Cited by 88Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsMemory Processes and Influences

Feelings Without Memory in Alzheimer Disease

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Guzmán-Vélez, Edmarie, Feinstein, Justin S., Tranel, Daniel·2014·Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) typically have impaired declarative memory as a result of hippocampal damage early in the disease. Far less is understood about AD's effect on emotion. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether feelings of emotion can persist in patients with AD, even after their declarative memory for what caused the feelings has faded. METHODS: A sample of 17 patients with probable AD and 17 healthy comparison participants (case-matched for age, sex, and education) underwent 2 separate emotion induction procedures in which they watched film clips intended to induce feelings of sadness or happiness. We collected real-time emotion ratings at baseline and at 3 post-induction time points, and we administered a test of declarative memory shortly after each induction. RESULTS: As expected, the patients with AD had severely impaired declarative memory for both the sad and happy films. Despite their memory impairment, the patients continued to report elevated levels of sadness and happiness that persisted well beyond their memory for the films. This outcome was especially prominent after the sadness induction, with sustained elevations in sadness lasting for more than 30 minutes, even in patients with no conscious recollection for the films. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that patients with AD can experience prolonged states of emotion that persist well beyond the patients' memory for the events that originally caused the emotion. The preserved emotional life evident in patients with AD has important implications for their management and care, and highlights the need for caretakers to foster positive emotional experiences.

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  • Prior work has shown that individuals with dementia, particularly those with impaired episodic memory, experience emotions for an extended time even when they can no longer remember the emotion-inducing event.

    “This is particularly important as prior work has shown that individuals with dementia, particularly those with impaired episodic memory, experience emotions for an extended time even when they can no longer remember the emotion-inducing event [32].”

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Authors
Guzmán-Vélez, E., Feinstein, J. S., & Tranel, D.
Affiliations
University of Iowa (US)
Corresponding author
Tranel, Daniel
Venue
Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology
Published
2014-09
Volume
27
Issue
3
Pages
117-129
ISSN
1543-3633 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2112683268
Cited by
88
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 1
FWCI
5.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P01 NS19632, P01NS019632)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, emotions, declarative memory, emotion induction, sadness, happiness, hippocampal lesions
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Emotions, Female, Happiness, Hippocampus, Humans, Male, Memory, Memory Disorders, Neuropsychological Tests, Time Factors, Case-Control Studies, Self Report

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