Deptula D, Singh R, Pomara N
Geriatric Psychiatry Center, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, N.Y.
Am J Psychiatry. 1993 Mar;150(3):429-34. doi: 10.1176/ajp.150.3.429.
This study compared the relation between negative mood states and memory in young and elderly subjects.
Forty-five normal, healthy young volunteers (ages 19-35 years) and 45 normal, healthy elderly volunteers (ages 60-78 years) were administered a verbal list-learning task and self-rated scales of affective states.
The elderly group, but not the young group, consistently exhibited significant correlations between their performance on verbal recall measures and their ratings of their anxiety, depression, and withdrawal; i.e., within the elderly group, higher levels of negative affective states were associated with poorer memory.
These findings indicate that aging modulates the relation between emotional state and memory functions, and they are consistent with the hypothesis that the elderly are more vulnerable than the young to the adverse effects of negative emotional states on memory. Therefore, even in normal elderly individuals without diagnosable psychopathology, negative affective states (such as anxiety and depression) may interfere with memory functioning.
本研究比较了年轻和老年受试者负面情绪状态与记忆之间的关系。
45名正常、健康的年轻志愿者（年龄19 - 35岁）和45名正常、健康的老年志愿者（年龄60 - 78岁）接受了言语列表学习任务和情感状态自评量表测试。
老年组而非年轻组在言语回忆测量中的表现与他们的焦虑、抑郁和退缩评分之间始终存在显著相关性；即，在老年组中，较高水平的负面情绪状态与较差的记忆力相关。
这些发现表明衰老调节了情绪状态与记忆功能之间的关系，并且与老年人比年轻人更容易受到负面情绪状态对记忆的不利影响这一假设一致。因此，即使在没有可诊断精神病理学的正常老年人中，负面情绪状态（如焦虑和抑郁）也可能干扰记忆功能。
