The present pilot study investigated the therapeutic effect of a memory rehabilitation program (MR), with pre and post-intervention assessment, in a group of elderly patients with mnemonic complaints and suggestive symptoms of depression. The sample was composed of seven older adults with ages between 65 to 80 years and formal education above seven years. The MR consisted of 24 sessions, twice weekly and each with 90 minutes duration. The intervention included implicit and explicit learning techniques, with internal and external mnemonic strategies. The cognitive performance, pre and post-interventions, were compared by the Wilcoxon test. There were reductions of suggestive symptoms of depression and of memory complaints, increase of attentional processing speed and improvement of working memory. This study should be replicated in larger samples, as well as, in groups with objective memory deficits and clinically diagnosed depression, compared to control groups.
rehabilitation; memory; depression; elderly
