AJGP
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ALL ISSUES SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 15:257-261, March 2007
© 2007 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a Colleague
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by de Medeiros, K.
Right arrow Articles by O' Hara, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by de Medeiros, K.
Right arrow Articles by O' Hara, R.

Brief Report

The Impact of Autobiographic Writing on Memory Performance in Older Adults: A Preliminary Investigation

Kate de Medeiros, Ph.D., Quinn Kennedy, Ph.D., Thomas Cole, Ph.D., Rosemary Lindley, and Ruth O' Hara, Ph.D.

From the Copper Ridge Institute (KdM), Sykesville, MD; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (QK, RO), Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; The University of Texas Medical School at Houston (TC), The John P. McGovern, M.D. Center for Health, Humanities, and the Human Spirit; and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (RL), Institute for the Medical Humanities.

In this pilot study, the authors examined whether participation in a structured autobiographic writing workshop positively influenced memory performance in a group of community-dwelling older adults. Eighteen subjects, aged 62–84 years, were enrolled in an eight-week writing workshop. At baseline and follow up, they completed five memory assessments and submitted two writing samples, which were evaluated for linguistic complexity. The authors found a significant increase in follow-up scores on tests of verbal memory and attention, indicating a possible positive influence of the writing workshop. The authors also found a decline in idea density, suggesting that more research is needed to better understand how interpretation of the language assessment tool may be affected by improvements in writing.

Key Words: Memory • autobiography • elderly • old age




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 AJGPHome page
G. E. Vaillant
Aging Well
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, March 1, 2007; 15(3): 181 - 183.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ALL ISSUES SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry