Attention Network Functioning in Patients with Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Background: Attention deficits are at the core of the defects in neuropsychological performance which define both dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Most studies have used separate tasks to test different attention abilities in patients with these diagnoses, precluding the assessment of any interaction among the different attention components. Methods: We used a version of the Attention Network Test in which the alerting, orienting and executive attention networks, along with their interactions, could be assessed with a single task. Three groups of participants were tested: DLB patients (n = 13), AD patients (n = 18) and healthy controls (n = 18). Results: The alerting signal improved orienting attention and increased the conflict effect in the healthy controls, but they had no effect on these networks in the AD patients. The DLB patients only showed preserved orienting and conflict effects when the alerting signal was present, indicating that there was regulation of the orienting and executive attention networks by the alerting signal. Conclusions: The most important differences among the 3 groups were observed in the attention network interactions, where alerting played a more relevant role in the DLB than in the AD patients. Under alerting states, the DLB patients showed evidence of certain regulation in the orienting and executive attention networks.

Is There a Specific Pattern of Attention Deficit in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Subcortical Vascular Features? Evidence from the Attention Network Test

“…In this study, we replicated previous findings regarding the functioning of attention networks and their interactions in people without cognitive impairment [11,12,13,14,15]. Our results showed that, in HC participants, the orienting network improved the subjects’ focusing of attention on the target location, fostering conflict resolution by incongruent distracters, a role attributed to the executive network.…”

“…The results presented here provide information that is useful in the identification and understanding of preliminary stages of dementia. These results also suggest possible advances in therapeutic approaches to this disease that involve neuropsychological rehabilitation [14,39], pharmacological agents [23] or a possible combination of both methods.…”

“…However, the alerting tone helped the patients regulate the level of alertness needed for conflict resolution. MCI patients might then benefit from alerting training programs, as suggested for other neurological patients [14]. …”

“…In the present study, we used a modified version, the ANT-I, introduced by Callejas et al [11], which makes possible a better evaluation of the interactions between the networks. The specific implementation of the test has been described in detail by Fuentes et al [14]. …”

“…The ANT version used in this study [11,12] has proven useful not only for assessing the functioning of the attention networks but also for studying their interactions [11,12,14,15]. …”