A crossroads symbolizing memory and cognitive health, with paths leading to clarity and confusion.

Memory Lane or Dead End? How New Tests Spot Alzheimer's Early

Beau Callahan in Health & Wellness December 2025 • 4 min read.

"Cutting-edge memory analysis can now distinguish between Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s, offering hope for early intervention."

Alzheimer's disease (AD) starts with subtle memory slips, slowly eroding our ability to recall cherished moments and daily tasks. This damage primarily strikes the medial temporal lobe, a critical area for memory, along with widespread cortical association regions. Huntington's disease (HD), in contrast, begins with basal ganglia damage affecting movement and cognitive functions. The degeneration extends to the frontal lobes, impacting decision-making and behavior.

These different patterns of brain damage result in distinct types of memory loss. Those with Alzheimer's struggle with learning new information, rapidly forgetting what they’ve just heard, and often failing to recognize familiar faces—reflecting an encoding/storage deficit. Huntington's disease patients, especially in the early stages, may recall information if given the right cues, but have difficulty in spontaneously recalling information—pointing to a retrieval-based issue.

Now, a new analysis of the California Verbal Learning Test-3 (CVLT-3) is changing the game. This test, which includes a novel index focusing on recognition memory, promises to differentiate between these conditions with greater accuracy. By minimizing the influence of semantic confusion, this refined approach offers a clearer view of the specific memory deficits at play, paving the way for earlier and more targeted interventions.

Decoding Memory: How the CVLT-3 Test Works

A crossroads symbolizing memory and cognitive health, with paths leading to clarity and confusion.

The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) is a comprehensive tool used to evaluate various aspects of verbal learning and memory. The test assesses how well individuals learn new information, remember it over short and long periods, and recognize previously learned items. The latest version, CVLT-3, includes a unique index called the 'List A versus Novel/Unrelated Recognition Discriminability' (RD).

This index measures the ability to differentiate correctly learned items (List A) from completely new, unrelated items. Traditional methods often get clouded by false positives, where individuals mistakenly identify similar-sounding or related items as correct due to semantic confusion or source memory issues. The new CVLT-3 index minimizes these errors, providing a purer assessment of recognition memory.

Immediate Recall: How much information can be remembered right away.
Short and Long Delay Recall: How well information is retained over time.
Yes/No Recognition: Ability to distinguish learned items from new ones.
List A vs Novel/Unrelated RD Index: Differentiate learned items from new, unrelated items, reducing confusion.

Researchers compared individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD) in mild to moderate stages of dementia. The study included 52 participants with AD, 55 with HD, 53 healthy older adults, and 31 healthy middle-aged adults. Participants completed the CVLT-3, and their scores on the Total RD and the new List A versus Novel/Unrelated RD indices were analyzed.

A Clearer Future for Memory Health

The findings underscore the clinical value of the new CVLT-3 List A versus Novel/Unrelated RD index. This refined measure offers a more accurate assessment of recognition memory, independent of semantic and source interference. The study emphasizes that the new index provides better differentiation between individuals with memory disorders primarily at the encoding/storage level (Alzheimer's) versus at the retrieval level (Huntington's). This insight can lead to earlier and more tailored interventions, improving the quality of life for those at risk of cognitive decline.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1017/s1355617718000474, Alternate LINK

Title: New Yes/No Recognition Memory Analysis On The California Verbal Learning Test-3: Clinical Utility In Alzheimer’S And Huntington’S Disease

Subject: Psychiatry and Mental health

Journal: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society

Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Authors: Lisa V. Graves, Heather M. Holden, Emily J. Van Etten, Lisa Delano-Wood, Mark W. Bondi, David P. Salmon, Jody Corey-Bloom, Dean C. Delis, Paul E. Gilbert

Published: 2018-08-16

Everything You Need To Know

How does Alzheimer's disease affect memory differently than Huntington's disease?

Alzheimer's disease primarily damages the medial temporal lobe and cortical association regions, leading to difficulties in encoding and storing new information. Individuals with Alzheimer's struggle with learning new things and quickly forget recent information. Huntington's disease, however, begins with damage to the basal ganglia and later affects the frontal lobes. This results in retrieval-based memory issues, where individuals can recall information when given cues but struggle with spontaneous recall. This contrast highlights different cognitive pathways affected by each disease.

What is the California Verbal Learning Test-3 (CVLT-3), and how does it help in diagnosing memory disorders?

The California Verbal Learning Test-3 (CVLT-3) is a comprehensive tool designed to assess various aspects of verbal learning and memory. It evaluates how well individuals learn new information, retain it over short and long periods, and recognize previously learned items. It includes an index called 'List A versus Novel/Unrelated Recognition Discriminability' (RD), which measures the ability to differentiate correctly learned items from completely new items. This helps in accurately differentiating between memory disorders like Alzheimer's and Huntington's by minimizing semantic confusion and source memory issues.

What is the 'List A versus Novel/Unrelated Recognition Discriminability' (RD) index in the CVLT-3, and why is it important?

The 'List A versus Novel/Unrelated Recognition Discriminability' (RD) index is a component of the CVLT-3 that specifically assesses the ability to distinguish between correctly learned items (List A) and entirely new, unrelated items. It's important because traditional memory tests often suffer from false positives due to semantic confusion, where individuals mistakenly identify similar-sounding or related items as correct. The RD index minimizes these errors, providing a purer assessment of recognition memory. This refined measure helps differentiate between encoding/storage deficits (like in Alzheimer's) and retrieval-based issues (like in Huntington's).

How does the CVLT-3's new index improve the differentiation between Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease?

The new 'List A versus Novel/Unrelated Recognition Discriminability' (RD) index in the CVLT-3 improves differentiation by providing a more accurate assessment of recognition memory that is independent of semantic and source interference. The index specifically measures the ability to distinguish correctly learned items from new, unrelated items, minimizing false positives caused by confusion with similar-sounding words or related concepts. This allows clinicians to better distinguish between individuals with memory disorders primarily at the encoding/storage level, as seen in Alzheimer's disease, and those with retrieval-based memory issues, characteristic of Huntington's disease.

What are the potential benefits of using the CVLT-3 to differentiate between Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease in early stages?

Using the CVLT-3, particularly the 'List A versus Novel/Unrelated Recognition Discriminability' (RD) index, offers several potential benefits for early diagnosis. Early and accurate differentiation between Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease can lead to more tailored and timely interventions. For Alzheimer's, this might involve early initiation of therapies aimed at slowing cognitive decline. For Huntington's, it could mean implementing strategies to support retrieval processes and manage movement-related symptoms. Ultimately, these earlier interventions can improve the quality of life for individuals at risk of cognitive decline by addressing the specific deficits associated with each condition.