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Abstract :
[en] Impaired memory performance does not constitute the prominent deficit in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Nevertheless, it has been suggested that some specific aspects of memory may be disrupted in FTD patients, in particular, the ability to consciously recollect the context in which information has been learned (Simons et al., 2002). The aims of the current study was to investigate the states of awareness accompanying recognition memory by asking participants to make Remember/Know/Guess judgments. Concretely, 12 FDT patients and 12 matched healthy participants studied 20 word pairs. During cued recall, each trial consisted of one word from a pair and participants had to try to recall the associated word. Finally, a 5-alternative forced-choice recognition task was given and participants had to say whether they chose a word because they recollected the study context (Remember), they knew they saw the word, without recalling anything else (Know) or they guessed (Guess). Results from the cued recall and recognition parts indicated that FTD recalled less word pairs than the controls, but had similar levels of recognition performance. Nevertheless, FTD patients gave less Remember responses than the controls, and tended to give more Guess responses. To conclude, episodic memory performance in FTD was characterised by impaired self-initiated memory retrieval processes. Although global recognition memory performance was preserved, FTD patients’ memories lacked of autonoetic consciousness and were mainly based on familiarity judgments and guessing. This pattern of results is similar to that found in patients with focal frontal lobe lesions (e.g., Wheeler et al., 1995; Wheeler & Stuss, 2003) and is consistent with the idea that the memory dysfunctions observed in FTD may stem from damage to the prefrontal cortex.
