Episodic memory function was measured by the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (WHO/UCLA version, AVLT) (Maj et al., 1994). The AVLT consists of 15 nouns from five different categories read aloud by the examiner (with an interval of 1 s between words) for five consecutive trials (trials 1 to 5), and each trial is followed by a free-recall test. The order of word presentation remained fixed across trials. Subjects were asked to repeat as many of the words as possible. After a 20-min delay period, subjects were again required to recall the words (trial 6). The number of correct items was recorded as the score in each trial.
