Behavioural Neurology - Volume 10, issue 4

Authors: Macchi, G. | Brahe, C. | Pomponi, M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Three points of interest lie in considering how Alzheimer, and more significantly Perusini, struggled to throw light on the cause of this devastating disease. There is a stimulating possibility that Perusini believed presenile forms of Alzheimer's disease described the same disease as senile forms. If so this would anticipate current opinion, and reveal Perusini to dissent from Kraepelin. In addition, Perusini may have understood the pathological relationship between neuritic plaques and vascular changes, once more foreseeing the modern view of Alzheimer's disease. Finally, Perusini and Alzheimer disagreed with Jung's view concerning the relationship between neuropathology and clinical psychiatry. This point …highlights the major change occurring at that time from classical neurology to the psychoanalytic era. In his last work (1911) Alzheimer quoted his Italian disciple many times, even speaking of ‘Perusini's cases’ (Perusinischen Fälle). This article is an attempt to change the eponym of Alzheimer's disease into the Alzheimer-Perusini disease. This is a brief history of a master and his disciple, whose scientific lives were, by events, divided. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Gaetano Perusini, Emil Kraepelin

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10401

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 105-108, 1997

Authors: Gordon, B.

Article Type: Review Article

Abstract: Recent developments in the functional and neural bases of several aspects of memory are described including long term cortical memory storage, the transition from immediate to permanent memory mediated by medial temporal structures, working memory, memory retrieval, and implicit memory. These are linked to current data on the nature of anterograde and retrograde amnesia in the degenerative diseases, and also to issues in the clinical diagnosis of memory impairments. Understanding the bases of memory can inform the diagnosis of memory impairments in degenerative diseases, and the patterns of impairment seen in the degenerative diseases can help contribute to knowledge of …the mechanisms of normal memory. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10402

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 109-115, 1997

Authors: Malinchoc, M. | Rocca, W.A. | Colligan, R.C. | Offord, K.P. | Kokmen, E.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Linking data from a case–control study of Alzheimer's disease with data from a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) outpatient study, we identified 13 Alzheimer's disease cases and 16 controls for case–control comparison. The mean time between personality testing and onset of Alzheimer's disease (or corresponding age for controls) was 13 years in cases and 14 years in controls. Alzheimer's disease cases, but not the controls, had scores significantly greater than the normative reference on MMPI scales measuring Social Introversion (p = 0.05), and Pessimism (p = 0.01). When compared to controls, Alzheimer's disease cases had significantly greater scores on the …Social Introversion scale (p = 0.03). Despite the small sample size and some design limitations of this exploratory study, our findings may suggest that subjects who score higher on these personality scales have a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Case–control study, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Pessimism, Premorbid personality, Social Introversion

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10403

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 117-120, 1997

Authors: Starkstein, S.E. | Vázquez, S. | Petracca, G. | Sabe, L. | Merello, M. | Leiguarda, R.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: We examined, with single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and (99m Tc)-HMPAO, 18 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and no dementia (PD), 12 patients with PD and dementia, 24 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 14 controls. While the three patient groups showed significantly lower perfusion in frontal inferior and temporal inferior areas as compared to controls, both demented groups showed significantly more severe bilateral hypoperfusion in superior frontal, superior temporal and parietal areas as compared to non-demented PD patients and controls. On the other hand, no significant differences in cerebral perfusion were found between patients with AD and patients …with PD and dementia. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated specific but similar cerebral perfusion deficits in demented patients with either AD or PD. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, SPECT

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10404

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 121-127, 1997

Authors: Capitani, E. | Manzoni, L. | Spinnler, H.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Fifty-three patients affected by Alzheimer's disease entered a longitudinal survey aimed at studying which factors influence the rate of progression, assessed by means of the Milan Overall Dementia Assessment (MODA). The second examination was carried out, on average, after 16 months from the first assessment. Only age proved to influence the decline rate, which was faster in elders.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Psychometrics

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10405

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 129-131, 1997

Authors: Kessler, J. | Bley, M. | Mielke, R. | Kalbe, E.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Reduced word production in verbal fluency tasks is a sensitive indicator for brain damage. Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are supposedly more affected in semantic than in letter fluency, which is probably resulting from partially destroyed structure of semantic knowledge, whereas in letter fluency tasks the patients can use phonemic cues for searching. In this study, 21 patients with probable AD according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria were examined on a verbal fluency task with F, A, S as initial letters, and a supermarket task. Performances were compared with a control group. Patients with AD showed lower word rate in all tasks …than the control group. The difference was most significant in the supermarket task. Both groups produced most of the words in the supermarket task, followed by S, A and F. They both showed a percentuallikely distribution pattern of items into different supermarket categories. The items of the supermarket task were mostly ranged in clusters (patients with AD 70%, control group 83%). Patients with AD, however, on average, used fewer categories which they also filled with fewer items. In the F, A, S test, patients with AD mainly produced nouns, whereas the control group named nearly twice as many adjectives and verbs. In patients with AD word generation was highly correlated with degree of dementia, free recall of a verbal memory task, and the Token test. Low word production and qualitatively changed output in patients with AD might relate to an inefficient searching strategy, attentional deficits and/or degraded semantic knowledge. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Retrieval deficit, Semantic memory, Verbal fluency tasks

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10406

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 133-135, 1997

Authors: Kesslak, J.P. | Nackoul, K. | Sandman, C.A.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease is clinically characterized by a variety of progressive cognitive deficits, most notably an impaired ability to acquire new information, such as name recall. Eleven demented patients and 11 controls participated in a 4 week memory program that included training in name–face recall. Individuals were taught strategies for name–face rehearsal, and administered task specific and standardized tests to assess the intervention efficacy. During the memory training patients improved recall of names and faces (p < 0.05), while controls remained stable. Patients also improved on the weekly standardized measures, including the Kendrick Digit Copy and Geriatric Depression Scale (p < …0.05). Thus, the memory training can be beneficial for improving name recall and some aspects of behavior. This can provide a framework for development of programs to enhance cognitive function in patients with dementia and may tap biological mechanisms that promote neural plasticity to compensate for the degenerative condition. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Behavior, Cognitive rehabilitation, Intervention, Memory

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10407

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 137-142, 1997

Authors: Welkenhuysen, M. | Evers-Kiebooms, G. | Van den Berghe, H.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Attitudes toward predictive testing for Alzheimer's disease and knowledge about this disease were investigated in a group of medical and psychology students. Overall, knowledge was poor and their own chance of getting Alzheimer's disease was mostly perceived as small. About half the students thought the development of a predictive test for Alzheimer's disease important, while the other half held the opposite view. Considerable variability was also observed in the judgement of the (dis)advantages of such a test. Only a minority of the students would like to have had a predictive test themselves. Important arguments against a predictive test concerned the …absence of a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and the emotional burden of a positive test result. Arguments in favour dealt with the ability to make plans for the future and to prepare oneself for the disease. The divergence in attitudes and opinions reflects the complexity of predictive testing for Alzheimer's disease. Stepwise regression revealed that knowledge about Alzheimer's disease and, to a lesser extent, risk perception are significant predictors of attitudes toward predictive testing. However, they only explain a small part of the variance in attitudes. Moreover, why attitudes are less positive when knowledge and perceived susceptibility increase is not clear. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Genetic risk, Late onset disorders, Predictive testing, Risk perception

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-1997-10408

Citation: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 143-148, 1997