Document Detail


Reduced benefit from mnemonic strategies in early-stage Alzheimer's disease: a brief testing-the-limits paradigm for clinical practice.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20535494     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Discriminating incipient Alzheimer's disease (AD) from major depression (MD) and age related memory decline is a challenge in clinical practice. Since AD is characterized by an early loss of neuronal and functional plasticity, a dynamic test strategy, such as the testing-the-limits (TtL) approach, that measures learning capacity can be a helpful diagnostic tool. To evaluate this, a short recognition paradigm consisting of a pre-test (baseline) and two post-test conditions with an interposed encoding instruction was developed and administered to individuals with incipient AD (n = 19; Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) 26.5), patients with depressive disorders (n = 11; MMSE 30), and healthy controls (n = 11; MMSE 30). In addition, participants completed a set of traditional neuropsychological tests that focused on the subjects' cognitive baseline performance. Intergroup comparisons (Kruskal-Wallis, U test) revealed significantly higher post-test failure rates in AD patients. Pre-test performance of MD and AD patients did not differ. Intra-group comparisons (Friedman, Wilcoxon test) showed that all three subject samples benefit from intervention in post-test 1. In contrast to MD and healthy individuals, who revealed significantly lower failure rates in post-test 2 compared to the pre-test, AD patients did not improve. Out of the 15 traditional test scores obtained, only two discriminated simultaneously between AD and each of the other groups. Our data confirm the finding of an impaired cognitive plasticity already present in very early stages of AD and illustrate the efficiency of a dynamic test approach in identifying incipient dementia.
Authors:
Ingo Uttner; Niklas Schurig; Christine A F von Arnim; Christian Lange-Asschenfeldt; Hayrettin Tumani; Matthias W Riepe
Related Documents :
7126954 - Observations on the object learning test of the kendrick battery for the detection of d...
17644304 - Assessing cognitive change in parkinson's disease: development of practice effect-corre...
3822144 - Spatial disorientation as an early symptom of parkinson's disease.
21373274 - Self-testing of vaginal ph to prevent preterm delivery: a controlled trial.
7109154 - Detection of metastatic liver disease. use of liver scans and biochemical liver tests.
15590004 - Seasonal lethality of the organophosphate pesticide, azamethiphos to female american lo...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2010-06-11
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of neurology     Volume:  257     ISSN:  1432-1459     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Neurol.     Publication Date:  2010 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-10-08     Completed Date:  2011-01-26     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0423161     Medline TA:  J Neurol     Country:  Germany    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1718-26     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Neurologische Klinik der Universität Ulm, Oberer Eselsberg 45, 89081, Ulm, Germany. ingo.uttner@uni-ulm.de
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease / complications*,  diagnosis*
Attention / physiology
Cognition Disorders / diagnosis*,  etiology*
Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnosis
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Status Schedule
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychometrics
Recognition (Psychology)
Statistics, Nonparametric

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Complementary and alternative medicine use among US adults with common neurological conditions.
Next Document:  Analysis of the CHN1 gene in patients with various types of congenital ocular motility disorders.