Autobiographical Specificity

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
Autobiographical memory is diminished in patients with Alzheimer's Disease and those with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, and research has focused on the hampered ability of patients in retrieving specific memories. However, this study proposes a detailed methodology to provide a qualitative analysis of autobiographical specificity.

Detailed Description
-----------------
Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and those with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia will be invited to retrieve autobiographical memories. Memories will be analyzed and categorized into specific, categoric, extended, or semantic autobiographical retrieval.

Official Title
-----------------
Autobiographical Specificity in Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

Conditions
-----------------
Alzheimer Disease, Memory, Frontotemporal Dementia

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Other: Autobiographical reminder


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: Alzheimer' disease or avioral variant of frontotemporal dementia No opposition from the patient to be included in the study For Alzheimer's patients: a score of more than 24 out of 30 on the Mini Mental State Examination (McKhann et al., 1984) Exclusion Criteria: Other psychiatric/neurological disorders Minor patients Adults under guardianship or protection.

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
No

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Alzheimer's Disease<br>recruited according to criteria by National Institute on Aging (McKhann et al., 2011). | Other: Autobiographical reminder<br>* The analysis of the specificity of Autobiographical Recall will be done through the following scale, developed for the study: 6 points for a recall involving a single personal event located in space AND time (e.g.,I remember when my parents took me to the sea for the first time..in 1962..in Dunkerque) 5 points for a recall involving a single personal event located in space OR time (I remember when my parents first took me to the sea...in 1962) 4 points for a recall involving a single personal event but without spatial/temporal details (I remember when my parents took me to the sea for the first time) 3 points for a recall involving a general personal event but located in space AND time (we used to go to Dunkerque in the summer) 2 points for a recall involving a general personal event but located in space OR time (we used to go to Dunkerque) 1 point for a recall involving a general personal event without spatial/temporal details (we used to go on vacation)<br>|
| Behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia<br>recruited following criteria by Rascovsky et al. (2011) | Other: Autobiographical reminder<br>* The analysis of the specificity of Autobiographical Recall will be done through the following scale, developed for the study: 6 points for a recall involving a single personal event located in space AND time (e.g.,I remember when my parents took me to the sea for the first time..in 1962..in Dunkerque) 5 points for a recall involving a single personal event located in space OR time (I remember when my parents first took me to the sea...in 1962) 4 points for a recall involving a single personal event but without spatial/temporal details (I remember when my parents took me to the sea for the first time) 3 points for a recall involving a general personal event but located in space AND time (we used to go to Dunkerque in the summer) 2 points for a recall involving a general personal event but located in space OR time (we used to go to Dunkerque) 1 point for a recall involving a general personal event without spatial/temporal details (we used to go on vacation)<br>|

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Autobiographical specificity | We will apply the method by Raes et al. (2007) to assess whether each retrieved event refers to a: specific event, categorical event, extended event, or semantic event | 40 minutes | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
Autobiographical memory, Alzheimer's disease, with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia