Neuroscience
Anecdotal reports of women experiencing memory problems during pregnancy have recently been supported by lab research showing that pregnant women under-perform on tests of retrospective memory, such as word learning tasks. What's not been established clearly until now, however, is whether prospective memory is also impaired: that is, the ability to remember to do those things when one planned to - such as keeping appointments and taking medication.
Peter Rendell and Julie Henry tested twenty pregnant women and twenty non-pregnant women on a board game called "Virtual Week" and also on a real life task. The game involves participants remembering to carry out daily tasks and is designed to reveal prospective memory problems. The real life task required the women to "check in" with a portable device at the same four times each day, for a whole week.
Although the pregnant women showed no impairment on the board game, they were significantly impaired at the real life task compared with the non-pregnant women. Moreover, this impairment remained even when the women were tested again 13 months later, after they had given birth. However, a difference at this later testing session was that although they missed the same number of "check-ins", they tended to realise later on the same day that they had done so.
Rendell and Henry told the Digest that pregnant women may be advised to adopt strategies to improve their prospective memory functioning in daily life. "Specific strategies," they said, "include creating external physical cues or imagining vivid cues that can function as alerts, for example: leave a prominent reminder note next to the lock on your office door to help you remember to take home something from work and set a timer to remove food from the oven on time. Another specific strategy is to not delay carrying out an intended task once it has been brought to mind. Research has shown that even brief delays involving several seconds can substantially reduce the chances of the intended action being successfully carried out."
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Peter Rendell, Julie Henry (2008). Prospective-memory functioning is affected during pregnancy and postpartum Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 30 (8), 913-919 DOI: 10.1080/13803390701874379
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
Pregnancy affects women's memory for what they plan to do
Anecdotal reports of women experiencing memory problems during pregnancy have recently been supported by lab research showing that pregnant women under-perform on tests of retrospective memory, such as word learning tasks. What's not been established clearly until now, however, is whether prospective memory is also impaired: that is, the ability to remember to do those things when one planned to - such as keeping appointments and taking medication.Peter Rendell and Julie Henry tested twenty pregnant women and twenty non-pregnant women on a board game called "Virtual Week" and also on a real life task. The game involves participants remembering to carry out daily tasks and is designed to reveal prospective memory problems. The real life task required the women to "check in" with a portable device at the same four times each day, for a whole week.
Although the pregnant women showed no impairment on the board game, they were significantly impaired at the real life task compared with the non-pregnant women. Moreover, this impairment remained even when the women were tested again 13 months later, after they had given birth. However, a difference at this later testing session was that although they missed the same number of "check-ins", they tended to realise later on the same day that they had done so.
Rendell and Henry told the Digest that pregnant women may be advised to adopt strategies to improve their prospective memory functioning in daily life. "Specific strategies," they said, "include creating external physical cues or imagining vivid cues that can function as alerts, for example: leave a prominent reminder note next to the lock on your office door to help you remember to take home something from work and set a timer to remove food from the oven on time. Another specific strategy is to not delay carrying out an intended task once it has been brought to mind. Research has shown that even brief delays involving several seconds can substantially reduce the chances of the intended action being successfully carried out."
_________________________________
Peter Rendell, Julie Henry (2008). Prospective-memory functioning is affected during pregnancy and postpartum Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 30 (8), 913-919 DOI: 10.1080/13803390701874379Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- What It's Like For Pregnant Women To Be Rushed To Hopsital With High Blood Pressure
For a pregnant woman to be rushed suddenly to hospital with high blood pressure can be terrifying - both she and her unborn child could be at serious risk. To help hospitals plan procedures for making the experience as comforting and supportive as possible,...
- Inside The Brains Of Men And Women Controlling Their Emotions
Women do seem to cry more readily than men, but is that because they are less able to control their emotions? According to Ute Habel and colleagues, research does suggest women are more 'emotional'. They cite the fact that women are more vulnerable...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Aging
Physical Activity and Risk of Cognitive Impairment Among Oldest-Old Women. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2013 Jul 3; Wang S, Luo X, Barnes D, Sano M, & Yaffe K.AbstractOBJECTIVES: Physical activity may reduce the risk of cognitive decline...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Prospective Memory
Remember to Buy Milk on the Way Home! A Meta-analytic Review of Prospective Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 2012 May 18;:1-11 Authors: van den Berg E, Kant N, Postma A Abstract...
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Fish J, Wilson BA, & Manly T. The assessment and rehabilitation of prospective memory problems in people with neurological disorders: A review. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2010 Feb, 4: 1-19. [Epub ahead of print] MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences...