Impairments in prospective and retrospective memory following stroke.

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to carry out a planned intention at a future time. We studied PM deficits in a group of community-dwelling stroke survivors compared with normal controls. Twelve stroke patients and 12 matched controls performed a series of tests assessing executive function, prospective (PM) and retrospective memory (RM). Patients performed less well than controls on laboratory measures of PM and associative RM; they also showed deficits on standard tests of RM and executive control. The groups did not differ on more structured clinical measures of executive function, RM, PM or self-rated PM and RM. The results are discussed in terms of an impairment in the ability to 'self-initiate' effortful cognitive processes.