Can memory impairment be effectively treated?

This chapter reviews evidence for the effectiveness of memory rehabilitation approaches that have focused on the treatment of memory impairment. Interventions targeting impairment have usually involved either the use of repetitive practice or the teaching of mnemonic strategies. Although patients with memory disorders have learned new information using these methods, generalization to materials and situations beyond the training context has seldom been found, and so there is little evidence that impairment has been reduced. Nevertheless, in the context of disability-focused treatments, there is some evidence that a general mnemonic skill can be acquired after considerable practice of functionally-relevant specific behaviors. Similarly, strategy training may be more effective when focused on real-world problems. This chapter reviews evidence for the effectiveness of memory rehabilitation approaches that have focused on the treatment of memory impairment. Interventions targeting impairment have usually involved either the use of repetitive practice or the teaching of mnemonic strategies. Although patients with memory disorders have learned new information using these methods, generalization to materials and situations beyond the training context has seldom been found, and so there is little evidence that impairment has been reduced. Nevertheless, in the context of disability-focused treatments, there is some evidence that a general mnemonic skill can be acquired after considerable practice of functionally-relevant specific behaviors. Similarly, strategy training may be more effective when focused on real-world problems. These findings, along with recent discoveries of neuroplasticity in the adult human brain suggest that further research directed at reducing impairment may be warranted. Such research should focus on people with relatively mild memory disorders and limited damage to brain regions important for memory and should target functionally useful tasks.