Factors involved in memory encoding and their implications for the memory performance of older adults and people with mild cognitive impairment

Rehabilitation of episodic memory declines typically focuses on alleviating the demand for recall and improving the retrieval process. Modulating the encoding is not commonly practiced, but may nevertheless be important. Seventeen event-related potential (ERP) studies interpreted using the subsequent memory effect, an index of successful encoding, are reviewed and the factors involved in encoding are discussed. The nature of the materials used for testing, modes of encoding, and the nature of the retrieval task are highlighted as important factors. Meaningful materials and processing information semantically enhance encoding to episodic memory. The studies reviewed reveal that older persons process information more uniformly without elaboration compared with their younger counterparts. Although people with mild cognitive impairment have encoding and retrieval deficits, an elaborative type of encoding training that draws on successful encoding factors may help to improve memory performance.