Research Paper
Memory Deficits: A Guide to Abnormalities with Memory and Brain Functioning
What are Memory Deficits?
The brain is arguably the most important muscle and organ of the body, for if one’s brain fails, there are only a few seconds before the rest of the body shuts down. Therefore, keeping the brain healthy and reducing degenerative effects is especially important. One aspect of the brain that tends to degenerate more often than anything else is memory. This impairment of memory is most commonly referred to as a memory deficiency, although since the term is broad, there are many types and branches of deficits that have been discovered and distinguished based on their causes, symptoms, and range. While there is an extensive list of the various deficits, a few affect a greater number of people or impact unique age groups such as children. These most common forms of memory deficiencies include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD), General Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disorder, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, and Frontotemporal Dementia.
​
While all of the specific deficiencies are very unique, all have a few common characteristics. According to the University of Cambridge, “Impairments in working memory… are common and are closely associated with a range of learning problems including attention, language, and reading difficulties” (“Working Memory and Its Disorders”). The combination of those three specific problems is what leads to the formation of both extreme and subdued cases of memory deficits. The cause of the memory deficiency cases is most commonly due to old age, but there are other factors that explain why children can suffer from memory deficiencies. For example, memory loss can result from brain cancer or other tumors, traumatic brain injuries, or other health issues unrelated to the brain such as the heart (“Understanding Memory Disorders”).
ADHD
On the other hand, though, some deficits such as ADHD can develop from birth simply through genetics. ADHD is a condition that impacts many neurological functions which, when added together, impact the ability to store information in short and long term memory. While ADHD is not necessarily a direct memory deficiency like dementia is, there is a direct link found between memory and ADHD. Inability to stay still, inability to stay focused, and low impulse control all make controlling working memory more difficult (“What is ADHD”).
​
Unfortunately, the specifics of what causes the condition have yet to be pinpointed. Main speculations point to genetics, for “three out of four children with ADHD have a relative with the disorder” (“What is ADHD”). Though that does not account for the one child who did not get the deficit through genetics. Therefore, other researchers have found that there are many external factors that could cause ADHD. For example, traumatic brain injuries can negatively impact the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and temporal lobe which are the parts of the brain responsible for memory, impulse control, and attention span (Greenfield 131). If those regions of the brain have not been injured, the brain can still be impacted in other ways even before birth. Some examples include a premature birth which could lead to the underdevelopment of the brain, fetal alcohol syndrome, or extreme stress during pregnancy (“What is ADHD”). Although, with proper medication or forms of therapy, ADHD can be controlled and the patient can improve their ability to have more control over the symptoms and, thus, improve memory retention. In an article regarding the relationship between ADHD and working memory, author Sebastian Dovis says,“... there is evidence suggesting that improvement of working memory in children with ADHD is associated with a reduction of ADHD symptoms” (Dovis 901-902). In other words, if there is a relief of common ADHD symptoms, difficulties with memory retention and memory loss can be relieved.
General Dementia
While ADHD affects many children and adults, impacting their performance in school and work, dementia is arguably both the most identifiable and damaging memory deficit. In the words of author Marianne Smith, who discusses dementia behaviors, “Dementia refers to a global loss of cognitive and intellectual functioning, caused by damage to the brain, that is severe enough to interfere with social and occupational performance”( 42). Smith is essentially explaining that not only does dementia severely affect short and long term memory retention, but there are a large variety of possible other symptoms that result as well. Smith explains,
Among the most common non cognitive behavioral symptoms are apathy and withdrawal; anxiety; irritability; dysphoria and depression; dis inhibition; delusions, hallucinations and paranoia; agitation and aggression; activities such as wandering, purposeless behavior; or socially improper behaviors… sleep changes; loss of the ability to feed oneself; and resistance to care (45).
These behavioral symptoms, along with the basic memory loss attributes, make basic functions in daily life much more difficult and can often lead to a shortened life span. Luckily, Alistair Burns, a researcher from the British Medical Journals, contributed that a diagnosis of the condition can be identified early if the patient begins to show symptoms of dementia. However, many patients and families do not take advantage of the many benefits an early diagnosis provides because of the stereotypes and stigmas that surround the memory deficit. With an early diagnosis, treatment can be started earlier to lessen the symptoms of the condition (Burns 405).
​
As discussed previously, the general cause of dementia relates to head trauma, various heart conditions, or most commonly, genetics. Unfortunately, researchers have not yet found a cure, only treatment to lessen the effects. The most commonly used and the most effective treatment has been therapies in both groups and one-on-one (Burns 407). Burns provides some specifics on the benefits of a therapy treatment:
Case studies of cognitive behavioural therapy involving people with dementia have shown how a person centred approach can help to alleviate fears of other people ‘finding out’ the diagnosis, to reduce rapid deterioration in abilities, to avoid socially embarrassing behaviour, and to avoid losing any influence over care planning. The techniques used include combinations of reality orientation, memory strategies, and reframing… Psychotherapeutic approaches to dementia are successful (407).
While very successful when working to cope and live with the condition, these solutions do not completely alleviate the symptoms. If the therapy treatments are stopped, the various effects will arise again as if no progress had been made (Burns 406).
Childhood Dementia
One key element that must be distinguished is that dementia does not just occur in older adults as an effect of aging. While the chance is rare, young children can develop dementia as well. The primary effect of childhood dementia is the absence or loss of vital brain functions that develop throughout early childhood (Nunn). “The Australian Childhood Dementia Study” states more specifically that, “The characteristic of dementia is absolute loss of previously acquired developmental skills in contrast to more benign conditions with a relative loss of trajectory against normal development” (63). The condition can be diagnosed early if all of the criteria are met. Firstly, if crucial brain functions and skills that had already developed are no longer present, the child may suffer from the deficit. Three other criteria that must be met in order for a diagnosis to be made are significant time shown with the symptoms (three months minimum), problems with the central nervous system, and broad symptoms of brain impairment. Unfortunately, even when the children are diagnosed with the deficit, no cure can be prescribed, giving the child problems from the disease for the rest of their life (Nunn 65-69).
Alzheimer's
As well as understanding the age ranges that can be affected by dementia, another crucial component is knowing what the most common branches of the deficit are. While the three branches can be recognized separately, each a memory deficit, they all can fall under the large umbrella of dementia. After all, most memory deficiency cases are dementia cases. The first branch is Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer's is unique because the condition begins with issues regarding the neurons in the brain which are responsible for connecting signals throughout the brain in order to help the brain exchange information and communicate. In Alzheimer’s patients, these nerves die and the brain, therefore, loses the ability to function properly and communicate (“What is Alzheimer’s''). The nerves die from harmful tangles in the nerve structure called plaques or tangles. Plaques are “deposits of a protein fragment called beta-amyloid… that build up in the spaces between nerve cells (“What is Alzheimer’s”). Tangles are similar but different in that they are “twisted fibers of another protein called tau… that build up inside cells'' (“What is Alzheimer’s”). These two structures are what hinder the information transfer between nerve cells and eventually lead to the cells dying. The death of nerves is especially harmful because once nerves die, the nerves cannot go back to doing their previous function. In other words, there is no chance of reversing the condition (“What is Alzheimer’s'').
​
Similar to generalized dementia, the trait that causes most Alzheimer's cases is age, for as the body weakens, the brain weakens as well. Although not all aging people suffer from the condition, aging simply uncovers the condition for people who carried the trait for the condition through genetics, had poor health choices throughout their lifespan, or who had diabetes (“Understanding Memory Disorders”). The symptoms of Alzheimer's are in line with the symptoms of dementia as a whole, for the most prevalent symptoms are “Memory loss, confusion, restlessness, personality and behavior changes, problems with judgment, problems communicating with others, inability to follow directions, and lack of emotion” (“Understanding Memory Disorders”). Various treatments can ease these symptoms, but the treatments do not alleviate the deficit altogether. Treatments such as medications, comfortable living situations with other dementia patients, and increased medical attention can decrease the extremity of behavioral changes. Eventually, even with the drug and non-drug treatments, memory loss will worsen over time and lead to a loss of all past memories developed during a lifespan (“What is Alzheimer’s”).
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
One interesting thing to note is that while this condition is separate from Alzheimer's, many patients have both which increases the extremity of the deficit. However, Dementia with Lewy Bodies has a separate set of symptoms not caused by the Alzheimer’s and death of neurons (“Understanding Memory Disorders”). Some of the symptoms unique to Dementia with Lewy Bodies include,
… fluctuating cognition (with variation in attention and alertness), recurrent visual hallucinations, and motor deficits consistent with parkinsonism. Associated features include sleep disturbance, syncope and falls (necessitating vigilant fall-risk assessment and management), and sensitivity to antipsychotic agents that are commonly used to treat hallucinations and delusions (Smith 43).
While the symptoms, aside from memory, are different from generalized dementia and Alzheimer’s, the treatment plan is the same. All memory deficits under the umbrella of dementia have no cure, but a theory for a cure could involve finding ways to stop Lewy bodies from forming to reduce the degeneration of the tissues in the brain. Until a remedy can be found, patients of Dementia with Lewy bodies will have to learn to cope and do treatment to adjust their lives around having the deficit (“Understanding Memory Disorders”).
Frontotemporal Dementia
The last common type of deficit impacting memory in adults is Frontotemporal Dementia(FTD). FTD is a branch of dementia in which cases “occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost. This causes the lobes to shrink” (“Understanding Memory Disorders''). The frontal lobe--responsible for memory and judgment--and the temporal lobe--responsible for memory, emotion, and language--are therefore impaired and those functions the regions are responsible for are no longer fully developed (Greenfield 131). This degeneration of the frontal lobe can cause three possible groupings of symptoms. The symptom that is essential when discussing memory deficits is “semantic dementia” which refers to forgetting the meanings of facts and vocabulary(Warren 28).
​
Two other FTD symptom types exist and are still important for a full understanding of FTD, but are not necessarily grouped in the memory deficit category. Aside from memory, the second symptom type is called “behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia”, which as the name explains, primarily affects the emotional and logical behavior of the patient. The third type is “primary progressive aphasia” which mainly relates to the loss of the ability to speak and comprehend language. While patients of FTD can have a mixture of the symptoms--for, after all, the three symptom types all relate to the larger umbrella of dementia and memory deficits-- patients are usually diagnosed by the group in which they have more symptoms (Warren 28). As stated previously, for the other branches of dementia, the cure has not been found, but certain medications and non-drug treatments have been proven effective in dealing with the symptoms. When it comes to treatments, most types of dementia share the same type of therapy and are grouped together for discussions.(“Understanding Memory Disorders”).
Moving Forward
Memory deficiencies as a whole can impact one’s daily life activities as well as general life span. The deficits can develop over time, possibly even from childhood, and memory loss can affect many factors including learning, attention, behavior, and communication with peers. Any past memories of people, events retained from childhood, or recent occurrences could be lost. Although, knowing that the conditions develop over time, researchers are finding ways to prevent memory loss from occurring, or at least delaying when the symptoms will start to show. For example, one suggestion to prevent Alzheimer’s, in particular, is to treat the things that cause the condition, such as diabetes. The more problems that are fixed, the fewer things present to cause the condition. Some more simple suggestions include daily brain exercises to strengthen memory and the brain and reduce chances of brain deterioration or staying physically healthy by getting enough sleep and exercise. The combination of keeping a healthy mind and healthy body is suspected to lessen the effects of the conditions (“Preserving and Improving Memory as We Age”). Nothing is more important than our brain, for the brain runs our whole body. Nothing is more unique and personalized than memories. They are what make every person who they are. A top priority needs to be making sure that people suffering from memory deficits are treated to ensure that their health and their individualism is preserved.
Annotated Bibliography
Burns, Alistair, and Steve Iliffe. “Dementia.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 338, no. 7691, 2009, pp. 405–409. JSTOR, 14 Feb. 2009, www.jstor.org/stable/20512075.
This source is particularly interesting since it provides an explanation for dementia, the most
common form of memory deficiency. The article discusses dementia as an entire umbrella with
descriptions of causes, symptoms, and various treatments to stop the deficiency from worsening.
It was very interesting to read about all of the various effects besides the most obvious one,
memory loss. In my research paper, this will be useful as part of my introduction or
at least as a body paragraph to introduce the various types of dementia such as dementia with
Lewy bodies.
Dovis, Sebastian, et. al. What Part of Working Memory Is Not Working in ADHD? Short-Term Memory, the Central Executive and Effects of Reinforcement. Springer Science+Business Media New York, 22 Feb. 2013, psychology.uiowa.edu/sites/psychology.uiowa.edu/files/
groups/nikolas/files/Dovis-et-al-2013.
I found this source useful because it talks about ADHD, a very common condition found in people of all ages. ADHD is not necessarily a condition people consider to be a memory deficit, but as this article explains, it is. Additionally, I can apply this information to my previous research about adolescents, an aspect I would like to add to the research paper. I want to make sure that I talk about memory deficiencies during all stages of development, from childhood to older adulthood, and ADHD is one of the few deficiencies that does just that.
Greenfield, Susan A. The Human Brain: a Guided Tour. Basic Books, 1997.
I would use this book to talk about memory in regard to the brain specifically, rather than applications to real-life experiments and instances. Discussion of the hippocampus and long and short term memory would come into my thesis. This book would give me good background information regarding the brain as a whole.
Nunn, K., K. Williams, and R. Ouvrier. "The Australian Childhood Dementia Study."European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 11, no. 2, 2002, pp. 63-70. ProQuest, 2003, search.proquest.com/docview/214267846?accountid=338, doi:http://dx.do
i.org/10.1007/s007870200012.
Dementia is a condition most common in older adults, as their brain begins to age. Nunn, along with other researchers, examined rare cases in which young children from the ages of 2-14 can suffer from the deficiency as well. This source will be particularly interesting when comparing to the more common deficiencies occurring in adults.
“Preserving and Improving Memory as We Age.” Harvard Health, Harvard Health Publishing, Feb. 2010, www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/preserving-and-improving
-memory-as-we-age.
This source doesn’t go into too much detail about dementia and ADHD, but the source does discuss how to reduce or prevent extreme and minor memory loss. Given that memory loss is the largest effect and symptom of memory deficits, the article’s tactics can be applied. I used this source mainly in conclusion as a hopeful ending to show that even though there is no cure for memory deficits, there is hope.
Smith, Marianne, and Kathleen Buckwalter. “CE Credit: Behaviors Associated with Dementia.” The American Journal of Nursing, vol. 105, no. 7, 2005, pp. 40–53. JSTOR, Jul. 2005, www.jstor.org/stable/29745795.
This source will most likely be the source used most during the writing of my research paper.
The researchers clearly lay out the most common forms of dementia and memory deficiencies.
Some of the ones I am planning on talking about more in-depth in the paper are Alzheimer’s,
dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia. While this source does not go far
in-depth, it gives a clear understanding of the basis of each condition. Also, the second half of
the source discusses tips for nurses on assisting patients with dementia, but I will not be
including those sections, for they do not pertain to my research question.
“Understanding Memory Disorders.” UC Health, UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, www.uchealth.com/memory-disorders/conditions/#alzheimers-disease.
While this source does not necessarily provide a detailed analysis of each memory deficiency, it
is a great source to use when reading about the deficiencies for the first time. Each type of deficit
is described in a short paragraph followed to a list of various symptoms and things caused by the
condition. I used this source mainly to understand what the most common types were and
how they worked, and then I could find new sources with more in-depth research on each
deficiency. In the research paper, I feel that the definitions will be helpful.
Warren, Jason D, et al. “Frontotemporal Dementia.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 347, no. 7920, pp. 28–33, JSTOR, 10 Aug. 2013, www.jstor.org/stable/23495418.
Warren provides a very detailed and thoughtful summary and analysis of one type of deficit I
will be explaining in the paper: frontotemporal dementia. I expect that most of the information
about this deficit in the paper will come from this source. Without this article, I would not have
known that there were multiple main branches of frontotemporal dementia. Therefore, I will
make sure that I discuss their differences in the paper.
“What Is ADHD?” American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/adhd/what-is-adhd.
This source is very helpful in understanding ADHD, especially as related to children which is
very helpful for being able to track how the condition develops. After reading, I clearly
understood the causes, symptoms, and treatments for the condition in a very simple manner. The
source also provides useful statistics to back up the hypotheses of how what causes the condition.
“What Is Alzheimer's?” Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia, Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers.
The aspect that drew me to this source is that it helped me clearly understand what Alzheimer's looked like, not just in behavioral aspects, but in the brain. While the source is not very lengthy, in its description of Alzheimer's, all of the information provided will be of great use to me when writing the paper. The source hit the three main aspects of the disease: what Alzheimer's is, what the symptoms are, and how it looks in the brain/how it is caused.
“Working Memory and Its Disorders.” MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of
Cambridge, www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/our-research/gathercole/.
There was not much information in this database that I used, for the source mainly discussed working memory. Although, the first two paragraphs provide a good explanation of symptoms that cause/result from working memory deficits. This was very useful in my introduction where I connected similarities between all of the branches of memory deficits.
