Spoken discourse in episodic autobiographical and verbal short-term memory in Chinese people with dementia: the roles of global coherence and informativeness

Anthony Pak-Hin Kong; Ryan Tsz Him Cheung; Gloria H Y Wong; Jacky C P Choy; Ruizhi Dai; Aimee Spector

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1124477

Spoken discourse in episodic autobiographical and verbal short-term memory in Chinese people with dementia: the roles of global coherence and informativeness

Front Psychol. 2023 Oct 31:14:1124477. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1124477. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Anthony Pak-Hin Kong^{1

2}, Ryan Tsz Him Cheung¹, Gloria H Y Wong^{3

4

5}, Jacky C P Choy³, Ruizhi Dai⁶, Aimee Spector⁴

Affiliations

¹ Academic Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² Aphasia Research and Therapy (ART) Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³ Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁴ Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Memory and discourse production are closely related in healthy populations. A few studies in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and people with dementia (PWD) suggested similar links, although empirical evidence is insufficient to inform emerging intervention design and natural language processing research. Fine-grained discourse assessment is needed to understand their complex relationship in PWD.

Methods: Spoken samples from 104 PWD were elicited using personal narrative and sequential picture description and assessed using Main Concept Analysis and other content-based analytic methods. Discourse and memory performance data were analyzed in bivariate correlation and linear multiple regression models to determine the relationship between discourse production and episodic autobiographical memory and verbal short-term memory (vSTM).

Results: Global coherence was a significant predictor of episodic autobiographical memory, explaining over half of the variance. Both episodic autobiographical memory and vSTM were positively correlated with global coherence and informativeness, and negatively with empty speech indices.

Discussion: Coherence in personal narrative may be supported by episodic autobiographical memory and vice versa, suggesting potential mechanism of interventions targeting personhood through conversation. Indices of global coherence, informativeness, and empty speech can be used as markers of memory functions in PWD.

Keywords: dementia; episodic autobiographical memory; global coherence; informativeness; personal narratives; sequential picture description; spoken discourse; verbal short-term memory.

Grants and funding

This report was part of a larger project “BrainLive – Connecting Families Living with Dementia in Pandemic Situations and Beyond” funded by the Simon KY Lee Foundation Elderly Fund.