Visual contrast sensitivity in Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and older adults with cognitive complaints

Abstract

Deficits in contrast sensitivity (CS) have been reported in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the extent of these deficits in prodromal AD stages, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or even earlier, has not been investigated. In this study, CS was assessed using frequency doubling technology (FDT) in older adults with AD (n=10), amnestic MCI (n=28), cognitive complaints without performance deficits (CC, n=20), and healthy controls (HC, n=29). The association between CS and cognition was also evaluated. Finally, the accuracy of CS measures for classifying MCI versus HC was evaluated. CS deficits were found in AD and MCI, while CC showed intermediate performance between MCI and HC. Upper right visual field CS showed the most significant difference among groups. CS was also associated with cognitive performance. Finally, CS measures accurately classified MCI versus HC. The CS deficits in AD and MCI, and intermediate performance in CC, indicate that these measures are sensitive to early AD-associated changes. Therefore, FDT-based measures of CS may have promise as a novel AD biomarker.

Visual function and retinal nerve fibre layer degeneration in patients with Alzheimer disease: correlations with severity of dementia

“…Risacher et al (2013) reported that contrast sensitivity disturbances are present even in the early stages of AD (even in mildly cognitively impaired patients); they further demonstrated a correlation between contrast sensitivity (the FDT-2 24-2 VF contrast sensitivity test) and the MMSE score. We also found a strong significantly positive correlation between the Colour Confusion Index (CCI) with the Lanthony 15D test and disease duration (0.973, p = 0.027).…”

Screening for Patients with Mild Alzheimer Disease Using Frequency Doubling Technology Perimetry

“…45 They found that patients with AD and MCI showed marked deficits in FDT testing, such as increased test duration, reduced general sensitivity (lower MD), and abnormal variability (higher PSD). These results are compatible with our results.…”

“…They concluded that FDT testing can be used as a biomarker for AD. 45 Automated perimetry requires considerable patient cooperation and many patients with mild AD can still produce reliable VF results despite their cognitive deterioration. Our experience with FDT testing in AD taught us that it was difficult to obtain reliable results in patients with moderate to severe cognitive impairment.…”

Effects of hearing loss on traffic safety and mobility

“…As well as HL, loss of vision is also a part of normal aging (e.g., Risacher et al, 2013;Heyl & Wahl, 2012). Wearing glasses can cause problems with eye tracking (Eachus, Cassidy, Norgate, Marrow, & Greene, 2008;O'Brien & Sharon, 2009), and this consideration restricted our potential participants.…”

“…Apart from HL, normal consequences of aging also include declining visual abilities, such as visual acuity and contrast sensitivity (e.g., Risacher et al, 2013;Heyl & Wahl, 2012) and cognition (e.g., McDowd & Shaw, 2000;Verhaeghen et al, 2003;Mayr et al, 2001;Verhaeghen et al, 2005, Craik & Salthouse, 2000Phillips & Lesperance, 2003). Relationships between sensory and cognitive losses in older adults have also been presented (Clay et al, 2009;Heyl & Wahl, 2012;Holland, 2009;Vreeken et al, 2013).…”