Reduced Contextual Information During Future Thinking in Alzheimer’s Disease

Title:Reduced Contextual Information During Future Thinking in Alzheimer’s Disease

Volume: 18 Issue: 11

Author(s): Mohamad El Haj* Pascal Antoine

Affiliation:

• Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (LPPL - EA 4638), Universite Angers, Nantes Universite, F-44000, Nantes,France

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, context memory, future thinking, hippocampus, time, dementia.

Abstract:

Objective: This study assessed the ability of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) to produce “when, where, and who” information during future thinking.

Methods: AD patients and control participants were invited to imagine future scenarios. Future thinking was analyzed with respect to the number of “when, where, and who” details. Analysis showed fewer “when, where, and who” details in AD participants than in control participants. Fewer “when” than “where” details and fewer “where” than “who” details were observed in AD and control participants.

Results: Production of temporal information in participants with AD was found to be associated with general cognitive functioning, as assessed with the Mini Mental State Exam. Future thinking in AD is mainly associated with reduced contextual information.

Conclusion: The diminished ability to construct time-related details during future thinking in AD can be mainly associated with the diminished general cognitive ability in AD, and probably with hippocampal compromise in the disease. We also propose a socio-emotional account according to which, confronted with a limited-time perspective during future thinking, AD patients may tend to maximize their emotional well-being by avoiding time-related information and thinking about friends, family and beloved ones.

Cite this article as:

El Haj Mohamad*, Antoine Pascal , Reduced Contextual Information During Future Thinking in Alzheimer’s Disease, Current Alzheimer Research 2021; 18 (11) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567205019666211216101901