The Role of Selective Attention in Driving and Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Duchek, Janet M.; Hunt, Linda; Ball, Karlene; Buckles, Virginia; Morris, John C.

doi:10.1097/00002093-199706001-00011

Cited by 42 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Loss of attention affects patients ability to respond to their surroundings and to interact with those around them (Foldi et al 2002), and it also affects the ability to perform activities of daily living (Vitaliano et al 1984) and specific skills (Duchek et al 1997). Our study in patients with mild AD demonstrates that cortical nAChRs are robustly associated with the cognitive function of attention, suggest- Correlation between 11 C-nicotine binding and results of the visuospatial ability test in patients with mild AD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

PET imaging of cortical 11C-nicotine binding correlates with the cognitive function of attention in Alzheimer’s disease

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

PET imaging of cortical 11C-nicotine binding correlates with the cognitive function of attention in Alzheimer’s disease

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They appear to play an even greater role in other conditions such as Lewy body dementia 24 . Loss of attention affects patients' ability to react to their surroundings and to interact with those around them 12 , it also affects ability to perform activities of daily living 25 and specific skills such as driving 26 . Our naturalistic study in patients with mildto-moderate AD suggests that galantamine improves attention and that this may benefit both patients and caregivers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early onset effects of galantamine treatment on attention in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Vellas¹,

Cunha

Gertz

et al. 2005

Current Medical Research and Opinion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous controlled trials have demonstrated that galantamine has a positive effect on cognition, activities of daily living, behaviour and global condition, but this is the first study to suggest that galantamine may specifically improve attention (according to both objective and subjective measures) in patients with AD. These effects may be a consequence of galantamine's potentiating action at nicotinic receptors.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Altered sustained attention in AD patients may also contribute to their deficits in other cognitive functions. Furthermore, everyday activities such as safe driving (Ball, 1997;Duchek, Hunt, Ball, Buckles, & Morris, 1997Hunt, Morris, Edwards, & Wilson, 1993; and prevention of falls (Buchner & Larson, 1987) may depend on intact maintenance of attention.Several different experimental paradigms have been used to investigate sustained attention, including signal detection (Bushnell & Rice, 1999), serial reaction (Robbins, 1998), responseRequests for reprints should be sent to Anna Maria Berardi, Department of Psychology, University of Metz, Ile du Saulcy, 57045 METZ Cedex 01, France. E-mail: berardi@univ-metz.fr.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustained Attention in Mild Alzheimer's Disease

Berardi¹,

Parasuraman²,

Haxby³

2005

Developmental Neuropsychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The vigilance decrement in perceptual sensitivity was examined in 10 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 20 age-matched controls. A visual high-event rate digit-discrimination task lasting 7.2 min. (six 1.2 min blocks) was presented at different levels of stimulus degradation. Previous studies have shown that sensitivity decrements (d′) over time at high-stimulus degradation result from demands on effortful processing. For all degradation levels, the overall level of vigilance (d′) was lower in AD patients than in controls. All participants showed sensitivity decrement over blocks, with greater decrement at higher degradation levels. AD patients exhibited greater sensitivity decrement over time at the highest degradation level they all could perform relative to control participants. There were no concomitant changes in either response bias (C) or response times. The results indicate that mild AD patients have overall lower levels of vigilance under conditions that require both automatic and effortful processing. Mild AD patients also exhibit a deficit in the maintenance of vigilance over time under effortful processing conditions. Although the sample of AD patients was small, results further suggest that both possible and probable AD patients had greater sensitivity decrement over time at the highest degradation level than did control participants, but only probable AD patients had lower overall levels of vigilance. In the possible AD patients as a group, the decrement in vigilance occurred in the absence of concurrent deficits on standard attentional tasks, such as the Stroop and Trail Making tests, suggesting that deficits in vigilance over time may appear earlier than deficits in selective attention.Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, degenerative brain disorder, the most usual and early clinical manifestation of which is memory impairment (Baddeley, Della Sala, Logie, & Spinnler, 1986;Morris & Kopelman, 1986). Attentional functions, particularly selective and divided attention, are also affected early in the course of AD (Parasuraman & Haxby, 1993). Although sustained attention has been less extensively studied, this aspect of attention is worthy of further investigation in relation to dementia, for several reasons. First, clinical observations indicate that demented patients have difficulty concentrating and fatigue easily (Lezak, 1995). Altered sustained attention in AD patients may also contribute to their deficits in other cognitive functions. Furthermore, everyday activities such as safe driving (Ball, 1997;Duchek, Hunt, Ball, Buckles, & Morris, 1997Hunt, Morris, Edwards, & Wilson, 1993; and prevention of falls (Buchner & Larson, 1987) may depend on intact maintenance of attention.Several different experimental paradigms have been used to investigate sustained attention, including signal detection (Bushnell & Rice, 1999), serial reaction (Robbins, 1998), responseRequests for reprints should be sent to Anna Maria Berardi, Department of Psychology, University of Metz, Ile du Sau...

show abstract

The Role of Selective Attention in Driving and Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Cited by 42 publications

References 0 publications

PET imaging of cortical 11C-nicotine binding correlates with the cognitive function of attention in Alzheimer’s disease

PET imaging of cortical 11C-nicotine binding correlates with the cognitive function of attention in Alzheimer’s disease

Early onset effects of galantamine treatment on attention in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Sustained Attention in Mild Alzheimer's Disease

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About