Roche, Richard and Mullally, Sinéad L. and McNulty, Jonathan P. and Hayden, Judy and Brennan, Paul and Doherty, Colin P. and Fitzsimons, Mary and McMackin, Deirdre and Prendergast, Julie and Sukumaran, Sunita and Mangaoang, Maeve A. and Robertson, Ian H. and O'Mara, Shane (2009) Prolonged rote learning produces delayed memory facilitation and metabolic changes in the hippocampus of the ageing human brain. BMC Neuroscience, 10 (136). ISSN 1471-2202

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Abstract

Repeated rehearsal is one method by which verbal material may be transferred from short-to long-term memory. We hypothesised that extended engagement of memory structures through prolonged rehearsal would result in enhanced efficacy of recall and also of brain structures implicated in new learning. Twenty-four normal participants aged 55-70 (mean = 60.1) engaged in six weeks of rote learning, during which they learned 500 words per week every week (prose, poetry etc.). An extensive battery of memory tests was administered on three occasions, each six weeks apart. In addition, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to measure metabolite levels in seven voxels of interest (VOIs) (including hippocampus) before and after learning.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Rote learning; Memory facilitation; Hippocampus; Human brain; Ageing.
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	1798
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-10-136
Depositing User:	Richard Roche
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2010 15:49
Journal or Publication Title:	BMC Neuroscience
Publisher:	BioMed Central Ltd
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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