Memory is the ability to recall past experiences and is classified as sensory stores (which lasts seconds), short-term memory (the ability to recall newly acquired information after several minutes), working memory (i.e., immediate application of visual or auditory instructions), and long-term or remote memory (historical facts). Orientation to time, place, person, and situation assesses sensory stores and short-term memory. Asking a patient to recall three objects 5 minutes after they are learned is the definitive test for short-term memory. Deficits in short-term memory may be seen in depression and anxiety, but this finding is the hallmark feature of dementia. Asking the patient to do a certain task (e.g., pick up a pen with his or her right hand and then fold a piece of paper and pass it to the examiner) can assess the patients working memory. Patients with cognitive deficits, such as those seen in dementias and schizophrenia, can exhibit deficits in working memory. Remote memory is assessed by asking patients to recall old facts about their lives, such as where they were born or where they went to school. Remote memory usually remains intact the longest in patients with intellectual decline, whereas the ability to create new memories is generally the first sign of a memory deficit.
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