If a patient has a damaged phonological loop but an intact visuospatial sketchpad, what pattern of memory would you expect?

• A. Visuospatial memory impairment with preserved verbal memory.
• B. Verbal short-term memory impairment with preserved visuospatial memory.
• C. Both verbal and visuospatial memory are impaired.
• D. Verbal and visuospatial memory remain intact.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that short-term maintenance of verbal information is handled by the phonological loop, while visual and spatial information are kept by the visuospatial sketchpad. If the phonological loop is damaged, verbal short-term memory suffers because the ability to store and rehearsal verbally presented material (like digits or word lists) is disrupted. Since the visuospatial sketchpad is intact, memory for visual and spatial information remains normal. So you’d expect impaired verbal short-term memory (trouble with repeating or holding words/digits in mind) but preserved visuospatial memory (normal recall of visual patterns or locations). This pattern would differ if the visuospatial sketchpad were damaged, which would impair visuospatial memory, or if both systems were damaged, which would impair both.