Managing Fatigue: Experiences From a 6-week Course for Adults With Cerebral Palsy.

Objective: To explore experiences of a 6-week Fatigue Management course (FMC) in adults with cerebral palsy (CP). Design: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. The study process followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ). Setting: The study was conducted in southeastern Sweden in an out-patient setting. Participants: Adults (N=8) with CP who had participated in FMC. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure: Qualitative content analysis of the transcribed interviews led to identification of a main category, categories, and subcategories, describing the participants' experiences of FMC. Results: The analysis identified 2 categories: Awareness regarding fatigue, with the 2 subcategories: A better understanding, and The feeling of not being alone; and Perceive opportunities for changes, with the 3 subcategories: Understanding the need for changes, Demanding process, and Taking steps toward change. These categories were summed up in the main category describing the participants' experiences of FMC: A challenging and eye-opening course that gave deeper self-understanding and thoughts about making changes. Conclusions: Overall, the participants described positive experiences of FMC, with increased awareness regarding fatigue and insight regarding the possibilities for change. Nevertheless, there were challenges in coping with the extensive information and with the home assignments. This study gives promising results regarding the applicability of FMC for adults with CP. However, there is a need for course modifications with more targeted and differentiated content that is manageable and does not overload the participants. The modifications should include extended time, the addition of individual support, and follow-up between sessions, to increase participants' opportunities to implement new strategies and initiate behavioral change.

Determinants of capacious memory: a process-dissociation and experiential approach.

The aim of this study is to delineate some important circumstances where exceptionally good memory performance, or capacious memory occurs. A further aim is to study memory processes involved in this memory phenomenon. In a first experiment, participants looked through two series of pictures differing in number and were evaluated in two-alternative forced-choice and yes-no recognition memory tasks combined in a process-dissociation procedure. Moreover, participants were asked to provide remember and know responses to tap recollective experience. The results as to forced-choice recognition task accuracy and according to process-dissociation procedure estimates were replicated in a second experiment with a more intrinsic contextual manipulation, and in a third, forgetting experiment. In addition to replicating previous findings, the results show (a) that capacious memory is associated with strong feelings of recollection; and (b) that familiarity (in terms of the process-dissociation framework) contributes to this phenomenon.

Recognition memory in Alzheimer's disease. A demonstration of a remarkable memory capacity in Alzheimer's disease.

A compelling feature of human memory is its striking capacity. Under certain circumstances, subjects can remember large amounts of information even with brief exposure at study. This investigation shows that this ability is preserved even in severely impaired Alzheimer's disease patients, and this holds implications for the clinical management of amnesic patients. To this date, demonstrations of preserved learning and memory capacity in Alzheimer's disease and amnesia have been confined to implicit memory tasks. Since the present results were obtained in an explicit memory task, the finding also holds implications for the understanding of amnesia.