Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Golier, J. A. Articles by Elkin, A. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Golier, J. A. Articles by Elkin, A. Other Patient Groups/Issues Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Cognition

Memory Performance in Holocaust Survivors With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated memory performance in Holocaust survivors and its association with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and age. METHOD: Memory performance was measured in Holocaust survivors with PTSD (N=31) and without PTSD (N=16) and healthy Jewish adults not exposed to the Holocaust (N=35). Explicit and implicit memory were measured by paired-associate recall and word stem completion, respectively. RESULTS: The groups did not differ by age or gender, but the survivors with PTSD had significantly fewer years of education and had lower estimated IQs than the survivors without PTSD and the nonexposed group. There was a significant overall group effect for paired-associate recall but not word stem completion. The survivors with PTSD recalled fewer semantically unrelated words than did the survivors without PTSD and the nonexposed group and fewer semantically related words than the nonexposed group. Of the survivors with PTSD, 36% performed at a level indicative of frank cognitive impairment. Older age was significantly associated with poorer paired-associate recall in the survivors with PTSD but not in the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Markedly poorer explicit but not implicit memory was found in Holocaust survivors with PTSD, which may be a consequence of or a risk factor for chronic PTSD. Accelerated memory decline is one of several explanations for the significantly greater association of older age with poorer explicit memory in survivors with PTSD, which, if present, could increase the cognitive burden of this illness with aging.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. B. Hains and A. F.T. Arnsten Molecular mechanisms of stress-induced prefrontal cortical impairment: Implications for mental illness Learn. Mem., August 6, 2008; 15(8): 551 - 564. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Hart Jr., T. Kimbrell, P. Fauver, B. J. Cherry, J. Pitcock, L. Q. Booe, G. Tillman, and T. W. Freeman Cognitive Dysfunctions Associated With PTSD: Evidence from World War II Prisoners of War J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, August 1, 2008; 20(3): 309 - 316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Tammes Survival of Jews during the Holocaust: the importance of different types of social resources Int. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2007; 36(2): 330 - 335. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. A. Parslow and A. F. Jorm Pretrauma and Posttrauma Neurocognitive Functioning and PTSD Symptoms in a Community Sample of Young Adults Am J Psychiatry, March 1, 2007; 164(3): 509 - 515. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. Cook, J. I. Ruzek, and E. Cassidy Practical Geriatrics: Possible Association of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Cognitive Impairment Among Older Adults Psychiatr Serv, September 1, 2003; 54(9): 1223 - 1225. [Full Text] [PDF]

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2002 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us