Memory Binding Test (MBT)

Portuguese version:

Maria Salomé Pinho e Isabela Barbosa

Original version:

Buschke H. (1984). Cued recall in amnesia. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, 6(4), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/01688638408401233

Buschke, H. (2014). Rationale of the Memory Binding Test. In L. Nilsson, & N. Ohta (Eds.), Dementia and memory (pp. 55-71). Psychology Press.

Theoretical background

Tests such as the FCSRT (Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test) and the MBT, both designed by H. Buschke, are based on knowledge developed within the scope of the experimental cognitive psychology of memory, namely the principle of encoding specificity of Tulving and Thomson (1973). According to this principle, information retrieval depends on the degree of overlap between the characteristics of the retrieval context and those that were present when the memory trace was formed. Although the encoding is a memory process in which elderly people frequently present difficulties that impair their performance, this process is rarely controlled in memory assessment tests.

To differentiate normative decline from the one that constitutes the beginning of a dementia-like pathology, Buschke (2014) gave privilege to the MBT, since this test would allow detecting episodic memory failures, even in profiles of results considered normal in aging. Among the main distinguishing features of the MBT is the use of the same cue both in the encoding and recall of each word of the learning list (controlled learning and encoding specificity; this feature is common to the FCSRT), the evaluation of interference and binding memory. Thus, the MBT, unlike the FCSRT, also involves the learning of items with two words associated with the same semantic categorical cue (Buschke et al., 2017). Binding episodic memory deficit, which is a feature of memory decline in older adults, is considered an indicator of pre-symptomatic memory impairment (Curiel, Raffo, & Loewenstein, 2019). Interference also especially affects older people memory performance (Loewenstein et al., 2017).

The MBT aims to contribute to the accuracy in early detection of the hippocampal-associated memory decline (e.g., Markova et al., 2023).

Description

Assessment domain: Verbal memory and verbal memory binding.

Type of instrument: Verbal memory test (list of words).

Number of items: Two lists of 16 words each and 16 category cues for each list.

Administration: Individual, 6 minutes (plus 30 minutes retention interval for delayed recall).

Population: Elderly people.

Dimensions

The MBT evaluates cued recall, binding memory, and semantic interference.

Studies

Barbosa, I. (2018). Memory Bindind Test: Estudo comparativo entre o desempenho de jovens adultos e adultos idosos. [Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra]. Estudo Geral. https://estudogeral.uc.pt/bitstream/10316/85401/1/disserta%C3%A7%C3%A3o%20Isabela%20Barbosa%202018.pdf

Current and Future Research

Conducting validation studies in different populations (e.g., elderly without non-normative cognitive decline, people with mild neurocognitive disorder, and major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease), and norming the MBT for the Portuguese elderly population.

Contacts

Maria Salomé Pinho (salome@fpce.uc.pt)

References

1. Buschke H. (1984). Cued recall in amnesia. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, 6(4), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/01688638408401233
2. Buschke, H. (2014). Rationale of the Memory Binding Test. In L. Nilsson, & N. Ohta (Eds.), Dementia and memory (pp. 55-71). Psychology Press.
3. Buschke, H., Mowrey, W. B., Ramratan, W. S., Zimmerman, M. E., Loewenstein, D. A., Katz, M. J., & Lipton, R. B. (2017). Memory Binding Test distinguishes amnestic mild cognitive impairment and dementia from cognitively normal elderly. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology: The Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists, 32(8), 1037–1038. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acx046
4. Curiel, R. E., Raffo, A., & Loewenstein, D. A. (2019). Assessment of Alzheimer’s disease. In L. D. Ravdin, & H. L. Katzen (Eds.), Handbook on the neuropsychology of aging and dementia (2nd edition, pp. 464-478). Springer.
5. Loewenstein, D. A., Curiel, R. E., Wright, C., Sun, X., Alperin, N., Crocco, E., Czaja, S. J., Raffo, A., Penate, A., Melo, J., Capp, K., Gamez, M., & Duara, R. (2017). Recovery from proactive semantic interference in mild cognitive impairment and normal aging: Relationship to atrophy in brain regions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimers’ Disease, 59(1), 1119-1126. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-170276
6. Markova, H., Fendrych Mazancova, A., Jester, D. J., Cechova, K., Matuskova, V., Nikolai, T., Nedelska, Z., Uller, M., Andel, R., Laczó, J., Hort, J., & Vyhnalek, M. (2023). Memory Binding Test and its associations with hippocampal volume across the cognitive continuum preceding dementia. Assessment, 30(3), 856–872. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911211069676
7. Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. M. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory. Psychological Review, 80(5), 352-373. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0020071