Attentional processes discriminate between patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and cognitively healthy elderly

Int Psychogeriatr. 2006 Sep;18(3):539-49. doi: 10.1017/S1041610205002723. Epub 2006 Feb 10.

Abstract

Background: It is generally accepted that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is mainly characterized by memory disorders. Although recent studies also point to an important role of attention deficits early in the disease, this notion has not yet emerged in clinical practice. Our aim was to assess whether attention, quantified by reaction times, can discriminate between patients with mild AD and controls and therefore contribute to clinical diagnosis.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 33 patients with mild AD were matched with cognitively healthy elderly controls for age, gender, educational level and depressive mood. Selective attention (SA), alternating attention (AA) and error-rates were measured by a modified reaction time test.

Results: Significant differences between both groups were found for all measures. Logistic regression showed that SA (corrected for individual processing speed) and error-rates could correctly classify subjects with an overall hit ratio of 81%. When attention measures were not corrected for individual processing speed, the overall hit ratio improved to 97%.

Conclusion: SA and AA deteriorate in patients with mild AD and these measures can be used to discriminate between patients and matched controls, independently of depressive mood.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis*
  • Alzheimer Disease / psychology
  • Attention*
  • Auditory Perception
  • Choice Behavior
  • Cognition Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Cognition Disorders / psychology
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Status Schedule
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • ROC Curve
  • Reaction Time
  • Reference Values