Background: Repeated rehearsal is one method by which verbal material may be transferred from
short- to long-term memory. We hypothesised that extended engagement of memory structures
through prolonged rehearsal would result in enhanced efficacy of recall and also of brain structures
implicated in new learning. Twenty-four normal participants aged 55-70 (mean = 60.1) engaged in
six weeks of rote learning, during which they learned 500 words per week every week (prose,
poetry etc.). An extensive battery of memory tests was administered on three occasions, each six
weeks apart. In addition, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to measure
metabolite levels in seven voxels of interest (VOIs) (including hippocampus) before and after
learning.
Results: Results indicate a facilitation of new learning that was evident six weeks after rote learning
ceased. This facilitation occurred for verbal/episodic material only, and was mirrored by a
metabolic change in left posterior hippocampus, specifically an increase in NAA/(Cr+Cho) ratio.
Conclusion: Results suggest that repeated activation of memory structures facilitates anamnesis
and may promote neuronal plasticity in the ageing brain, and that compliance is a key factor in such
facilitation as the effect was confined to those who engaged fully with the training.
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Maeve A. Mangaoang,
Sunita Sukumaran,
Julie Prendergast,
Deirdre McMackin,
Mary Fitzsimons,
Judy Hayden,
Paul Brennan,
Shane O'Mara,
Jonathan P. McNulty,
Ian Robertson
and 3 others