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For patients with memory deficits

Mnemonics can be used in aiding patients with memory deficits that could be caused by head injuries, strokes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. In a study conducted by Doornhein K. and De Haan E.H.F., the patients were treated with six memory strategies including mnemonics technique. The results conclude that there were significant improvements on the immediate and delayed subtest of the RBMT, delayed recall on the Appointments test, and relatives rating on the MAC. However, in the case of stroke patients, the results did not reach statistical significance.

Effectiveness

In humans, the process of aging particularly affects the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus, in which the episodic memory is synthesized. The episodic memory stores information about items, objects, or features with spatiotemporal contexts. Since mnemonics aid better in remembering spatial or physical information rather than more abstract forms, its effect may vary according to the subject's age.

One recent research indicates a general deficit in the memory for spatial locations in Aged adults (Mean age 69.7 with standard deviation of 7.4 years) compared to Young adults (Mean age 21.7 with standard deviation of 4.2 years). Interestingly, the difference in target recognition was not significant. The researchers then divided the Aged adults into two groups, Aged Unimpaired and Aged Impaired, according to a neuropsychological testing. With the Aged groups split, there was an apparent deficit in target recognition in Aged Impaired adults compared to both Young Adults and Aged Unimpaired Adults.

Notably, a similar research was done previously with the same notion, which showed the same result in verbal mnemonic discrimination task.<ref>Ly et al, Perceptual versus conceptual interference and pattern separation of verbal stimuli in young and older adults., Hippocampus 23:425-340 (2013)