Frontal lobe dysfunction and false memory susceptibility in older adults.

The study reported here was conducted to examine the role of frontal lobe function in false memory susceptibility in older adults, as little research has specifically examined this question in older adults. False recognition was compared in three groups of older adults (one with no evidence of cognitive impairment, one with evident frontal impairment but no other dysfunction, and an Alzheimer's dementia group) to a single group of young adults. Results indicate that false memory susceptibility was highest in the frontally impaired group, with young and older control participants performing similarly. In contrast, Alzheimer's dementia patients showed relatively low levels of false memory susceptibility, likely due to overall poor memory for list items, indicating that general memory impairments are not likely to be driving false memory susceptibility. Potential mechanisms underlying these effects are discussed.