Showing papers on "Cognitive decline published in 1984"

The Stroop Color-Word Test: Indicator of Dementia Severity

Abstract: The Stroop color-word test was used to examine patterns of cognitive decline in Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD) and non-Alzheimer dementia. Slowing on color naming and word reading was observed, and was greater in moderate than in mild dementia subjects. However, error scores were unrelated to dementia type and severity. The Stroop interference effect, measured with reaction time, was high in individuals with mild ATD and mild non-Alzheimer dementia. In contrast, the more severely impaired ATD subjects showed less Stroop interference effect than mildly impaired subjects when the reaction time was adjusted for color naming performance. These findings are attributed to variation in speed-accuracy tradeoff for the patient groups due to differences in information processing deficits, linguistic impairment, and attitudes to errors. This study demonstrates the importance of partialling out underlying deficits for the understanding of complex cognitive processes in dementia.

Clinical correlates of dementia and disability in Huntington's disease.

Abstract: The relationship of duration of illness and severity of neurological impairment to psychometric performance and activities of daily living was examined in 57 patients with Huntington's Disease (HD). As earlier studies suggested, a distinct cognitive profile characterized patients early in the disease. Duration of symptoms, however, proved to be a weaker correlate of cognitive decline than was motor impairment at the time of testing. For predicting adaptive functioning, both duration of symptoms and neurological status were important variables. This study underscores the limitations of length of illness as a classificatory variable in studies of dementia in HD. We further suggest that future studies consider the contribution of defects in precise timing and sequential operations to the cognitive and adaptive deficits of these patients.

The morphological basis of dementia in Parkinson's disease.

Abstract: The literature pertinent to the pathological anatomy subserving dementia in Parkinsonian patients is reviewed. Mechanisms discussed include cerebral cortical atrophy; hydrocephalus; Lewy body inclusions; neocortical lesions of the Alzheimer type; depletion of cholinergic, dopaminergic or noradrenergic transmitter systems; 'subcortical' dementia; and neuronal depopulation of the basal forebrain. New autopsy data are presented to confirm that, contrary to published reports, most patients with parkinsonism who exhibit dementia do not have concomitant Alzheimer's disease, and that some different pathogenetic mechanism must be sought to account for this increasingly common cause of cognitive decline in the sufferers of Parkinson's disease.

Mental status and memory assessment as predictors of dementia.

Abstract: Mental status instruments that have been used in assessing the cognitive status of elderly adults have focused primarily on orientation and remote memory. In this study the Extended Mental Status Questionnaire (EMSQ) and the Philadelphia Geriatric Center (PGC) Delayed Memory Test were found to be the best combined predictors of clinical judgment of senile dementia among a multidisciplinary set of variables. The EMSQ differentiated patients with moderate/severe dementia from patients classified as non- or mildly demented but incorrectly classified all mildly demented patients. With the addition of the PGC Delayed Memory Test, 75% of the mildly demented patients were classified correctly. The PGC Delayed Memory Test, therefore, appears to be useful in identifying patients in the early stages of cognitive decline.