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Normal and pathological aging of attention in huntington's disease and normal elderly subjects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

C.S. Peretti ,
F. Ferreri ,
F. Blanchard ,
S. Bakchine ,
A. Dobrescu ,
V.A. Chouinard  and
G. Chouinard
C.S. Peretti
Affiliation:
Service de Psychiatrie, Universite Paris VI, Hopital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France
F. Ferreri
Affiliation:
Service de Psychiatrie, Universite Paris VI, Hopital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
F. Blanchard
Affiliation:
Service de Gerontologie, INSERM EA 3797, Hopital Sebastopol, Universite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France
S. Bakchine
Affiliation:
Service de Neurologie, INSERM EA 3797, Hopital Maison-Blanche, Universite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France
A. Dobrescu
Affiliation:
Service de Psychiatrie, Secteur 3, Groupe Hospitalier Sud Reunion, Saint-Pierre de la Reunion, France
V.A. Chouinard
Affiliation:
Service de Psychiatrie, Universite Paris VI, Hopital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
G. Chouinard
Affiliation:
Service de Psychiatrie, Universite Paris VI, Hopital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Fernand Seguin Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

Abstract

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Background and aims:

Recent attention models view exogenous and endogenous attention as separate components of attention. Exogenous attention is defined as automatic, involuntary, directed by external stimulation and unaffected by memory load, while endogenous attention is defined as executive, voluntary, directed by voluntary acts and affected by memory load. Methods. Two studies were designed to examine if decline in these two components of attention is similar in normal aging and Huntington's disease (HD). Standardized tests derived from Posner's model of visuospatial attention were administered to normal elderly subjects (n=13), patients with HD (n = 17) and matched control subjects (n = 42).

Results:

In healthy elderly subjects, both exogenous and endogenous attention were found to decline within normal limits, and the decrease was greater for endogenous attention, particularly in situations of perceptual conflict. Patients with HD showed marked impairment of endogenous or voluntary attention components, while exogenous or automatic components were preserved.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that anterior executive and posterior automatic neuronal networks for attention are differentially vulnerable to the effects of normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases, despite the fact that both normal aging and HD are characterized by decreased endogenous attention in situations of perceptual conflict.

Type
Poster Session 2: Organic Mental Disorders and Memory and Cognitive Dysfunctions
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 22 , Issue S1: 15th AEP Congress - Abstract book - 15th AEP Congress , March 2007 , pp. S304 - S305
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2007
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