scholarly journals Study on the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) performance in healthy individuals, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's disease: A preliminary study

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiane Garcia da Costa Armentano ◽  
Cláudia Sellitto Porto ◽  
Sonia Maria Dozzi Brucki ◽  
Ricardo Nitrini

Abstract Executive deficits as well as deficits in episodic memory characterize the initial phases of Alzheimer Disease (AD) and are clinically correlated to neuropsychiatric symptoms and functional loss. Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment present more problems as to inhibitory response control, switching and cognitive flexibility. Objective: To compare performance on the BADS with performance on other executive functional tests among patients with mild Alzheimer's disease, Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) to performance of control individuals and to examine discriminative capacity of BADS among these groups. Methods: The BADS was performed by 35 healthy controls, 13 patients with aMCI, and 16 mild probable AD patients. Besides performing the BADS, subjects underwent neuropsychological evaluation which comprised: the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS), verbal fluency by phonemic categories (F.A.S) and Concentrated Attention Test (CA). Results: There were no differences among groups by educational level, but performance differed for age (p<0.01). No difference between healthy controls and aMCI patients was found on total scores or subitems of the BADS. A significant difference was observed between aMCI and AD patients (p<0.05) and between controls and AD patients (p<0.05) on total and standard scores. Conclusions: Performance on the BADS differed between healthy individuals and mild AD patients. The BADS proved to be a sensitive method for discriminating AD from aMCI.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Valencia ◽  
Johann Lehrner

Summary Background Visuo-Constructive functions have considerable potential for the early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease. Objectives Using the Vienna Visuo-Constructional Test 3.0 (VVT 3.0), we measured visuo-constructive functions in subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and healthy controls to determine whether VVT performance can be used to distinguish these groups. Materials and methods Data of 671 participants was analyzed comparing scores across diagnostic groups and exploring associations with relevant clinical variables. Predictive validity was assessed using Receiver Operator Characteristic curves and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results We found significant differences between AD and the other groups. Identification of cases suffering from visuo-constructive impairment was possible using VVT scores, but these did not permit classification into diagnostic subgroups. Conclusions In summary, VVT scores are useful indicators for visuo-constructive impairment but face challenges when attempting to discriminate between several diagnostic groups.


Author(s):  
Zahra Ayati ◽  
Guoyan Yang ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Ayati ◽  
Seyed Ahmad Emami ◽  
Dennis Chang

Abstract Background Saffron (stigma of Crocus sativus L.) from Iridaceae family is a well-known traditional herbal medicine that has been used for hundreds of years to treat several diseases such as depressive mood, cancer and cardiovascular disorders. Recently, anti-dementia property of saffron has been indicated. However, the effects of saffron for the management of dementia remain controversial. The aim of the present study is to explore the effectiveness and safety of saffron in treating mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Methods An electronic database search of some major English and Chinese databases was conducted until 31st May 2019 to identify relevant randomised clinical trials (RCT). The primary outcome was cognitive function and the secondary outcomes included daily living function, global clinical assessment, quality of life (QoL), psychiatric assessment and safety. Rev-Man 5.3 software was applied to perform the meta-analyses. Results A total of four RCTs were included in this review. The analysis revealed that saffron significantly improves cognitive function measured by the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale-Sums of Boxes (CDR-SB), compared to placebo groups. In addition, there was no significant difference between saffron and conventional medicine, as measured by cognitive scales such as ADAS-cog and CDR-SB. Saffron improved daily living function, but the changes were not statistically significant. No serious adverse events were reported in the included studies. Conclusions Saffron may have the potential to improve cognitive function and activities of daily living in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, due to limited high-quality studies there is insufficient evidence to make any recommendations for clinical use. Further clinical trials on larger sample sizes are warranted to shed more light on its efficacy and safety.


2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (1117) ◽  
pp. 647-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges Assaf ◽  
Maria Tanielian

Dementia is projected to become a global health priority but often not diagnosed in its earlier preclinical stage which is mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is generally referred as a transition state between normal cognition and Alzheimer’s disease. Primary care physicians play an important role in its early diagnosis and identification of patients most likely to progress to Alzheimer’s disease while offering evidenced-based interventions that may reverse or halt the progression to further cognitive impairment. The aim of this review is to introduce the concept of MCI in primary care through a case-based clinical review. We discuss the case of a patient with MCI and provide an evidence-based framework for assessment, early recognition and management of MCI while addressing associated risk factors, neuropsychiatric symptoms and prognosis.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Clara Zancada-Menéndez ◽  
Patricia Sampedro-Piquero ◽  
Azucena Begega ◽  
Laudino López ◽  
Jorge Luis Arias

Mild cognitive impairment is understood as a cognitive deficit of insufficient severity to fulfil the criteria for Alzheimer’s disease. Many studies have attempted to identify which cognitive functions are most affected by this type of impairment and which is the most sensitive neuropsychological test for early detection. This study investigated sustained and selective attention, processing speed, and the inhibition process using a sample of people divided into three groups mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease and cognitively healthy controls selected and grouped based on their scores in the Mini Mental State Examination and Cambridge Cognitive Examination-revised. Three tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (Motor Screening Task, Stop Signal Task and Reaction time) were used as well as the d2 attention test. The results show that that participants with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease showed lower levels of concentration compared with the cognitively healthy controls group in the d2 test and longer reaction times in the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, although the differences were not marked in the latter test. The impairments in basic cognitive processes, such as reaction time and sustained attention, indicate the need to take these functions into account in the test protocols when discriminating between normal aging and early and preclinical dementia processes.


Author(s):  
Karla Aketzalli Hernández-Contreras ◽  
Jorge Antonio Martínez-Díaz ◽  
María Elena Hernández-Aguilar ◽  
Deissy Herrera-Covarrubias ◽  
Fausto Rojas-Durán ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document