Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:43:45.525Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preclinical Cognitive Trajectories Differ for Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

Erika J. Laukka ,
Stuart W.S. MacDonald ,
Laura Fratiglioni  and
Lars Bäckman
Erika J. Laukka*
Affiliation:
Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Stuart W.S. MacDonald
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
Laura Fratiglioni
Affiliation:
Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden
Lars Bäckman
Affiliation:
Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Erika Jonsson Laukka, Aging Research Center, Gävlegatan 16, 113 30 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: erika.jonsson.laukka@ki.se
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigated differences between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) from the appearance of the first cognitive symptoms, focusing on both time of onset and rate of accelerated decline for different cognitive functions before dementia diagnosis. Data from a longitudinal population-based study were used, including 914 participants (mean age = 82.0 years, SD = 5.0) tested with a cognitive battery (word recall and recognition, Block Design, category fluency, clock reading) on up to four occasions spanning 10 years. We fit a series of linear mixed effects models with a change point to the cognitive data, contrasting each dementia group to a control group. Significant age-related decline was observed for all five cognitive tasks. Relative to time of diagnosis, the preclinical AD persons deviated from the normal aging curve earlier (up to 9 years) compared to the preclinical VaD persons (up to 6 years). However, once the preclinical VaD persons started to decline, they deteriorated at a faster rate than the preclinical AD persons. The results have important implications for identifying the two dementia disorders at an early stage and for selecting cognitive tasks to evaluate treatment effects for persons at risk of developing AD and VaD. (JINS, 2012, 18, 191–199)

Keywords

NeuropsychologyMemoryCognitive declineChange pointLongitudinal studies
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 191 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Amieva, H., Le Goff, M., Millet, X., Orogozo, J.M., Pérès, K., Barberger-Gateau, P., Dartigues, J.F. (2008). Prodromal Alzheimer's disease: Successive emergence of the clinical symptoms. Annals of Neurology, 64, 492–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bäckman, L., Forsell, Y. (1994). Episodic memory functioning in a community-based sample of old adults with major depression: Utilization of cognitive support. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 361–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bäckman, L., Jones, S., Berger, A.K., Laukka, E.J., Small, B.J. (2005). Cognitive impairment in preclinical Alzheimer's disease: A meta-analysis. Neuropsychology, 19, 520–531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bäckman, L., Small, B.J., Fratiglioni, L. (2001). Stability of the preclinical episodic memory deficit in Alzheimer's disease. Brain, 124, 96–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buckner, R.L. (2004). Memory and executive function in aging and AD: Multiple factors that cause decline and reserve factors that compensate. Neuron, 44, 195–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, A.-L. (1984). Luria's neuropsychological investigation. Copenhagen, Denmark: Munksgaard.Google Scholar
Elias, M.F., Beiser, A., Wolf, P.A., Au, R., White, R.F., D'Agostino, R.B. (2000). The preclinical phase of Alzheimer disease: A 22-year prospective study of the Framingham Cohort. Archives of Neurology, 57, 808–813.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., McHugh, P.R. (1975). Mini-Mental State: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fratiglioni, L., Grut, M., Forsell, Y., Viitanen, M., Grafström, M., Holmén, K., Winblad, B. (1991). Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in an elderly urban population: Relationship with age, sex, and education. Neurology, 41, 1886–1892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fratiglioni, L., Viitanen, M., von Strauss, E., Tontodonati, V., Herlitz, A., Winblad, B. (1997). Very old women at highest risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease: Incidence data from the Kungsholmen Project, Stockholm. Neuroepidemiology, 11, 29–36.Google Scholar
Grober, E., Hall, C.B., Lipton, R.B., Zonderman, A.B., Resnick, S.M., Kawas, C. (2008). Memory impairment, executive dysfunction, and intellectual decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 14, 266–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, C.B., Lipton, R.B., Sliwinski, M., Stewart, W.F. (2000). A change point model for estimating the onset of cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Statistical Medicine, 19, 1555–1556.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, C.B., Ying, J., Kuo, L., Sliwinski, M., Buschke, H., Katz, M., Lipton, R.B. (2001). Estimation of bivariate measurements having different change points, with applications to cognitive ageing. Statistical Medicine, 20, 3695–3714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hofer, S.M., Alwin, D.F. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of cognitive aging: Interdisciplinary perspectives. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howieson, D.B., Carlson, N.E., Moore, M.M., Wasserman, D., Abendroth, C.D., Payne-Murphy, J., Kaye, J.A. (2008). Trajectory of mild cognitive impairment onset. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 14, 192–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ingles, J.L., Wentzel, C., Fisk, J.D., Rockwood, K. (2002). Neuropsychological predictors of incident dementia in patients with vascular cognitive impairment, without dementia. Stroke, 33, 1999–2002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacqmin-Gadda, H., Commenges, D., Dartigues, J.F. (2006). Random change point model for joint modeling of cognitive decline and dementia. Biometrics, 62, 254–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ji, M., Xiong, C., Grundman, M. (2003). Hypothesis testing of a change point during cognitive decline among Alzheimer's disease patients. Journal of Alzheimer Disease, 5, 375–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, D.K., Storandt, M., Morris, J.C., Galvin, J.E. (2009). Longitudinal study of the transition from healthy aging to Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology, 66, 1254–1259.Google Scholar
Kawas, C.H., Corrada, M.M., Brookmeyer, R., Morrison, A., Resnick, S.M., Zonderman, A.B., Arenberg, D. (2003). Visual memory predicts Alzheimer's disease more than a decade before diagnosis. Neurology, 60, 1089–1093.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laukka, E.J., Jones, S., Small, B.J., Fratiglioni, L., Bäckman, L. (2004). Similar patterns of cognitive deficits in the preclinical phases of vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 382–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laukka, E.J., Karlsson, S., MacDonald, S.W.S., Bäckman, L. (2009). Cognitive functioning in vascular dementia before and after diagnosis. In L.O. Wahlund, T. Erkinjuntti, & S. Gauthier (Eds.). Treatment of vascular dementia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lezak, M.D. (1995). Neuropsychological assessment (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Libon, D.J., Price, C.C., Garrett, K.D., Giovannetti, T. (2004). From Binswanger's disease to leuokoaraiosis: What we have learned about subcortical vascular dementia. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 18, 83–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Little, R.J.A., Rubin, D.B. (1987). Statistical analysis with missing data. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Looi, J.C.L., Sachdev, P.S. (1999). Differentiation of vascular dementia from AD on neuropsychological tests. Neurology, 53, 670–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mathias, J.L., Burke, J. (2009). Cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's and vascular dementia: A meta-analysis. Neuropsychology, 23, 411–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D., Stadlan, E.M. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease. Neurology, 34, 939–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pantoni, L., Poggesi, A., Inzitari, D. (2009). Cognitive decline and dementia related to cerebrovascular diseases: Some evidence and concepts. Cerebrovascular Diseases, 27(Suppl. 1), 191–196.Google Scholar
Raudenbush, S.W., Bryk, A.S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Raz, N., Ghisletta, P., Rodrigue, K.M., Kennedy, K.M., Lindenberger, U. (2010). Trajectories of brain aging in middle-aged and older adults: Regional and individual differences. Neuroimage, 51, 501–511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reed, B.R., Eberling, J.L., Mungas, D., Weiner, M.W., Jagust, W.J. (2000). Memory failure has different mechanisms in subcortical stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 48, 275–284.Google Scholar
Reed, B.R., Mungas, D.M., Kramer, J.H., Ellis, W., Vinters, H.V., Zarow, C., Chui, H.C. (2007). Profiles of neuropsychological impairment in autopsy-defined Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease. Brain, 130, 731–739.Google Scholar
Roman, G.C., Tatemichi, T.K., Erkinjuntti, T., Cummings, J.L., Masdeu, J.C., Garcia, J.H., Scheinberg, P. (1993). Vascular dementia: Diagnostic criteria for research studies. Report of the NINDS-AIREN International Workshop. Neurology, 43, 250–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oosterman, J.M., Scherder, E.J.A. (2006). Distinguishing between vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease by means of the WAIS: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 28, 1158–1175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sachdev, P.S., Looi, J.C.L. (2003). Neuropsychological differentiation of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. In J.V. Bowler & V. Hachinski (Eds.), Vascular cognitive impairment: Preventable dementia. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sacuiu, S., Sjögren, M., Johansson, B., Gustafson, D., Skoog, I. (2005). Prodromal signs of dementia in 85-year-olds using four sources of information. Neurology, 65, 1894–1900.Google Scholar
Salmon, D.P., Filoteo, J.V. (2007). Neuropsychology of cortical versus subcortical dementia syndromes. Seminars in Neurology, 27, 7–21.Google Scholar
Scheff, S.W., Price, D.A., Schmitt, F.A., DeKosky, S.T., Mufson, E.J. (2007). Synaptic alterations in CA1 in mild Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment. Neurology, 68, 1501–1508.Google Scholar
Schmidtke, K., Hüll, M. (2002). Neuropsychological differentiation of small vessel disease, Alzheimer's disease and mixed dementia. Journal of Neurological Sciences, 203–204, 17–22.Google Scholar
Schneider, J.A., Arvanitakis, Z., Bang, W., Bennett, D.A. (2007). Mixed brain pathologies account for most dementia cases in community-dwelling older persons. Neurology, 69, 2197–2204.Google Scholar
Smith, G.A., Pankratz, V.S., Negash, S., Machulda, M.M., Petersen, R.C., Boeve, B.F., Ivnik, R.J. (2007). A plateau in pre-Alzheimer memory decline. Neurology, 69, 133–139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Terry, R.D., Masliah, E., Salmon, D., Butters, N., DeTeresa, R., Hill, R., Katzman, R. (1991). Physical basis of cognitive alterations in Alzheimer's disease: Synapse loss is the major correlate of cognitive impairment. Annals of Neurology, 30, 572–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorvaldsson, V., MacDonald, S.W.S., Fratiglioni, L., Winblad, B., Kivipelto, M., Laukka, E.J., Bäckman, L. (2011). Onset and rate of cognitive change before dementia diagnosis: Findings from two Swedish population-based longitudinal studies. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 154–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tierney, M.C., Black, S.E., Szalai, J.P., Snow, W.G., Fisher, R.H., Nadon, G., Chui, H.C. (2001). Recognition memory and verbal fluency differentiate probable Alzheimer disease from subcortical ischemic vascular dementia. Archives of Neurology, 58, 1654–1659.Google Scholar
Traykov, L., Baudic, S., Raoux, N., Latour, F., Rieu, D., Smagghe, A., Rigaud, A.S. (2005). Patterns of memory impairment and perseverative behavior discriminate early Alzheimer's disease from subcortical vascular dementia. Journal of Neurological Sciences, 229–230, 75–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Twamley, E.W., Legendre Ropacki, S.A., Bondi, M.W. (2006). Neuropsychological and neuroimaging changes in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 12, 707–735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vanderploeg, R.D., Yuspeh, R.L., Schinka, J.A. (2001). Differential episodic and semantic memory performance in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementias. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 7, 563–573.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. New York: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.S., Leurgans, S.E., Boyle, P.A., Schneider, J.A., Bennett, D.A. (2010). Neurodegenerative basis of age-related cognitive decline. Neurology, 75, 1070–1078.Google Scholar
Yuspeh, R.L., Vanderploeg, R.D., Crowell, T.A., Mullan, M. (2002). Differences in executive functioning between Alzheimer's disease and subcortical ischemic vascular dementia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 24, 745–754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed