{"title":"Method of loci and semantic link: Assessment of memory benefits in healthy aging.","authors":"Laure Debroux, Christine Bastin, Emma Delhaye","doi":"10.1017/S1355617725101501","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Episodic memory naturally declines with age. The method of loci is an encoding strategy that has been shown to enhance episodic memory. However, it relies heavily on associative memory, as it consists in associating each item of a to-be-learnt list with a location along a familiar route, and associative memory is thought to be the source of the episodic age-related decline. However, when associative memory is supported by semantic knowledge, older adults can compensate for this decline. This study aims to explore the use of the method of loci, that we adapted to leverage pre-existing knowledge in semantic memory, to improve episodic memory in aging.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Word recall performance of young (18-30 years old) and older (60-75 years old) participants was tested after encoding word lists using the method of loci under two conditions: congruent or incongruent with pre-existing knowledge, compared to a control condition.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed significant memory performance improvement in both groups when the method of loci was used with congruent associations. In contrast, in older adults, performance in the incongruent condition did not improve compared with that observed during encoding without a specific strategy, highlighting the importance of semantic links for associative memory. Furthermore, using the method of loci with congruent associations, older adults displayed recall performance equivalent to young adults, while it was not the case with incongruent associations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The method of loci applied in conditions of semantic congruence thus appears to be a promising compensatory strategy for older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":49995,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617725101501","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Episodic memory naturally declines with age. The method of loci is an encoding strategy that has been shown to enhance episodic memory. However, it relies heavily on associative memory, as it consists in associating each item of a to-be-learnt list with a location along a familiar route, and associative memory is thought to be the source of the episodic age-related decline. However, when associative memory is supported by semantic knowledge, older adults can compensate for this decline. This study aims to explore the use of the method of loci, that we adapted to leverage pre-existing knowledge in semantic memory, to improve episodic memory in aging.
Methods: Word recall performance of young (18-30 years old) and older (60-75 years old) participants was tested after encoding word lists using the method of loci under two conditions: congruent or incongruent with pre-existing knowledge, compared to a control condition.
Results: The results showed significant memory performance improvement in both groups when the method of loci was used with congruent associations. In contrast, in older adults, performance in the incongruent condition did not improve compared with that observed during encoding without a specific strategy, highlighting the importance of semantic links for associative memory. Furthermore, using the method of loci with congruent associations, older adults displayed recall performance equivalent to young adults, while it was not the case with incongruent associations.
Conclusions: The method of loci applied in conditions of semantic congruence thus appears to be a promising compensatory strategy for older adults.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society is the official journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, an organization of over 4,500 international members from a variety of disciplines. The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society welcomes original, creative, high quality research papers covering all areas of neuropsychology. The focus of articles may be primarily experimental, applied, or clinical. Contributions will broadly reflect the interest of all areas of neuropsychology, including but not limited to: development of cognitive processes, brain-behavior relationships, adult and pediatric neuropsychology, neurobehavioral syndromes (such as aphasia or apraxia), and the interfaces of neuropsychology with related areas such as behavioral neurology, neuropsychiatry, genetics, and cognitive neuroscience. Papers that utilize behavioral, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological measures are appropriate.
To assure maximum flexibility and to promote diverse mechanisms of scholarly communication, the following formats are available in addition to a Regular Research Article: Brief Communication is a shorter research article; Rapid Communication is intended for "fast breaking" new work that does not yet justify a full length article and is placed on a fast review track; Case Report is a theoretically important and unique case study; Critical Review and Short Review are thoughtful considerations of topics of importance to neuropsychology and include meta-analyses; Dialogue provides a forum for publishing two distinct positions on controversial issues in a point-counterpoint format; Special Issue and Special Section consist of several articles linked thematically; Letter to the Editor responds to recent articles published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; and Book Review, which is considered but is no longer solicited.
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