Executive Functions in Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a severe irreversible syndrome, characterized by a slow and progressive cognitive decline that interferes with the standard instrumental and essential functions of daily life. Promptly identifying the impairment of particular cognitive functions could be a fundamental condition to limit, through preventive or therapeutic interventions, the functional damages found in this degenerative dementia. This study aims to analyse, through a systematic review of the studies, the sensitivity of four experimental paradigms (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Task, Go/No-Go Task, and Flanker Task) considered as golden standard instruments for executive functions assessment in elderly subjects affected by Alzheimer dementia. This review was carried out according to the PRISMA method. Forty-five studies comparing the executive performance of patients with Alzheimer's dementia (diagnosed according to different classification criteria for dementia) and healthy elderly patients both over the age of sixty, were selected. For the research, PubMed, PsycINFO, PsycArticles databases were used. The study highlighted the importance of using standard protocols to evaluate executive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. The Stroop task allows discriminating better between healthy and pathological aging.

Path Integration Changes as a Cognitive Marker for Vascular Cognitive Impairment?—A Pilot Study

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Structural core of the executive control network: A high angular resolution diffusion MRI study

“…It includes processes such as working memory, inhibition of prepotent responses, attentional control, planning and flexibility of switching between different goals. Deficits in EF are observed across many brain diseases such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and Alzheimer's disease (Guarino et al, ; Snyder, ; Vohringer et al, ), and EF performance has been demonstrated to be an important factor influencing outcomes across many medical conditions including chronic cardiovascular and metabolic conditions (Broadley, White, & Andrew, ; Eggermont et al, ; C. Vincent & Hall, ). EF contributes to the coordination of activities across a wide range of cortical and subcortical brain structures that would make them vulnerable to reduced communication efficiency.…”

A network pharmacology-based study on Alzheimer disease prevention and treatment of Qiong Yu Gao

“…Alzheimer disease (AD), is a chronic neurodegenerative disease associated with the gradual degeneration of various cortical areas and it is also the cause of 60-70% of cases of dementia [1,2]. In 2015, approximately 29.8 million people worldwide suffered from AD and dementia led to about 1.9 million deaths [1,3].…”