Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T01:53:26.013Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paired associate performance in the early detection of DAT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2002

KYLIE S. FOWLER ,
MICHAEL M. SALING ,
ELIZABETH L. CONWAY ,
JAMES M. SEMPLE,  and
WILLIAM J. LOUIS
KYLIE S. FOWLER
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Austin Hospital, Victoria, Australia Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
MICHAEL M. SALING
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychology, Austin Hospital, Victoria, Australia Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
ELIZABETH L. CONWAY
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Austin Hospital, Victoria, Australia Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
JAMES M. SEMPLE,
Affiliation:
Clinical Pharmacology Unit, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Harlow, UK
WILLIAM J. LOUIS
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Austin Hospital, Victoria, Australia Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Subjects underwent longitudinal neuropsychological assessment in order to retrospectively determine which measures of cognitive function best predicted later development of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). Three groups of subjects were studied: normal controls, patients with early DAT, and questionable dementia subjects (QD). All subjects were assessed using a battery of standard neuropsychological measures and two subtests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), paired associate learning and delayed matching to sample. A structured interview was also used to elicit a profile of the subject's daily functioning. Subjects were assessed every 6 months for 2 years. At the 6 month assessment, almost half of the QD group exhibited significant deterioration in scores on the computerized paired associate learning subtest, while maintaining their scores on standard measures. At the conclusion of the study, all of this QD subgroup fulfilled the NINCDS–ADRDA criteria for probable DAT pertaining to significant cognitive and functional deterioration. Performance on the CANTAB paired associate learning subtest identified the onset of progressive memory deterioration in a subgroup of QD subjects. In almost all cases this was well before significant deterioration was noted on standard neuropsychological measures. Paired associate learning performance may therefore be a valuable tool for the early, preclinical detection and assessment of DAT. (JINS, 2002, 8, 58–71.)

Keywords

Alzheimer's diseaseQuestionable dementiaNeuropsychologyCANTABHippocampus
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 58 - 71
Copyright
© 2002 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Benton, A. & Hamsher, K. ( 1976). Multilingual Aphasia Examination. Iowa City: University of Iowa.
Berg, L. ( 1985). Clinical dementia rating. British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 339.Google Scholar
Blacker, D., Albert, M., Bassett, S., Go, R., Harrell, L., & Folstein, M. ( 1994). Reliability and validity of NINCDS–ADRDA criteria for Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology, 51, 1198– 1204.Google Scholar
Bondi, M., Monsch, A., Galasko, D., Butters, N., Salmon, D., & Delis, D. ( 1994). Preclinical cognitive markers of dementia of the Alzheimer type. Neuropsychology, 8, 374– 384.Google Scholar
Brodaty, H. & Sachdev, P. ( 1997). Drugs for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Medical Journal of Australia, 167, 447– 452.Google Scholar
Burgess, N., Jeffrey, K., & O'Keefe, J. (Eds.). ( 1999). The hippocampal and parietal foundations of spatial cognition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Cohen, N.J. & Eichenbaum, H. ( 1993). Memory, amnesia, and the hippocampal system. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Cohen, N., Ryan, J., Hunt, C., Romine, L., Wszalek, T., & Nash, C. ( 1999). Hippocampal system and declarative (relational) memory: Summarizing the data from functional neuroimaging studies. Hippocampus, 9, 83– 98.Google Scholar
Conway, E. ( 1998). A review of the randomized controlled trials of tacrine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: methodologic considerations. Clinical Neuropharmacology, 21, 8– 17.Google Scholar
De Leon, M., Smith, G., Convit, A., George, E., Golomb, J., Flicker, C., McRae, T., Kluger, A., Tsui, W., Rusinek, H., Ferris, S., Reisberg, B., Ciaravino, J., Weigel, J., Narkiewicz, O., Wisniewski, H., & Wolf, A. ( 1992). The early detection of brain pathology in Alzheimer's disease. In Y. Christen & P. Churchland (Eds.), Neurophilosophy and Alzheimer's disease, (pp. 173– 212). London: Springer-Verlag.
Deweer, B., Lehericy, S., Pillon, B., Baulac, M., Chiras, J., Marsault, C., Agid, Y., & Dubois, B. ( 1995). Memory disorders in probable Alzheimer's disease: The role of hippocampal atrophy as shown with MRI. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 58, 590– 597.Google Scholar
Eichenbaum, H., Otto, T., & Cohen, N. ( 1994). Two functional components of the hippocampal memory system. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 17, 449– 518.Google Scholar
Flicker, C., Ferris, S., & Reisberg, B. ( 1991). Mild cognitive impairment in the elderly: Predictors of dementia. Neurology, 41, 1006– 1009.Google Scholar
Fowler, K., Saling, M., Conway, E., Semple, J., & Louis, W. ( 1995). Computerized delayed matching to sample and paired associate performance in the early detection of dementia. Applied Neuropsychology, 2, 72– 78.Google Scholar
Fowler, K., Saling, M., Conway, E., Semple, J., & Louis, W. ( 1997). Computerized neuropsychological tests in the early detection of dementia: Prospective findings. Journal of the International Neuropsychology Society, 3, 139– 146.Google Scholar
Fox, N., Warrington, E., Seiffer, A., Agnew, S., & Rossor, M. ( 1998). Presymptomatic cognitive deficits in individuals at risk of familial Alzheimer's disease: A longitudinal prospective study. Brain, 121, 1631– 1639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, M. ( 1967). Development of a rating scale for primary depression illness. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 6, 278– 296.Google Scholar
Howieson, D., Dame, A., Camicioli, R., Sexton, G., Payami, H., & Kaye, J. ( 1997). Cognitive markers preceding Alzheimer's dementia in the healthy oldest old. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 45, 584– 589.Google Scholar
Killiany, R., Gomez-Isla, T., Moss, M., Kikinis, R., Sandor, T., Jolesz, F., Tanzi, R., Jones, K., Hyman, B., & Albert, M. ( 2000). Use of structural magnetic resonance imaging to predict who will get Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 47, 430– 439.Google Scholar
Klatka, L., Schiffer, R., Powers, J., & Kazee, A. ( 1997). Incorrect diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: A clinicopathologic study. Archives of Neurology, 53, 35– 42.Google Scholar
Klingberg, T., Roland, P., & Kawashima, R. ( 1994). The human entorhinal cortex participates in associative memory. Neuroreport, 6, 57– 60.Google Scholar
Knopman, D., Schneider, L., Davis, K., Talwalker, S., Smith, F., Hoover, T., & Gracon, S. ( 1996). Long-term tacrine (Cognex) treatment: Effects on nursing home placement and mortality. Neurology, 47, 166– 177.Google Scholar
Knopman, D. & Morris, J. ( 1997). An update on primary drug therapies for Alzheimer disease. Archives of Neurology, 54, 1406– 1409.Google Scholar
Levine, D., Lee, J., & Fisher, C. ( 1993). The visual variant of Alzheimer's disease: A clinicopathologic case study. Neurology, 43, 305– 313.Google Scholar
Maguire, E. ( 1999). Hippocampal and parietal involvement in human topographical memory: Evidence from functional neuroimaging. In N. Burgess, K. Jeffrey, & J. O'Keefe (Eds.), The hippocampal and parietal foundations of spatial cognition (pp. 405– 415). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Maguire, E., Frith, C., Burgess, N., Donnett, J., & O'Keefe, J. ( 1998). Knowing where things are: Parahippocampal involvement in encoding object locations in virtual large scale space. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10, 61– 76.Google Scholar
Masur, D., Sliwinski, M., Lipton, R., Blau, A., & Crystal, H. ( 1994). Neuropsychological prediction of dementia and the absence of dementia in healthy elderly persons. Neurology, 44, 1427– 1432.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D., & Stadlan, E. ( 1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: Report of the NINCDS-ADRDA work group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease. Neurology, 38, 939– 944.Google Scholar
Miller, L., Munoz, D., & Finmore, M. ( 1993). Hippocampal sclerosis and human memory. Archives of Neurology, 50, 391– 394.Google Scholar
Mishkin, M. & Pribram, K. ( 1956). Analysis of the effects of frontal lesions in monkeys: Variations in delayed response. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 49, 36– 40.Google Scholar
Monsch, A., Bondi, M., Butters, N., Salmon, D., Katzman, R., & Thal, L. ( 1992). Comparisons of verbal fluency tasks in the detection of dementia of the Alzheimer type. Archives of Neurology, 49, 1253– 1258.Google Scholar
Morris, J., McKeel, D., Fulling, K., Torack, R., & Berg, L. ( 1988). Validation of clinical diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 24, 17– 22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, J., McKeel, D., Storandt, M., Rubin, E., Price, J., Grant, E., Ball, M., & Berg, L. ( 1991). Very mild Alzheimer's disease: Informant based clinical, psychometric and pathologic distinction from normal aging. Neurology, 41, 469– 478.Google Scholar
Morris, R., Evenden, J., Sahakian, B., & Robbins, T. ( 1987). Computer aided assessment of dementia: Comparative studies of neuropsychological deficits in Alzheimer type dementia and Parkinson's disease. In S. Stahl, S. Iversen, & E. Goodman, (Eds.), Cognitive neurochemistry (pp. 21– 36). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
O'Keefe, J. & Nadel, L. ( 1978). The hippocampus as a cognitive map. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Petersen, R., Smith, G., Ivnik, R., Kokmen, E., & Tangalos, E. ( 1994). Memory function in very early Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 44, 867– 872.Google Scholar
Reiman, E., Caselli, R., Yun, L., Chen, K., Bandy, D., Minoshima, S., Thibodeau, S., & Osborne, D. ( 1996). Preclinical evidence of Alzheimer's disease in persons homozygous for the ε4 allele for apolipoprotein E. New England Journal of Medicine, 334, 752– 758.Google Scholar
Rossor, M. ( 1987). Alzheimer's disease: Neurobiochemistry. In B. Pitt (Ed.), Dementia (pp. 140– 153). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Rubin, E., Morris, J., Grant, E., & Vendegna, T. ( 1989). Very mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type: I. Clinical assessment. Archives of Neurology, 46, 379– 382.Google Scholar
Sahakian, B., Downes, J., Eagger, S., Evenden, J., Levy, R., Philpot, M., Roberts, A., & Robbins, T. ( 1990). Sparing of attentional relative to mnemonic function in a subgroup of patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Neuropsychologia, 28, 1197– 1213.Google Scholar
Sahakian, B., Morris, R., Evenden, J., Heald, A., Levy, R., Philpot, M., & Robbins, T. ( 1988). A comparative study of visuospatial memory and learning in Alzheimer-type dementia and Parkinson's disease. Brain, 111, 695– 718.Google Scholar
Sahgal, A., Sahakian, B., Robbins, T., Wray, C., Lloyd, S., Cook, J., McKeith, I., Disley, J., Eagger, S., Boddington, S., & Edwardson, J. ( 1991). Detection of visual memory and learning deficits in Alzheimer's disease using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Dementia, 2, 150– 158.Google Scholar
Saling, M., Berkovic, S., O'Shea, M., Kalnins, R., Darby, D., & Bladin, P. ( 1993). Lateralization of verbal memory and unilateral hippocampal sclerosis: Evidence of task specific effects. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 15, 608– 618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholtz, C. ( 1987). Alzheimer's disease: Neuropathology. In B. Pitt (Ed.), Dementia (pp. 118– 139). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Small, B., Herlitz, A., Fratiglioni, L., Almkvist, O., & Backman, L. ( 1997). Cognitive predictors of incident Alzheimer's disease: A prospective longitudinal study. Neuropsychology, 11, 413– 420.Google Scholar
Small, G. ( 1998). Treatment of Alzheimer's disease: Current approaches and promising developments. American Journal of Medicine, 104, 32S– 38S.Google Scholar
Small, G., La Rue, A., Komo, S., Kaplan, A., & Mandelkern, M. ( 1995). Predictors of cognitive change in middle-aged and older adults with memory loss. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 1757– 1764.Google Scholar
Smith, M. & Milner, B. ( 1981). The role of the right hippocampus in the recall of spatial location. Neuropsychologia, 19, 781– 793.Google Scholar
Smith, M. & Milner, B. ( 1989). Right hippocampal impairment in the recall of spatial location: Encoding deficit or rapid forgetting? Neuropsychologia, 27, 71– 81.Google Scholar
Soininen, H. & Scheltens, P. ( 1998). Early diagnostic indices for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Medicine, 30, 553– 559.Google Scholar
Squire, L. ( 1992). Memory and the hippocampus: A synthesis from findings with rats, monkeys and humans. Psychological Review, 99, 195– 231.Google Scholar
Storandt, M. & Hill, R. ( 1989). Very mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type: II. Psychometric test performance. Archives of Neurology, 46, 383– 386.Google Scholar
Strohle, A., Richert, A., Maier, M., & Gutzman, H. ( 1995). Improving the clinical recognition of very mild dementia using multiple levels of assessment. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 3, 34– 42.Google Scholar
Terrazas, A. & McNaughton, B. ( 2000). Brain growth and the cognitive map. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 4414– 4416.Google Scholar
Terry, R., Peck, A., DeTeresa, R., Schechter, R., & Horoupian, D. ( 1981). Some morphometric aspects of the brain in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Annals of Neurology, 10, 184– 192.Google Scholar
Tierney, M., Szalai, J., Snow, W., Fisher, R., Tsuda, T., Chi, H., McLachlan, D., & St. George-Hyslop, P. ( 1996a). A prospective study of the clinical utility of ApoE genotype in the prediction of outcome in patients with memory impairment. Neurology, 46, 149– 154.Google Scholar
Tierney, M., Szalai, J., Snow, W., Fisher, R., Nores, A., Wadon, G., Dunn, E., & St. George-Hyslop, P. ( 1996b). Prediction of probable Alzheimer's disease in memory impaired patients: A prospective longitudinal study. Neurology, 46, 661– 665.Google Scholar
Tuokko, H., Vernon-Wilkinson, R., Weir, J., & Beattie, B. ( 1991). Cued recall and early identification of dementia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 13, 871– 879.Google Scholar
Walsh, K. ( 1978). Frontal lobe problems. In G. Stanley & K. Walsh (Eds.). Brain impairment: Proceedings of the 1976 Brain Impairment Workshop. Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne Press.
Wilson, R., Rosenbaum, G., Brown, G., Rourke, D., Whitman, D., & Grisell, J. ( 1987). An index of Premorbid Intelligence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 1554– 1555.Google Scholar