Affiliations: [a] IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Rome, Italy | [b] NESMOS Department, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy | [c] Department of Neuroscience, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Gianfranco Spalletta, MD, PhD, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Via Ardeatina, 306. 00179 Rome, Italy. Tel.: +39 06 51501575; Fax: +39 06 51501575; E-mail: g.spalletta@hsantalucia.it.
Abstract: Anosognosia is a multidimensional phenomenon that negatively affects course of illness. This study aimed to explore the association between anosognosia and neuropsychiatric phenomena in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The Anosognosia Questionnaire for Dementia to assess anosognosia, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms were administered to 209 patients (103 mild AD, 52 amnestic-MCI, and 54 amnestic multidomain-MCI). Categorical diagnoses of apathy, depression, and psychosis were made using specific criteria for dementia. With regard to continuous scores, in mild AD, we found positive correlation between symptoms of anosognosia and apathy, agitation and aberrant motor behaviors, while in MCI, we did not find significant association. At a categorical level, the diagnosis of anosognosia in mild AD was associated with the diagnosis of apathy. In mild AD, the frequent co-occurrence of frontally mediated behavioral disorders and anosognosia, particularly apathy, supports the hypothesis of a shared neuropsychogenic process due to the disruption of frontal brain networks.
