Showing papers by "Mario F. Mendez published in 1996"
TL;DR: Compared with AD patients, relatively preserved performance of elementary drawings and calculations in FTD suggests additional features for distinguishing FTD patients from comparably demented AD patients.
Abstract: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a common neurodegenerative dementia that can be difficult to distinguish clinically from Alzheimer's disease (AD). The differential distribution of pathology in FTD and AD predicts the presence of differential cognitive features on mental status examination. We compared 39 FTD patients with 101 AD patients on the Consortium to Establish a Registry in AD examination supplemented by cognitive areas from the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination. The FTD patients were diagnosed using noncognitive clinical and neuroimaging criteria and were comparable to the AD patients in terms of gender, educational level, and dementia severity ratings. The FTD patients performed significantly better than the AD patients on constructions and calculations. These findings were at the lower limits of normal for older normal controls and persisted after covarying for younger age and higher Mini-Mental Status Examination scores in the FTD group. In addition to personality and neuroimaging features, relatively preserved performance of elementary drawings and calculations in FTD suggests additional features for distinguishing FTD patients from comparably demented AD patients.
97 citations
TL;DR: Patients with mild Alzheimer's disease have disturbed interpretation of monocular as well as binocular depth cues, which could lead to optic interventions to improve their visual depth perception.
Abstract: Abnormal depth perception contributes to visuospatial deficits in Alzheimer's disease. Disturbances in stereopsis, motion parallax, and the interpretation of static monocular depth cues may result from neuropathology in the visual cortex. We evaluated 15 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and 15 controls matched for age, sex, and education on measures of local stereopsis (stereoscopic testing), global stereopsis (random dots), motion parallax (Howard-Dolman apparatus), and monocular depth perception by relative size, interposition, and perspective. Compared to controls, the patients were significantly impaired in over-all depth perception. This impairment was largely due to disturbances in local stereopsis and in the interpretation of depth from perspective, independent of other visuospatial functions. Patients with Alzheimer's disease have disturbed interpretation of monocular as well as binocular depth cues. This information could lead to optic interventions to improve their visual depth perception.
70 citations
TL;DR: Ten patients with complex partial seizures who experienced cognitive auras had consistently more depressive traits and psychosocial difficulties than 50 patients with other psychic or nonpsychic auras, particularly if the patients with cognitiveAuras had left hemisphere epileptiform foci.
Abstract: Studies suggest a high frequency of epileptic auras with intellectual content among epileptic patients with psychopathology and personality disorders. This study compared measures of personality and psychosocial functioning between epileptic patients with cognitive auras and epileptic patients with noncognitive auras. Ten patients with complex partial seizures who experienced cognitive auras had consistently more depressive traits and psychosocial difficulties than 50 patients with other psychic or nonpsychic auras, particularly if the patients with cognitive auras had left hemisphere epileptiform foci. Cognitive auras may be associated with depressive traits among epileptic patients. The findings were also in agreement with studies that relate the left hemisphere to depression.
24 citations
TL;DR: These patients suggest that epileptic forced thinking is a heterogeneous phenomenon; forced thinking from left frontal lesions is a manifestation of expressive language and is distinct from experiential thoughts arising from temporal limbic foci.
Abstract: Forced thinking is an incompletely understood and rarely described epileptic aura. We studied three patients with forced thinking from left frontal lesions, two neoplastic and one vascular. All three experienced repetitive, intrusive thoughts at the onset of seizures. Their forced thinking was associated with the desire to vocalize, orobuccal movements, and speech arrest. The episodes occurred with other ictal manifestations and responded to antiseizure therapy. These patients suggest that epileptic forced thinking is a heterogeneous phenomenon; forced thinking from left frontal lesions is a manifestation of expressive language and is distinct from experiential thoughts arising from temporal limbic foci.
22 citations
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TL;DR: Comment on: Grandfather's gun: when should the authors intervene?
Abstract: Comment on: Grandfather's gun: when should we intervene?Green RC, Kellerman AL. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996; 44(4):467-9. Language: en
17 citations