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Selective Deficits in Alzheimer and Parkinsonian Dementia: Visuospatial Function

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Erich Mohr ,
Irene Litvan ,
Jill Williams ,
Paul Fedio  and
Thomas N. Chase
Erich Mohr*
Affiliation:
Medical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Irene Litvan
Affiliation:
Experimental Therapeutics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Jill Williams
Affiliation:
Experimental Therapeutics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Paul Fedio
Affiliation:
Medical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Thomas N. Chase
Affiliation:
Experimental Therapeutics Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
*
Royal Ottawa Hospital, Neuropsychology Service, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7K4
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Abstract:

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Deficits in visuospatial cognition are frequently cited as an important component of the cognitive changes accompanying Parkinson's disease. To characterize possible differences between Parkinson's (PD) and Alzheimer's (AD) dementia, patients from both groups, matched for overall dementia severity, age and education, were contrasted neuropsychologically. Visuospatial tasks dissociated from memory, were significantly compromised in both patient groups. Differential impairment was evident on visuospatial abstraction and reasoning (Object Assembly), which was most deficient in PD. Visuospatial cognition associated with memory, classified both patient groups as impaired compared to controls, but AD patients demonstrated substantially lower performance levels than those with PD. Parkinsonian dementia thus appears to have some distinct features compared to Alzheimer's disease, which may indicate differences in underlying pathogenic mechanisms.

Résumé:

RÉSUMÉ:

Des déficits dans la cognition visuospatiale sont souvent cités comme étant une composante importante des changements cognitifs accompagnant la maladie de Parkinson. Afin de caractériser les différences possibles entre la démence de la maladie de Parkinson (MP) et celle de la maladie d'Alzheimer (MA), des patients de chacun de ces deux groupes, appariés pour la sévérité globale de la démence, l'âge et le niveau d'éducation, ont été comparés au point de vue neuropsychologique. Les tâches visuospatiales dissociées de la mémoire étaient significativement compromises dans les deux groupes de patients. Une atteinte différentielle était évidente au niveau de l'abstraction visuospatiale et du raisonnement (assemblage d'objets), cette atteinte étant plus marquée dans la MP. La cognition visuospatiale associée à la mémoire classifiait les deux groupes de patients comme atteints lorsqu'ils étaient comparés aux contrôles, mais les patients avec MA avaient des niveaux de performance plus bas que ceux des patients avec MP. La démence parkinsonienne semble donc posséder des caractéristiques distinctes comparativement à celles de la maladie d'Alzheimer, ce qui peut indiquer des différences sous-jacentes aux mécanisms pathogéniques.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , August 1990 , pp. 292 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1990

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