-Objective: To study prospective and retrospective memory in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Method: Twenty mild AD and 20 matched normal control subjects were included. Diagnosis of AD was based on DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, using CDR 1 and MMSE scores from 16 to 24 for mild AD. All subjects underwent retrospective (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, RAVLT) and prospective memory tests (the appointment and belonging subtests of the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, RBMT; and two tests made to this study: the clock and the animals test), as well as MMSE, neuropsychological counterproofs, and Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. The data was analyzed with Wilcoxon test and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: AD patients performed worse than controls in prospective and retrospective memory tests, with poorer performance in retrospective memory. There was no correlation between prospective memory and attention, visual perception, executive function, or depression scores. Conclusion: Prospective and, in higher degree, retrospective memory are primarily and independently impaired in mild AD.KEy-WoRDS: prospective memory, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, neuropsychological tests. memória prospectiva e retrospectiva na doença de alzheimer leveResumo -Objetivo: Estudar a memória prospectiva e retrospectiva em pacientes com doença de Alzheimer (DA) leve. Método: Vinte pacientes com DA leve e 20 sujeitos controles normais pareados foram incluídos. o diagnóstico de DA baseou-se nos critérios DSM-IV e NINCDS-ADRDA, usando CDR 1 e escores do Mini-Exame Mental de 16 a 24 para DA leve. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos a testes de memória retrospectiva (Teste de Rey para Aprendizado Auditivo-Verbal) e prospectiva (os testes da consulta e do pertence da Bateria Comportamental de Memória do Rivermead; e dois testes desenvolvidos para este estudo: o teste do relógio e o dos animais), bem como a testes cognitivos controles e Escala Cornell de Depressão em Demência. A análise dos dados usou o teste de Wilcoxon e o coeficiente de correlação de Spearman. Resultados: os pacientes com DA foram inferiores aos controles nos testes de memória prospectiva e retrospectiva, em maior grau nesta última, sem que seu desempenho tenha se correlacionado com déficit de atenção, percepção ou função executiva. Conclusão: A memória prospectiva e, em maior grau, a memória retrospectiva estão primariamente e independentemente alteradas na DA leve. PALAVRAS-ChAVE: memória prospectiva, doença de Alzheimer, demência, testes neuropsicológicos.

OBJECTIVES: To verify the accuracy of prospective memory (ProM) tests in Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Twenty mild AD patients (CDR 1), and 20 controls underwent Digit Span (DS), Trail Making (TM) A and B, visual perception, Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning tests, and Cornell Scale for Depression. AD diagnosis was based on DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. ProM was assessed with the appointment and belonging subtests of Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (RBMT); and with two new tests (the clock and animal tests). RESULTS: AD patients had a worse performance than controls on the majority of tests, except DS forward and TM-A. There was no correlation between RBMT and the new ProM tests. As for accuracy, the only significant difference concerned the higher sensitivity of our animal test versus the RBMT belonging test. CONCLUSIONS: The clock and the animal tests showed similar specificity, but higher sensitivity than the RBMT subtests.

No abstract

No abstract