Testing Hippocampal Memory in Prodromal Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Bussè, Cinzia^{a; b} | Caffarra, Paolo^{c; d} | Rossi, Alice^a | Zorzi, Giovanni^a | Fragiacomo, Federica^a | Camporese, Giulia^a | Pompanin, Sara^a | Di Bernardo, Gian Antonio^e | Cagnin, Annachiara^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurosciences (DNS), University of Padua, Padua, Italy | [b] Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Florence, Italy | [c] Section of Neuroscience, DIMEC, University of Parma, Italy | [d] Alzheimer Center, FERB ONLUS, Gazzaniga, Bergamo, Italy | [e] Department of Education and Humanities, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Annachiara Cagnin, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova Medical School, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128 Padova, Italy. Tel.: +39 49 8213600; Fax: +39 49 8751770; E-mail: annachiara.cagnin@unipd.it.

Abstract: The Free and Cued Selective Reminding test (FCSRT) was used to assess memory in 19 patients with prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and 25 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. DLB scored better than AD in selective measures of the FCSRT: immediate total recall (p = 0.01) and index of sensitivity of cueing (p = 0.001), while free delayed and total memory scores were similarly impaired. The index of sensitivity of cueing held a sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 79% in distinguishing DLB. FCSRT could help in disentangling hippocampal memory deficits from memory impairment due to ineffective recall strategies.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, hippocampus, memory

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-180166

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 349-353, 2018