Characteristics of verbal serial list learning in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: A profile analysis of learning curve, retention, interference, and serial position effect

Abstract

Amnestic Mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is generally considered as a transitional stage between normal aging and a clinical diagnosis of dementia. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the memory impairment features in verbal serial list learning measured by Auditory Verbal Learning Test WHO/UCLA version in aMCI in depth. The results indicated that aMCI patients had a shallower learning curve than normal older adults. However, aMCI patients showed normal retentions, normal proactive and retroactive interference, as well as normal serial position effect. Those results contribute to deeper understanding of memory impairment features in aMCI and indicate areas that can be targeted for intervention. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.