Specific Verbal Memory Measures May Distinguish Alzheimer’s Disease from Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Bussè, Cinzia; Anselmi, Pasquale; Pompanin, Sara; Zorzi, Giovanni; Fragiacomo, Federica; Camporese, Giulia; Bernardo, Gian Antonio Di; Semenza, Carlo; Caffarra, Paolo; Cagnin, Annachiara

doi:10.3233/jad-170154

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…For the immediate recall trial, the verbal learning (VL) index was calculated; it corresponded to the difference between the number of words recalled in trial 5 minus the number of words recalled in trial 1. 52 A total of 14 cognitive measures were analyzed.…”

Section: General Neuropsychological Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lack of Practice Effects on Memory Tasks Predicts Conversion to Alzheimer Disease in Patients With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Simone

Perri

Rodini

et al. 2020

J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol

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The aim of the current study was to test the accuracy of practice effects, that is, improvement in test performance due to repeated neuropsychological evaluations, in identifying patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI) at greater risk of conversion to Alzheimer disease (AD). For this purpose, we conducted a longitudinal study of 54 patients diagnosed with a-MCI at the first assessment and followed-up for 4 years. During this time, 18 patients converted to AD. Baseline and 6- to 12-month follow-up performances on a large set of neuropsychological tests were analyzed to determine their diagnostic ability to predict later conversion to dementia. Results demonstrate that a lack of practice effects on episodic memory tests is an accurate prognostic indicator of late conversion to AD in a-MCI patients. In fact, even though the performance of both groups was substantially comparable at the baseline evaluation, stable a-MCI patients greatly improved their memory performance at retest after 6 to 12 months; instead, scores of converter a-MCI remained stable or decreased passing from baseline to follow-up. Standardized z-change scores on memory tasks, which were computed as a reliable measure of performance change, classified group membership with very good overall accuracy, which was higher than the classification of converter and stable a-MCIs provided by baseline or follow-up scores. We hypothesize that the lack of practice effects on memory tasks mirrors the early involvement of medial temporal lobe areas in converter a-MCI that are fundamental for the consolidation of new memory traces.

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Section: General Neuropsychological Examinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lack of Practice Effects on Memory Tasks Predicts Conversion to Alzheimer Disease in Patients With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Simone

Perri

Rodini

et al. 2020

J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol

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“…However, individuals with AD do not always show reduced primacy effects compared to other clinical groups. For example, although primacy effects were similar, individuals with AD demonstrated increased recency effects on learning trials compared to individuals with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB; Bussè et al, 2017) and compared to individuals with behavioral variant Frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD; Consonni et al, 2017). In addition, research has also demonstrated the ability to distinguish between mild and moderate AD from FTD, LBD, and VaD by analyzing the reduced recency effects observed in delayed recall trials in individuals with AD (Turchetta et al, 2018).…”

Section: Spe As a Tool To Distinguish Between Other Neurocognitive Di...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Serial position effects on list learning tasks in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Weitzner¹,

Calamia²

2020

Neuropsychology

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Objective: Serial position effects (SPEs) on list learning tasks refer to the relationship between a word’s placement on the list and its likelihood of being recalled. Typically, adults recall more words from the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of the list compared to the middle of the list. These effects can be affected by neurological disease such that SPEs have been shown to be related to both current and future cognitive decline. This review aimed to summarize existing research on SPEs in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Method: A systematic review of SPEs in MCI and AD was conducted. Results: Despite inconsistencies in the number of items included on word list tasks analyzing SPEs and inconsistencies in how researchers have defined and analyzed SPEs, SPEs have demonstrated the ability to predict future cognitive decline, at times above and beyond traditional memory score performance. In addition, individuals with MCI and AD show similar SPE patterns of reduced primacy and intact recency, with primacy being more reduced in AD, whereas individuals with vascular dementia demonstrate a reversed SPE pattern. Conclusion: The analysis of SPEs has demonstrated some utility as a marker of cognitive impairment associated with MCI, AD, and other dementias; however, research is limited by the multiple ways in which SPEs are defined and analyzed. Future research is discussed, including the need for increased data accessibility in order to quantitatively summarize previous research on SPEs in relation to MCI and AD.

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“…At the neuropsychological level, RAVLT performance (STR, learning, and DR) can discriminate among normal aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD; Marra et al, 2000;Estévez-González et al, 2003;Goryawala et al, 2015;Bauer et al, 2018) and is a good independent predictor of dementia (Eckerström et al, 2013;Li et al, 2017). Moreover, RAVLT DR performance can discriminate AD from other dementias, such as the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (Ricci et al, 2012) or dementia with Lewy bodies (Bussè et al, 2017). Therefore, the clinical use of the RAVLT to detect memory impairment is supported by the French social security system (ALQP006 CCAM).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Word Meaning Contributes to Free Recall Performance in Supraspan Verbal List-Learning Tests

2020

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Supraspan verbal list-learning tests, such as the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), are classic neuropsychological tests for assessing verbal memory. In this study, we investigated the impact of the meaning of the words to be learned on three memory stages [short-term recall (STR), learning, and delayed recall (DR)] in a cohort of 447 healthy adults. First, we compared scores obtained from the RAVLT (word condition) to those of an alternative version of this test using phonologically similar but meaningless items (pseudoword condition) and observed how each score varied as a function of age and sex. Then, we collected the participants' self-reported strategies to retain the word and pseudoword lists and examined if these strategies mediated the age and sex effects on memory scores. The word condition resulted in higher memory scores than pseudoword condition at each memory stage and even canceled out, for the learning stage, the detrimental effect of age that was observed for the short-term and DR. When taking sex into account, the word advantage was observed only in women for STR. The self-reported strategies, which were similar for words and pseudowords, were based on the position of the item on the list (word: 53%, pseudoword: 37%) or the meaning of the item (word: 64%, pseudoword: 58%) and were used alone or in combination. The best memory performance was associated with the meaning strategy in the word condition and with the combination of the meaning and position strategies in the pseudoword condition. Finally, we found that the word advantage observed in women for STR was mediated by the use of the meaning strategy. The RAVLT scores were thus highly dependent on word meaning, notably because it allowed efficient semantic knowledgebased strategies. Within the framework of Tulving's declarative memory model, these results are at odds with the depiction of the RAVLT as a verbal episodic memory test as it is increasingly referred to in the literature.

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Specific Verbal Memory Measures May Distinguish Alzheimer’s Disease from Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Abstract: DLB patients had a better performance in VL than AD, but worse VF and recency effect. These specific measures of verbal memory could be used as cognitive markers in the differential diagnosis between these two conditions.

Cited by 14 publications

References 28 publications

A Lack of Practice Effects on Memory Tasks Predicts Conversion to Alzheimer Disease in Patients With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

A Lack of Practice Effects on Memory Tasks Predicts Conversion to Alzheimer Disease in Patients With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Serial position effects on list learning tasks in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Word Meaning Contributes to Free Recall Performance in Supraspan Verbal List-Learning Tests

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