Future and past autobiographical memory in persons with HIV disease

A Process Analysis of Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test Performance Using the Boston Qualitative Scoring System in HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Deficits in episodic verbal memory are commonly observed in persons with HIV (PWH) disease, in whom they are characterized by dysregulation of the executive aspects of encoding and retrieval and adversely impact everyday functioning. Deficits in episodic visual memory are also apparent in PWH, but we know less about their cognitive architecture. This study used the Boston Qualitative Scoring System (BQSS) for the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) to examine visual learning and recall in 43 individuals without HIV and 141 PWH who completed a full research neuropsychological, psychiatric, and medical assessment. A mixed model covarying for education and estimated verbal IQ showed that participants with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) performed worse than PWH without neurocognitive disorders and HIV- participants at comparable medium-to-large effect sizes across the Copy, Immediate, and Delayed trials of the BQSS-ROCF, suggesting a primary encoding deficit. A component process analysis of the BQSS-ROCF Copy Trial revealed that participants with HAND had specific difficulties with configural accuracy, cluster accuracy, and cluster placement. Within the PWH sample, measures of motor coordination and executive functions emerged as independent predictors of BQSS-ROCF Copy Trial performance. Findings extend prior research by showing that HAND may be associated with a primary encoding deficit for complex visuomotor learning and memory tasks that is driven by a combination of visuospatial, motor, and executive difficulties.

Do executive functions explain older adults' health-related quality of life beyond event-based prospective memory?

Previous work has shown that event-based prospective memory (EBPM) predicted health-related quality of life (HrQoL). In the present study, we aimed to examine whether the relationship between EBPM and HrQoL extended to life satisfaction, and whether it persisted after controlling for other cognitive functions related to EBPM, namely executive functions and retrospective memory. We tested two models using structural equation modeling with latent variables in a sample of older adults. In the first model, we assessed whether EBPM predicted life satisfaction and HrQoL; in the second model, we controlled for retrospective memory and executive functions. The first model indicated that EBPM was related to HrQoL. However, in the second model, this relationship was eliminated by executive functions; life satisfaction was not related to any of the cognitive variables. Findings corroborated the link between HrQoL and EBPM, suggesting that such relationship stems from executive functions rather than retrospective memory.