) typically have impaired declarative memory as a result of hippocampal damage early in the disease. Far less is understood about AD's effect on emotion. We investigated whether feelings of emotion can persist in patients with AD, even after their declarative memory for what caused the feelings has faded. A sample of 17 patients with probable AD and 17 healthy comparison participants (case-matched for age, sex, and education) underwent 2 separate emotion induction procedures in which they watched film clips intended to induce feelings of sadness or happiness. We collected real-time emotion ratings at baseline and at 3 post-induction time points, and we administered a test of declarative memory shortly after each induction. As expected, the patients with AD had severely impaired declarative memory for both the sad and happy films. Despite their memory impairment, the patients continued to report elevated levels of sadness and happiness that persisted well beyond their memory for the films. This outcome was especially prominent after the sadness induction, with sustained elevations in sadness lasting for more than 30 minutes, even in patients with no conscious recollection for the films. These findings indicate that patients with AD can experience prolonged states of emotion that persist well beyond the patients' memory for the events that originally caused the emotion. The preserved emotional life evident in patients with AD has important implications for their management and care, and highlights the need for caretakers to foster positive emotional experiences.

Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology

Happiness

Humans

Memory

Self Report

Male

Hippocampus - pathology

Case-Control Studies

Emotions

Alzheimer Disease - pathology

Neuropsychological Tests

Memory Disorders - etiology

Time Factors

Aged, 80 and over

Female

Aged

Hippocampus - physiopathology

Alzheimer Disease - psychology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Feelings without memory in Alzheimer disease
Creators: Edmarie Guzmán-Vélez - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa †Department of Neurology, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa ‡Department of Psychology, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma §Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Justin S Feinstein
Daniel Tranel
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Cognitive and behavioral neurology, Vol.27(3), pp.117-129
DOI: 10.1097/wnn.0000000000000020
PMID: 25237742
PMCID: PMC4175156
NLM abbreviation: Cogn Behav Neurol
ISSN: 1543-3633
eISSN: 1543-3641
Publisher: United States
Grant note: P01 NS019632 / NINDS NIH HHS P01 NS19632 / NINDS NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 09/2014
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002342502771

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