The phonological loop and central executive functioning were examined in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in normal elderly subjects. AD patients showed abnormal functioning of the phonological loop and decreased performance on tasks assessing the central executive. However, when AD patients were separated into two groups on the basis of their span level, both groups showed deficits of the central executive but only patients with the lower span level presented a dysfunction of the phonological loop as well as impaired performance in tasks of phonological discrimination, articulation rate and speed of processing. These results are interpreted in terms of progression of the disease, with high-span level patients being less severely demented and displaying deficits only in higher-level cognitive functions (such as manipulation of information stored in working memory) whereas patients with a low span level have impairments encompassing a series of more basic processes.