Charting the decline in spontaneous writing in Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Forbes-McKay ◽  
Mike Shanks ◽  
Annalena Venneri
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spontaneous Writing ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

ObjectiveThis study aims to document the nature and progression of the spontaneous writing impairment observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a 12-month period using both a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal design.MethodsThirty-one minimal–moderate AD patients and 30 controls matched for age and socio-cultural background completed a simple and complex written description task at baseline. The AD patients then had follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months.ResultsCross-sectional comparisons indicated that minimal–moderate AD patients produced more semantic paraphasias, phonological paraphasias, and empty and indefinite phrases, whilst producing fewer pictorial themes, repairing fewer errors, and producing shorter and less complex sentences than controls. The two groups could not be distinguished on visual paraphasias. Longitudinal follow-up, however, suggested that visual processing deteriorates over time, where the prevalence of visual errors increased over 12 months.DiscussionThe findings suggest that the deterioration of writing skills observed in the spontaneous writings of AD patients shows a pattern of impairment dominated by semantic errors with a secondary impairment in phonological processing, which is later joined by a disruption of visuospatial and graphomotor processing.

Profiling spontaneous speech decline in Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 320-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Forbes-McKay ◽  
Michael F Shanks ◽  
Annalena Venneri
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Speech Impairment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

ObjectiveThis study aims to document the nature and progression of spontaneous speech impairment suffered by patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a 12-month period, using both cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal design.MethodsThirty one mild–moderate AD patients and 30 controls matched for age and socio-cultural background completed a simple and complex oral description task at baseline. The AD patients then underwent follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months.ResultsCross-sectional comparisons indicated that mild–moderate AD patients produced more word-finding delays (WFDs) and empty and indefinite phrases, while producing fewer pictorial themes, repairing fewer errors, responding to fewer WFDs, produce shorter and less complex phrases and produce speech with less intonational contour than controls. However, the two groups could not be distinguished on the basis of phonological paraphasias. Longitudinal follow-up, however, suggested that phonological processing deteriorates over time, where the prevalence of phonological errors increased over 12 months.DiscussionConsistent with findings from neuropsychological, neuropathological and neuroimaging studies, the language deterioration shown by the AD patients shows a pattern of impairment dominated by semantic errors, which is later joined by a disruption in the phonological aspects of speech.

Prospective longitudinal study of depression and anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease

1997 ◽  
Vol 171 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio E. Starkstein ◽  
Erán Chemerinski ◽  
Liliana Sabe ◽  
Gabriela Kuzis ◽  
Gustavo Petracca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Initial Evaluation ◽  
Consecutive Series ◽  
Psychiatric Interview ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

BackgroundThe aim was to examine the longitudinal evolution of depression and anosognosia in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD).MethodSixty-two of a consecutive series of 116 AD patients that were examined with a structured psychiatric interview had a follow-up evaluation between one and two years after the initial evaluation.ResultsAt the initial evaluation 19% of the 62 patients had major depression, 34% had dysthymia, and 47% were not depressed. After a mean follow-up of 16 months, 58% of patients with major depression at the initial evaluation were still depressed, whereas only 28% of patients with initial dysthymia and 21% of the non-depressed patients were depressed at follow-up. During the follow-up period, all three groups showed similar declines in cognitive status and activities of daily living. At the initial evaluation, 39% of the patients had anosognosia, and there was a significant increment of anosognosia during the follow-up period.ConclusionsWhile dysthymia in AD is a brief emotional disorder, major depression is a longer-lasting mood change. Anosognosia is another prevalent disorder among AD patients, and increases with the progression of the illness.

scholarly journals The Differential Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (S4) ◽  
pp. 424-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Tierney ◽  
David W. Reid ◽  
Maria L. Zorzitto ◽  
W. Gary Snow ◽  
Rory H. Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Normal Individuals ◽  
Comparison Groups ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal ◽  
Insufficient Knowledge

Abstract:The study of Alzheimer's disease is hampered by insufficient knowledge of its cause. It can best be described as a syndrome whose clinical and pathological features, and their associations over time, need to be more carefully examined. Issues which impede our understanding of this syndrome include the lack of: (a) a singular “gold standard” for its identification; (b) longitudinal studies with appropriate comparison groups and neuropathological follow-up; and (c) standardized multifaceted clinical assessment procedures. Our awareness of the significance of these issues has led us to undertake a large-scale prospective, longitudinal investigation of 399 dementing and normal individuals at Sunnybrook Medical Centre. As a result of problems identified, it is proposed that research efforts across various Canadian centres be coordinated to best utilize available resources and expertise.

A Follow-Up Study of Actigraphic Measures in Home-Residing Alzheimer's Disease Patients

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome A. Yesavage ◽  
Leah Friedman ◽  
Helena C. Kraemer ◽  
Art Noda ◽  
Deryl Wicks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
Behavioral Disturbance ◽  
Nocturnal Sleep ◽  
Significant Deterioration ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sleep Parameters ◽  
Rest Activity

This article reports cross-sectional and follow-up data with actigraphic measures of nocturnal sleep and rest/activity in 61 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients as well as the relation of actigraphic measures to levels of behavioral disturbance across different stages of the disease. Over the course of approximately 1.5 years' follow-up, patients showed significant deterioration of nocturnal sleep parameters, but no significant change in rest/activity circadian rhythm parameters. There were also significant correlations among nocturnal sleep, rest/activity circadian rhythm, and behavioral disturbance measures, but only in relatively early stages of AD. It is argued that study of nocturnal sleep and circadian rhythm in relation to behavioral disturbance in AD requires longitudinal data and analyses that take into account the stage of disease at which patients are assessed.

scholarly journals Oral and Written Naming in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Longitudinal Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 1142-1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gonzalez-Nosti ◽  
Fernando Cuetos ◽  
Carmen Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Naming Tasks ◽  
Better Than

Background: The expressive difficulties in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia have been extensively studied, mainly in oral language. However, the deterioration of their writing processes has received much less attention. Objective: The present study aims to examine the decline of the performance of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in both oral and written picture-naming tasks. Method: Sixty-four participants (half with Alzheimer’s disease and half healthy elderly) were compared in the oral and written versions of a picture-naming task. Follow-up lasted two and a half years and patients were evaluated every six months. Results: Cross-sectional data indicate that the controls performed better than the patients, and both groups showed a different pattern of errors. In terms of longitudinal data, the results show a similar pattern of deterioration in both tasks. In terms of errors, lexical-semantics were the most numerous at the beginning and their number remained constant throughout all evaluations. In the case of non-responses, there was a significant increase in the last session, both in oral and written naming. Conclusion: These results replicate those found in previous studies and highlight the utility of the naming task to detect minimal changes in the evolution of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

scholarly journals Analysis of word number and content in discourse of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Onofre de Lira ◽  
Thaís Soares Cianciarullo Minett ◽  
Paulo Henrique Ferreira Bertolucci ◽  
Karin Zazo Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
One Year ◽  
Content Processing ◽  
Description Task

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by impairments in memory and other cognitive functions such as language, which can be affected in all aspects including discourse. A picture description task is considered an effective way of obtaining a discourse sample whose key feature is the ability to retrieve appropriate lexical items. There is no consensus on findings showing that performance in content processing of spoken discourse deteriorates from the mildest phase of AD.OBJECTIVE:To compare the quantity and quality of discourse among patients with mild to moderate AD and controls.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was designed. Subjects aged 50 years and older of both sexes, with one year or more of education, were divided into three groups: control (CG), mild AD (ADG1) and moderate AD (ADG2). Participants were asked to describe the "cookie theft" picture. The total number of complete words spoken and information units (IU) were included in the analysis.RESULTSThere was no significant difference among groups in terms of age, schooling and sex. For number of words spoken, the CG performed significantly better than both the ADG 1 and ADG2, but no difference between the two latter groups was found. CG produced almost twice as many information units as the ADG1 and more than double that of the ADG2. Moreover, ADG2 patients had worse performance on IUs compared to the ADG1.CONCLUSIONDecreased performance in quantity and content of discourse was evident in patients with AD from the mildest phase, but only content (IU) continued to worsen with disease progression.

scholarly journals 1153 Association Of Nocturnal Sleep Disturbance And Prospective Cognitive Decline In Cognitive Normal Elderly: Findings From The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Uniform Dataset

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A439-A440
Author(s):  
O M Bubu ◽  
A K Mbah ◽  
N J Williams ◽  
A D Turner ◽  
A Parekh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Sleep Disturbance ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Nocturnal Sleep ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽  
Logistic Mixed Effects Model ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

Abstract Introduction We determined whether nocturnal sleep disturbance (NSD) is associated with prospective cognitive decline in clinically normal older adults Methods Prospective longitudinal study utilizing data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) Uniform Data set (UDS). NSD data, as characterized by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), were derived from 10,600 participants at baseline, with at least one UDS follow-up visit, from 32 National Institute of Aging Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRC). Prospective cognitive decline was characterized as incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosis during UDS follow-up. Logistic mixed-effects model with random intercept and slope examined associations between the NSD and longitudinal cognitive decline. All models included age at baseline, sex, years of education, APOE ε4 status and their interactions with time. Time was operationalized as years from baseline for each participant. Results Of the 10,600 cognitively normal participants at baseline, 1,017 (8.6%) had NSD. The proportion of males versus females with sleep problems was 10.1% vs. 9.3% respectively. For participants with NSD and no NSD, the mean (SD) age was 71 (7.3) and 70 (5.7) years and average follow-up time was 5.2 (2.6) and 4.9 (2.7) years, respectively. Participants with NSD were significantly more likely to develop incident MCI during UDS follow-up (OR: 1.42, p =.003). The interaction of NSD with time was significant (p< .001) suggesting an increase in the likelihood of conversion to MCI increased over time. Furthermore, there were significant differences in mean conversion rates to MCI in the NSD group when the previous time-point was compared to the next (p<01), with a time dependent dose response in the risk of conversion to MCI observed. Conclusion In elderly cognitive-normal individuals, nocturnal sleep disturbance is associated with a time-dependent progression risk to MCI. These findings are consistent with the role of disturbed sleep in the development of Alzheimer’s Disease. Support NIH/NIA/NHLBI (L30-AG064670, CIRAD P30AG059303 Pilot, T32HL129953, R01HL118624, R21AG049348, R21AG055002, R01AG056031, R01AG022374, R21AG059179, R01AG056682, R01AG056531, K07AG05268503, K23HL125939)

scholarly journals Serum Daytime Melatonin Levels Reflect Cerebrospinal Fluid Melatonin Levels in Alzheimer’s Disease but Are Not Correlated with Cognitive Decline

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Amber Nous ◽  
Mandy Melissa Jane Wittens ◽  
Yannick Vermeiren ◽  
Peter Paul De Deyn ◽  
Christine Van Broeckhoven ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
State Examination

Background: Nocturnal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood melatonin levels are altered in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, literature remains inconclusive on daytime blood melatonin levels. A positive correlation between melatonin levels and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in AD subjects has been evidenced following cross-sectional analyses. Whereas a correlation between serum and spinal CSF melatonin has been shown in healthy volunteers, an equal investigation in AD patients still has to be undertaken. Objective: 1) To evaluate whether serum melatonin levels correlate with spinal CSF melatonin levels in AD. 2) To compare daytime CSF and serum melatonin levels between patients with AD dementia, mild cognitive impairment due to AD, and healthy controls, and to evaluate whether melatonin can affect cognitive decline in AD. Methods: Subjects with AD and healthy controls included in two existing cohorts, of whom a CSF and serum sample was available at the neurobiobank and had at least 6 months of neuropsychological follow-up, were included in the present study. Melatonin concentrations were measured with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: Daytime serum melatonin levels correlated with spinal CSF melatonin levels in AD (r = 0.751, p <  0.001). No significant differences regarding daytime melatonin levels were found between patients and controls. No correlations were observed between daytime melatonin levels and MMSE score changes. Conclusion: Daytime serum melatonin accurately reflects CSF melatonin levels in AD, raising the possibility to assess melatonin alterations by solely performing blood sampling if also confirmed for night-time values. However, daytime melatonin levels are not associated with changes of cognitive impairment.

Longitudinal Changes in Individual BrainAGE in Healthy Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer’s Disease

GeroPsych ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Franke ◽  
Christian Gaser
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Additional Increase ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
The Brain

We recently proposed a novel method that aggregates the multidimensional aging pattern across the brain to a single value. This method proved to provide stable and reliable estimates of brain aging – even across different scanners. While investigating longitudinal changes in BrainAGE in about 400 elderly subjects, we discovered that patients with Alzheimer’s disease and subjects who had converted to AD within 3 years showed accelerated brain atrophy by +6 years at baseline. An additional increase in BrainAGE accumulated to a score of about +9 years during follow-up. Accelerated brain aging was related to prospective cognitive decline and disease severity. In conclusion, the BrainAGE framework indicates discrepancies in brain aging and could thus serve as an indicator for cognitive functioning in the future.

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