The Effects of Visual Interference on Older Adults At-Risk for MCI: Comparing Object and Scene Memory
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Persons with early mild cognitive impairment (MCI) show atrophy in brain regions known to process objects, leaving scene processing regions intact. The MTL is believed to prevent irrelevant visual stimuli from intruding upon memory content. The current study examined whether older adults at-risk for MCI show impaired recognition for objects, and whether visual interference consisting of distracting objects would exacerbate this effect. Participants were classified as at-risk for MCI according to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA, Nasreddine et al., 2005). Post-hoc tests revealed that the at-risk group performed significantly worse than controls on object recognition following object interference. Additionally, accuracy in this condition was significantly correlated with MoCA scores. There were no group differences for scene recognition. The results support the view that MTL atrophy damages object representations, leading to a vulnerability to visual interference that is especially detrimental to visual memory for objects.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Olivia Celia Fidalgo
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2772486469