Mental imagery is an exciting area of research because it has been used in many real-world applications, including improving sports performance, counseling, promoting well-being, and improving memory. Locate an article on mental imagery published within the past five years. Provide a brief summary and critique of the article. Next, discuss the importance and applications of the article’s findings in terms of contemporary issues. How could you use information from the article to improve cognition in different scenarios and professional settings?

In your responses to your peers, ask them questions about the findings and applications of the articles. For example, you might ask them how specific findings of an article support an application or ask them about the credibility of the findings. Last, if you see additional applications of the article, discuss these in your response.

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.

AFTER COMPLETING THE INITIAL POST, PLEASE ALSO RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING TWO STUDENTS REGARDING THE SAME TOPIC!

STUDENT ONE:

The article I chose is Mental Imagery and Autobiographical Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease, by Mohamad El Haj, Karim Gallouj and Pascal Antoine, dated July, 2019.

This was an interesting article to read about Alzheimer’s disease (AD), autobiographical memory and mental imagery. According to El Haj, Gallouj, and Antoine (2019), the decline in the mental ability to relive past autobiographical events in AD may be associated with a compromise in the ability to generate mental images. The study assessed the relationship between mental imagery (visual and spatial imagery) and autobiographical memory in AD. It included 26 participants with a clinical diagnosis of probable mild AD and 28 healthy participants as controls. Participants were given a neuropsychological and clinical assessment, visual and spatial mental imagery assessment and an autobiographical assessment. Results indicated that spatial imagery was compromised in AD but autobiographical memory and visual imagery was preserved. There were significant correlations observed between autobiographical memory and visual and spatial imagery in control and AD participants. Autobiographical memory was predicted by visual imagery but not spatial imagery. This article was well written and the assessments were thoroughly discussed. I can honestly say this was one of the first journal articles that had my attention throughout the article. Several references helped to give this article creditability.

The importance and applications of this article’s findings in terms of contemporary issues were to discover how AD impacts an individual’s mental imagery and autobiographical memory. This study’s results can help us to understand how to help AD patients with their memories, which could help them with their daily routines such as taking medications on time.

One way to improve the cognition of AD patients could be to help them to visualize things when trying to recall things or when trying to perform a task. According to El Haj et al. (2019), visual imagery might have contributed to autobiographical memory in our participants by providing them with visual cues during memory retrieval. In the Assisted Living Facility that I work in, we could possibly make picture flash cards to help with memory.

REFERENCE

El Haj, M., Gallouj, K., & Antoine, P. (2019). Mental imagery and autobiographical memory in Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychology, 33(5), 609-606. doi:10.1037/neu0000521

STUDENT TWO:

The article I chose for this discussion is, “Mental Imagery and Autobiographical Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease”, by El Haj, M., Gallouj, K., & Antoine, P. (2019). The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between mental imagery and autobiographical memory in participants with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Authors, El Haj, Gallouj, and Antoine (2019), hypothesized that autobiographical performance in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease would be correlated with, and predicted by, their ability to process mental images. (El Haj, Gallouj, & Antoine, 2019). The study included 26 patients with AD as well as 28 healthy controls. The control group participants were mostly spouses or companions of the patients with AD. The control group lived independently from the patients with AD. While the group of patients with AD had lower cognitive ability, there were no other significant differences (age, sex, educational status) from the control group. Each group was asses on their neuropsychological, clinical, and autobiographical performances, as well as their visual and special mental imagery.

The results showed “preserved visual imagery but compromised spatial imagery and autobiographical memory in AD” (El Haj, Gallouj, & Antoine, 2019). Both groups had significant correlations between visual and spatial imagery with autobiographical memory. The assessments show that patients with AD had trouble retrieving certain memories or shift from specific to general autobiographical retrieval. Even though the participants were given thorough instructions to provide detailed descriptions of their personal events, there were still not able to shift from specific to general. The correlation analysis showed a relationship between autobiographical memory and visual and spatial imagery in the group of participants with AD. However, autobiographical memory was solely predicted by visual imagery. This could have occurred because the participants were provided with visual cues during memory retrieval.

This article provides a lot of information on autobiographical memory, as well as mental imagery (visual and special). Autobiographical memory allows people to know who they are and what the meaning to their own lives. This is important to almost everyone in the world. Patients that have Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, TBI, Amnesia, etc. may have difficulty retrieving past events, which could affect their ability to generate mental imagery. Knowing that autobiographical memory and mental imagery are related can allow therapists to help their patients heal from past experiences that they may be blocking out. Patients that may have suffered from childhood trauma could benefit from reliving positive childhood memories or bringing up the traumatic ones and facing those events. Patients that suffer from TBI or amnesia could use visual imagery to help the brain try and recall past memories.

References

El Haj, M., Gallouj, K., & Antoine, P. (2019). Mental imagery and autobiographical memory in Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychology, 33(5), 609–616. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1037/neu000052…