Visual and visuospatial short-term memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease: role of attention.

Full Abstract

It has been proposed that visual recognition memory and certain attentional mechanisms are impaired early in Alzheimer disease (AD). Little is known about visuospatial recognition memory in AD. The crucial role of the hippocampus on spatial memory and its damage in AD suggest that visuospatial recognition memory may also be impaired early. The aim of the present study was to evaluate which modality, i.e. visual or visuospatial, is more implicated in the early memory impairment in AD. First, to determine onset of memory impairment, we compared the performances of patients with AD to those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Second, to determine the relative contribution of attentional impairment on the performance of MCI and AD patients, we tested the influence of a distractor in the interval between the memory image and recognition tests. Results showed that visuospatial short-term deficits appear earlier than visual short-term ones. In addition to mnemonic deficits, results showed attentional deficiency in both MCI and AD patients. Deficits of performances in visual modality seemed of attentional origin whereas those of visuospatial modality seemed of memory origin. The combination of attentional and mnemonic evaluation is likely to be a promising approach to finding predictive markers that distinguish MCI patients that convert to AD.

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Author information

Author/s: Alescio-Lautier, B (B); Michel, B F (BF); Herrera, C (C); Elahmadi, A (A); Chambon, C (C); Touzet, C (C); Paban, V (V);

Affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, UMR CNRS-6149 Pôle 3C, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Intégrative et Adaptative, Université de Provence, 3 place Victor Hugo, 13331 Marseille cedex 03, France. Alescio(-atsign-)up.univ-mrs.fr

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuropsychologia (Neuropsychologia), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Apr; vol 45 (issue 8) : pp 1948-60

Dates: Created 2007/03/16; Completed 2007/06/21;

PMID: 17275041, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology
Analysis of Variance
Attention - physiology
Case-Control Studies
Cognition Disorders - physiopathology
Female
Humans

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