False Memories: The Other Side of Forgetting.

OBJECTIVE

To measure caregivers' and clinicians' perception of false memories in the lives of patients with memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using a novel false memories questionnaire. Our hypotheses were that false memories are occurring as often as forgetting according to clinicians and family members.

METHOD

This prospective, questionnaire-based study consisting of 20 false memory questions paired with 20 forgetting questions had two forms: one for clinicians and the other for family members of older subjects. In total, 226 clinicians and 150 family members of 49 patients with AD, 44 patients with MCI, and 57 healthy older controls (OCs) completed the questionnaire.

RESULTS

False memories occurred nearly as often as forgetting according to clinicians and family members of patients with MCI and AD. Family members of OCs and patients with MCI reported fewer false memories compared to those of the AD group. As Mini-Mental State Examination scores decreased, the mean score increased for both forgetting and false memories. Among clinicians, correlations were observed between the dementia severity of patients seen with both forgetting and false memories questionnaire scores as well as with the impact of forgetting and false memories on daily life.

CONCLUSION

Patients with AD experience false memories almost as frequently as they do forgetting. Given how common false memories are in AD patients, additional work is needed to understand the clinical implications of these false memories on patients' daily lives. The novel false memories questionnaire developed may be a valuable tool.