A study on correlation between verbal memory and working memory in patients with alcohol dependence / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the correlation between verbal memory and working memory in patients with alcohol dependence (AD).Methods A total of 40 patients with AD and 40 health controls were included in this study.N-back task was used to evaluate the verbal working memory.20 sets of phrases were used to evaluate long-term verbal memory.Results Correct number of verbal memory in AD group ((5.15±0.92)times) was lower than that of HC group ((7.35±3.07) times) after one-week baseline test,and the difference was statistically significant (t=4.344,P＜ 0.01).Compared with HC group ((1 436.37±192.50) ms,(1.08±0.89) times,(4.00±0.85) times,respectively),AD group((1 535.40± 192.50) ms,(1.90± 1.57)times,(2.60± 1.39)times) showed significantly impaired reply reaction time of 2-back,error number of 1-back and 2-back (t=-2.112,P=0.038;t=-2.899,P=0.005;t=-5.433,P＜0.01).The error number of 2-back task in AD group was negative correlated with verbal memory after one-week baseline test (r=-0.427,P=0.006).Conclusion The verbal memory is impaired in AD patients.Long-term verbal memory damage have a certain correlation with working memory.