Short-Term vs. Long-Term memory problems

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I wanted to add to this that the FDA-approved alertness aid would likely be a bad option for me. I really can't handle much caffeine or CNS stimulants in general. Stimulants give me terrible panic attacks and I haven't many panic attacks since I cut out all caffeine intake. Besides...this alertness aid would likely only improve very narrow aspects of memory. Namely short-term/working memory and I supposedly have no problems in that area in particular. It's really hard to tell though and a few things don't add up. All the tests of my short-term/working memory yielded perfectly normal (or above average-superior) results in that area. AFAIK....the neuropsychological tests are much more reliable in terms of their ability to accurately assess short-term/working memory as opposed to long-term memory. Still...I supposedly have some frontal lobe deficits and the frontal lobe plays a critical role in short-term/working memory. Not to mention a role in transfering short-term memory into long-term memory. Thus...I suppose whatever frontal lobe deficits I have do not impact my short-term/working memory per se.

The part of the frontal lobe responsible (the prefrontal cortex I believe) responsible for transfering short-term memory into long-term memory may be impaired though. I've heard that would require extensive damage/abnormality in this region which would definitely be detected on the neuropsychological tests.

The following excerpt is from the book "Neuropsychological assessment of neuropsychiatric and neuromedical disorders". It may provide some insight into the memory problems I believe I have. It discusses the Category Test, one of the seven or eight subtests on the Halstead-Reitan Battery of Neuropsychological Functioning. The HRB is considered one of most sensitive measures in terms of detecting neurological impairment. I have taken the category test on at least one of the neuropsychological evaluations i've had. I scored in the <1st percentile, which of course, is in the impaired range.



"The Category Test is probably the best measure in HRB of abstraction, reasoning and logical analysis abilites which in turn are essential for organized planning. As noted earlier, subjects who perform especially poorly on the category test often complain of having "MEMORY PROBLEMS" . In fact, the category test requires organized memory (as contrasted with the simple reproduction of stimulus material required of most short-term memory tests) and is probably a more meaningful indication of memory in practical, complex, everyday situations than most so-called memory tests especially considering that in a purposeful, behaviroal context necessarily depends on relating the various aspects of a situation to each other".


As stated....I did perform "especially poorly" on the category test and obviously I DO complain of memory problems. The neuropsychologist who just evaluated me said that those who do poorly on the category test are usually are very bad at math. I am very bad at math and haven't even been able to pass introductory algebra yet after taking it twice and dropping it both times. This neuropsychologist said nothing about poor performance on the category test being indicative of memory problems though. Also...i've been told my abstract reasoning abilities are very good, often in the superior/very superior ranges on most of the neuropsychological evals i've had. Thus...the incongruity here is quite perplexing to me and i've never been offered any satisfactory answers for it.

My poor performance on the category test may be an objective indication of the memory problems I "complain" of and/or my poor performance at math. OTOH, I supposedly have superior abstract reasoning abilities and my poor performance on the category test should mean my abstraction/reasoning abilities should be poor as well.


This leads me to believe the category only measures certain aspects of abstract reasoning ability and not others. I really don't know and the neuropsychologists rarely seem to have the patience to explain all these to me.


Also...I recently took the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking test. I took this at a career-vocational assessment center that OVR (Occupational-Vocational Rehab) sent me to. I scored in the 97th percentile on this test and the examiner claimed it was the highest score he'd ever seen on this test. Critical thinking does involve abstract reasoning, so I really don't know what is really indicated in regards to my poor performance on the category test.

I have believed most of my life I have memory issues not related to as but i just read my cognition textbook and looked up information online and it is as. aparently autism was originally considered an amnesiac disorder and I have problems with episode memories specifically relating to my self concept. my issues are slightly different then yours bt i wish theyd do more research ! or use me as a test subject, because ive written alot about my own cognition and i could have valuable input. have you had any luck contacting sacks?