Memory and attention in patients with senile dementia of the alzheimer type and in normal elderly subjects

Dawson, Catherine; Preston, Gail; Reich, Shuli S.; Foster, C. M.; Traub, Michael

doi:10.1080/01688639108401083

Cited by 31 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings give evidence for deficient processing resources of the Central Executive in early stages of Alzheimer's disease. In contrast to other studies (Lines et al, 1991), we did not find a preserved spatial span. Compared to healthy controls, patients performed significantly worse on the standard Corsi task.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease: a new working memory paradigm

Toepper¹,

Beblo²,

Thomas³

et al. 2007

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease: a new working memory paradigm

Toepper¹,

Beblo²,

Thomas³

et al. 2007

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies have found that forward digit span does not differ between AD patients and cognitively intact elderly controls (Botwinick, Storandt, & Berg, 1986;Carlesimo, Fadda, Lorusso, & Caltagirone, 1994;Lines et al, 1991;Martin, Browers, Cox, & Fedio, 1985;Orsini, Trojano, Chiacchio, & Grossi, 1988) and shows minimal decline in early AD (Botwinick et al, 1986). These ®ndings indicate that the phonological loop is generally intact in mild AD (Perry & Hodges, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

Loss of Financial Capacity in Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Working Memory

Earnst¹,

Wadley²,

Aldridge³

et al. 2001

Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent research has demonstrated that loss of ®nancial capacity is a common consequence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While progressive cognitive decline is a de®ning feature of AD, the relationship between such decline and loss of ®nancial capacity in AD remains unclear. Working memory may be strongly associated with ®nancial abilities, as many ®nancial tasks require temporary storage and manipulation of numerical and other data. The present study examined the relationship between ®nancial capacity and working memory in AD patients. Participants included 20 AD patients and 23 cognitively intact older controls. Working memory was conceptualized using Baddeley and colleagues' model, which posits that the three components of the working memory system are the visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and central executive system. The present study examined only the latter two components of working memory. Each participant was administered the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI), an instrument that directly assesses eight domains of ®nancial activity, and the WAIS-III Working Memory subtests (Digit Span, Arithmetic, Letter±Number Sequencing). AD patients as a group performed signi®cantly below controls on the FCI Total Score and on each of the eight FCI domains and working memory subtests. Within the AD group, measures of the central executive component of working memory (WAIS-III Digits Backward, Arithmetic, and Letter-Number Sequencing tests) showed strong correlations with the FCI domains of basic monetary skills, checkbook management, bank statement management, and bill payment and FCI total score, while a measure of the phonological loop component of working memory (WAIS-III Digits Forward) was not signi®cantly correlated with any FCI domains or with the FCI total score. The results suggest that the multiple domains of ®nancial capacity are primarily correlated with the central executive component of working memory.Loss of ®nancial abilities is a common consequence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) . While progressive cognitive decline is a de®ning feature of AD, the relationship between such decline and loss of ®nancial capacity in AD remains unclear. Research identifying cognitive correlates of declining ®nancial abilities can enhance our scienti®c understanding of the neurological substrates of ®nancial competency loss in dementia, and can inform clinical assessment of ®nancial skills by identifying speci®c cognitive impairments associated with ®nancial competency loss.Working memory is one speci®c domain of cognitive function that may be strongly associated with loss of ®nancial abilities in AD. Working memory is broadly de®ned as the temporary storage and manipulation of information (Smith

show abstract

“…Some investigators have examined subjects at the very early stages of AD, referred to as 'minimal AD' and at the preclinical or 'mild cognitive impairment' (MCI) stage. There is evidence that digit spans are preserved in MCI and minimal AD but become significantly impaired across mild and moderate groups (Corkin, 1982;Orsini et al, 1988;Lines et al, 1991;Greene et al, 1995;Hodges and Patterson, 1995;Traykov et al, 2007). This may reflect initially normal functioning within the phonological loop and CES which becomes impaired as the disease progresses.…”

Section: Impairment Of Memory Span Tasks In Admentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This involves encoding of visual stimuli, short term storage of spatial location and sequence order and maintenance of information over time (Fischer, 2001). As reviewed in Table 2, impairment on this task has been found in both mild and moderate AD groups compared to both young and elderly controls but not in MCI (Corkin, 1982;Orsini (Morris, 1984) 17 AD MOD Impaired 17 EC ('Moderate severe anterograde amnesia and moderately disorientated') (Martin et al, 1985) 14 AD MILD Intact 11 EC (WAIS, WMS) (Kopelman, 1985) 16 AD MILD-MOD Impaired 16 Korsakoff (NART, IQ, Wechsler logical memory) 16 EC (Morris, 1987a) 21 AD MILD Impaired 21 EC (WAIS and clinical evidence) (Becker, 1988) 71 AD MILD (MMSE 22.5 (5.2)) Impaired 89 EC (Spinnler et al, 1988) 29 AD MILD-MOD Impaired 42 YC (Psychometric assessment) 58 EC (Orsini et al, 1988) 51 AD MILD (n ¼ 24) Intact 30 EC MOD (n ¼ 27) Impaired (History, orientation, visual retention test, clinical judgement) (Lines et al, 1991) 16 AD MILD (n ¼ 8, MMSE 22 (20-26)) Intact 8 EC MOD (n ¼ 8, MMSE 11-19) Impaired (Hulme et al, 1993) 14 AD MILD Impaired 14 EC (relatively early stage of dementia, Clifton assessment procedure) (Carlesimo et al, 1994) 18 AD MILD Intact 18 MID (Global performance index) 26 EC (Hodges and Patterson, 1995) 52 AD MIN (n ¼ 17, MMSE 25.6 (1.8)) Intact 24 EC MILD (n ¼ 17, MMSE 20.9 (1.7)) Impaired MOD (n ¼ 18, MMSE 10 (4.6)) Impaired (Greene et al, 1995) et al., 1988;Spinnler et al, 1988;Sahgal et al, 1992;Grossi et al, 1993;Carlesimo et al, 1994;Trojano et al, 1994;Cherry et al, 1996). As the Corsi block tapping task requires both visuospatial storage and executive processing (temporal sequencing), the impairment seen in early AD, on both forward and backward spatial spans, has been interpreted as reflecting deficits in both the VSS and central executive (Carlesimo et al, 1994).…”

Section: Impairment Of Memory Span Tasks In Admentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory in early Alzheimer's disease: a neuropsychological review

Huntley

Howard

2009

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

171

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Reports of the extent of working memory (WM) impairment in early Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been inconsistent. Using the model of WM proposed by Baddeley, neuropsychological evidence for the impairment of WM in early AD is evaluated. Method: Literature searches were performed using Medline, PsycINFO and Embase databases. Individual papers were then examined for additional references not revealed by computerised searches. Results: Phonological loop function is intact at the preclinical and early stages of AD, becoming more impaired as the disease progresses. In mild AD, there is impairment on tasks assessing visuospatial sketchpad (VSS) function; however, these tasks also require executive processing by the central executive system (CES). There is evidence that the CES is impaired in mild AD and may be affected in the earlier preclinical stage of the disease. Episodic buffer function may be impaired but further research is required. Conclusions: Future research into central executive functioning at the earliest stages of the disease, combined with further longitudinal studies, needs to be carried out. Tasks to assess the proposed functions of the episodic buffer and specific tests of the VSS suitable for AD subjects need to be developed and validated. Learning more about these processes and how they are affected in AD is important in understanding and managing the cognitive deficits seen in the early stages of AD.

show abstract

Memory and attention in patients with senile dementia of the alzheimer type and in normal elderly subjects

Cited by 31 publications

References 39 publications

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease: a new working memory paradigm

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease: a new working memory paradigm

Loss of Financial Capacity in Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Working Memory

Working memory in early Alzheimer's disease: a neuropsychological review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About