Sergio Della Sala’s research while affiliated with University of Edinburgh and other places

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Publications (614)


Aleksander Luria and Oliver Sacks: An inspiring correspondence
  • Article

February 2025

Cortex

Sergio Della Sala

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Kate Edgar

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Elkhonon Goldberg

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Marco Catani

THE PROPOSED SOLUTION THE PROBLEM www.abdn.ac.uk/ace DECODE -Distant Evaluation of Cognitive Deficits CONCLUSIONS THE CURRENT PRACTICE CONTACT DETAILS
  • Poster
  • File available

December 2024

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15 Reads

In healthcare, older migrants, face unique challenges in accessing accurate cognitive evaluations due to language limitations. DECODE is an innovative, user-friendly digital platform connecting health professionals of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This method enables the evaluation to be conducted in the patient's native language with culturally validated tools, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and saving time and money. Professional interpreters are occasionally used to bridge these gaps but lack the specialised knowledge required for administering cognitive tests and can incur significant costs. DECODE offers improvements in the quality of care for an underserved population, enhancing diagnostic accuracy for migrant patients with cognitive issues. A series of pilot studies have shown the method to be easy to use and well-received, with high levels of user satisfaction and support. FEASIBILITY and DESIRABILITY STUDIES

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Fig. 1. Schematic procedure of encoding and retrieval tasks.
Fig. 2. Recognition performance in d prime for deep and shallow processing between VLPFC and vertex stimulation at immediate and delayed tests (means and standard errors are shown on box plots).
Fig. 3. Performance changes in d prime (means and standard errors) for deep and shallow traces following stimulation over the VLPFC and vertex.
Fig. 5. Performance changes in AUC (means and standard errors) for deep and shallow traces following stimulation over the VLPFC and vertex.
Encoding RTs, d prime, and AUC under deep and shallow conditions between VLPFC and vertex stimulation (means and standard errors).
Effects of left ventrolateral prefrontal stimulation on forming and maintaining deep and shallow episodic traces

November 2024

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14 Reads

Cerebral Cortex

The levels-of-processing framework, proposing that deep encoding enhances retention, plays a crucial role in episodic memory research. Neuroimaging evidence highlights that increased activity of the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during deep encoding predicts subsequent memory success. However, cognitive mechanisms underlying this region’s involvement in establishing and consolidating deep and shallow traces remain unclear. In this preregistered study, we investigated whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex versus the vertex differentially modulates the formation and maintenance of deep and shallow traces. Trains of 20 Hz online repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation were delivered over the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex or vertex during tasks involving pleasantness (deep) and alphabetical order (shallow) judgments of words. Following encoding, two recognition tests assessed immediate and 24-h delayed recognition of words. Compared to the vertex control, ventrolateral prefrontal stimulation selectively disrupted the formation of episodic memory under deep encoding conditions, evidenced by increased response time at encoding and reduced immediate recognition in the deep but not shallow condition. Notably, forgetting rates across the 24-h delay were similar for disrupted deep, intact deep, and shallow items, implying that the rate of trace decay is independent of the strength of trace formation. The constant trace decay indicates that distinct mechanisms are involved in establishing and maintaining episodic traces.


Flowchart of clinical groups selection. HD: Huntington disease; AD: Alzheimer disease; UHDRS-TMS: Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale-Total Motor Score; CCDD: Center for Cognitive Disorders and Dementias; MMSE: Mini Mental State Examination; RAVLT: Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; MTL: Medial Temporal Lobe; PET: Positron Emission Tomography.
Comparisons on qualitative errors made in the Constructive Apraxia Test and in the copy of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure across the three groups.
Bar graphs depicting the z-score error counts in Constructive Apraxia Test and Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure copy across the three groups. Light grey bars correspond to the standardized errors recorded in the Constructive Apraxia Test, dark grey bars to those coded in the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure copy. HD: Huntington disease; AD: Alzheimer disease; HC: Healthy controls. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001
Distortion errors characterise visuo-constructive performance in Huntington's disease

October 2024

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37 Reads

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1 Citation

The Clinical Neuropsychologist

Objective: Visuospatial deficits have been extensively studied in Huntington's disease (HD), particularly in relation to visuomotor integration, with less emphasis on visuo-constructive abilities. Quantitative analyses have demonstrated that individuals with HD perform worse than healthy controls (HC) but similarly to people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of the present study was to conduct a qualitative investigation of visuo-constructive abilities in both HD and AD. By employing both simple and complex tasks, we hypothesized that a qualitative analysis of performance would reveal a distinct pattern of errors specific to HD. Methods: Participants for this study were identified retrospectively. The sample included 41 individuals with HD, 25 with AD, and 35 HC. All participants underwent a neuropsychological battery, which included the Constructional Apraxia Test (CAT) and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test. Results: Our results showed no significant quantitative difference in visuo-constructive performance between the two patient groups. However, distinct qualitative patterns of drawing errors emerged. Simplifications were more frequent in the AD group, while distortions were distinctive errors in the HD group. These qualitative error patterns were consistent across both the CAT and ROCF. Conclusion: Our study emphasises the value of qualitative analysis in interpreting visuo-constructive performance, shifting the focus from "how much" a participant achieves to "how" they perform a neuropsychological task. This qualitative approach is useful to capture the complexity and variability of individual performance, providing deeper insight into the cognitive processes affected by different neurological conditions.


Visuo-spatial working memory abilities modulate mental rotation: Evidence from event-related potentials

October 2024

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29 Reads

Cognitive Neuroscience

In the present study, we investigated whether differences in spatial working memory (SWM) abilities - assessed through the Corsi block task (CBT) - impact the processes of mental rotation (MR) engaged during a classic letter rotation task. Based on the median split of their scores in the CBT, participants were divided into a higher and a lower SWM group. Behavioral and electrophysiological data were recorded while participants completed the MR task and were compared across groups. Higher error rates were observed in individuals with lower than higher SWM scores, while no RT differences emerged. Systematic group differences were observed before and during the MR process of canonical letters. A delayed onset of the event-related potential (ERP) rotation-related negativity (RRN), a reliable psychophysiological marker for MR processes, was observed in the lower SWM group for all rotation angles, suggesting that a longer time is needed to generate a mental representation of familiar stimuli in individuals with lower SWM scores. Furthermore, a delayed RRN offset indicating the end of the MR process and longer RRN durations suggesting longer MR processes were found for letters with larger rotation angles (i.e. 120°, 150°) in individuals with lower SWM scores on canonical character trials. These observed group differences provided evidence for the debated issue of the interaction between SWM and MR, suggesting that SWM plays a role in both the initial phase to generate the mental representation of familiar objects and during the MR process, especially for larger angles.



Between the lines: Role of cultural schema in remembering and forgetting

September 2024

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22 Reads

Bartlett’s approach highlights learners’ attitudes toward integrating novel information using their pre-experimental knowledge. Prior knowledge tied to one’s socio-cultural experiences, known as cultural schema, plays a facilitating role in immediate memory performance. However, few studies extend this effect to delayed retention and long-term forgetting using coherent narratives. In the current study, we investigated the influence of cultural schema in prose retention and its effects on long-term forgetting. The awareness of the cultural properties implied in the prose was an index of activated cultural schemas. Recall performance was assessed across multiple time intervals. Consistently, cultural schemas enhanced the remembering of an integrated narrative for both schema related and unrelated information. The form of forgetting in prose memory followed a negatively accelerating pattern, which was more accurately described by a power function in both group and individual data. Notably, forgetting rates are independent of the degrees of acquisition predicted by varying activation of cultural schemas.



Fig. 1 Means and standard errors of hit rates and false-alarm rates at each combination of number of repetitions and retention interval
Fig. 2 Means and standard errors of hit rates and false-alarm rates at each combination of number of repetitions and retention interval
Influence of degree of learning on rate of forgetting of tonal sequences

July 2024

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24 Reads

Memory & Cognition

Initial performance is frequently equated in studies that compare forgetting rates across groups. However, since the encoding capacity of different groups can be different, some procedures to match initial degree of learning need to be implemented, adding confounding variables such as longer exposures to the material, which would create memories of a different age. Slamecka and McElree Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition , 9 , 384–397, (1983) and our previous work found that the rate of forgetting was independent from initial degree of learning using verbal material. The present study seeks to determine whether this pattern holds true when undertaken with nonverbal material. In two experiments, we manipulate initial degree of learning by varying the number of presentations of the material and studying the effect on the forgetting rates. A set of 30 tonal sequences were presented to young, healthy participants either once or three times. Forgetting was evaluated in a yes/no recognition paradigm immediately and 1 hour or 24 hours after the study phase. A different subset of 10 sequences was tested along with 10 nontargets at each retention interval. The results of these experiments showed that initial acquisition was modulated by the number of repetitions. However, the forgetting rates were independent of initial degree of learning. These results are in keeping with the pattern found by Slamecka and McElree, and in our own previous studies. They suggest that the pattern of parallel forgetting after different levels of initial learning is not limited to verbal material.


Citations (58)


... Specifically, our preliminary findings suggest that if an elderly individual deviates from the reaching axis by 1.79 mm or more at a distance of 50 mm in the trials within the Flanker 1 mm condition, there is an 87% probability that they have indeed amnestic MCI due to AD. Also, our task seems to be sensitive to disease severity (i.e., MMSE) and memory troubles (i.e., RAVLT), supporting its criterion validity 76,77 . Future studies with a larger sample size are needed to enhance the validity of these findings. ...

Reference:

Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment
Distortion errors characterise visuo-constructive performance in Huntington's disease

The Clinical Neuropsychologist

... Parallel changes in memory performance were also observed between deep and shallow traces, collectively suggesting a constant absolute rate of trace decay independent of the processing engaged in trace formation. These findings are in concert with one line of behavioral observations focusing on the relation between the degree of learning and rates of forgetting ( Bahrick et al. 1975;Slamecka and McElree 1983;Bahrick 1984;McKenna and Glendon 1985;Meeter et al. 2005;Rivera-Lares et al. 2022;Rivera-Lares et al. 2023;Peng et al. 2024a;Peng et al. 2024b). In these studies, rates of forgetting were compared across varying initial learning performances manipulated during encoding. ...

Did H.M. exhibit accelerated long-term forgetting? Measuring forgetting in amnesia
  • Citing Article
  • September 2024

Cortex

... C 0 is the resting facilitation magnitude, C 1 , C 2 are the initial facilitation magnitudes of the respective phases, and s 1 , s 2 represent relaxation time constants. Figure 2(c) illustrates the process by which humans acquire new knowledge, 31 which includes three stages: first is learning, where people accumulate knowledge by receiving new information; second is forgetting, where some knowledge may gradually disappear from memory over time; and finally, relearning, which involves re-studying the knowledge that has been forgotten. This process is usually faster than the initial learning because the brain already has some understanding and comprehension of this information, making relearning more efficient. ...

Effect of levels-of-processing on rates of forgetting

Memory & Cognition

... Bob considered himself an outsider to parapsychology but one who defended it against those who think it impossible, as did recently two open-minded editors of a mainstream journal who decided to publish a paper considering its quality rather than their own a-priori beliefs (Della Sala & Grafman, 2024; for examples of parapsychology-censoring editors see Cardeña, 2015). ...

Why we publish papers reporting findings we may not believe
  • Citing Article
  • January 2024

Cortex

... Detecting accelerated long-term forgetting remotely in a community sample of people with epilepsy: Evidence from the Crimes and Four Doors tests Sergio Della Sala (2010) observed in the editor's preface to "Forgetting" that, despite its importance, it has been neglected in comparison with other features of memory. The collection of papers from the major contributors to the field proved timely with the subsequent decade seeing a gradual increase in work on forgetting as summarized in a recent overview (Della Sala et al., 2024). The current paper stems from a phenomenon described in the chapter by Butler et al. (2010), who report cases of accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF). ...

Assessing Long-Term Forgetting: A Pragmatic Approach
  • Citing Article
  • November 2023

Cortex

... Оцінка 0 записується, якщо пацієнт не може імітувати рух або виконати три незалежні цикли. Порядок дій тесту Лурії у дослідженні [18] був наступним: кулак, поріз і ляпас; інші автори використовували послідовність ляпаса, кулака та удару. Результати тесту Лурія оцінювалися як нормальні чи ненормальні. ...

Luria’s fist-edge-palm test: A small change makes a big difference
  • Citing Article
  • October 2023

Cortex

... Subsequently, several other patients have been reported with a similar pattern of impaired short-term verbal memory, but intact long-term memory and visual short-term memory, notably patient PV (e.g., . Reviews of these and other similar patients are given in Cubelli et al. (2023), Shallice and Papagno (2019), and Vallar and Shallice (1990). This pattern of spared long-term memory and impaired verbal short-term memory complemented the case reports of long-term memory impairments highlighted by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). ...

Neuropsychology of working memory: From theory to clinic and from clinic to theory
  • Citing Chapter
  • April 2023

... Despite its limitations, our study also has several strengths related to our story recall task. Taler et al.'s (2021) story recall materials include different scoring dimensions (i.e., unit and propositional) and have a wide range of possible scores (0-50 for unit scores and 0-30 for propositional scores), thus increasing the task's sensitivity to language and memory impairment in MCI compared to other story recall tasks (e.g., Sacripante et al., 2023). Another advantage of our story recall task is that participants are constricted to the same target set of words, as opposed to spontaneous discourse paradigms which give people license to discuss freely and deviate from the narrative. ...

Forgetting Rates of Prose Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment

... Most studies recognize the existence of the Dunning-Kruger effect and provide psychological explanations, sometimes agreeing with and sometimes challenging Kruger and Dunning's metacognitive explanation that low performers overestimate their abilities because they are unaware of how poorly they performed due to their lack of knowledge [40][41][42][43]. Statistical explanations for the Dunning-Kruger effect include the hard-easy effect, the regression to the mean effect, the "better than average" (BTA) approach, the influence of measurement errors, and boundary restrictions [18,22,23,42,[44][45][46][47]. ...

Skill and self-knowledge: empirical refutation of the dual-burden account of the Dunning–Kruger effect

... In particular, we provide a large dataset of 1,136 photographic images of 165 naturalistic indoor scene set-ups and cover (a) two experimental manipulations regarding the semantic consistency (consistent-inconsistent) and the spatial location (left-right) of a critical object embedded in the scene, (b) perceptual, conceptual and psycholinguistics norms for such critical object and the containing scene and (c) eye-tracking data to validate our experimental manipulations, and consequently also scene-by-scene attentional norms that could be used to guide the selection of images from our dataset. Different subsets of these scenes have already been successfully used in a series of studies assessing the attentional and memory mechanisms underlying object-scene integration and producing highly replicable findings across younger, healthy older adults as well as older adults suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment (Borges et al., 2020;Coco et al., 2020Coco et al., , 2022D'Innocenzo et al., 2022). ...

Locations of Objects Are Better Remembered Than Their Identities in Naturalistic Scenes: An Eye-Tracking Experiment in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Neuropsychology