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P1‐140: Extrapyramidal features and white matter lesions in healthy aging, cognitive impairment and dementia: The PIETÀ study
Author(s) -
Barbosa Maira Tonidandel,
Caramelli Paulo,
Guimarães Henrique,
Teixeira Antonio,
Beato Rogério,
Machado Thais,
Machado João Carlos,
Gomes Isabel,
Carmona Karoline,
Silva Luciana
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.05.420
Subject(s) - dementia , clinical dementia rating , context (archaeology) , psychology , cohort , hyperintensity , medicine , white matter , cognition , rating scale , psychiatry , magnetic resonance imaging , disease , developmental psychology , radiology , paleontology , biology
economic cost savings. Visual impairments are common in AD (Kirby, 2010) and may affect eye movement patterns during face recognition and other visual tasks. Anecdotal evidence from the clinic often includes an early loss of recognition (faces, routes) in incipient dementia, particularly at dusk when contrasts are low. Many clinicians also report an ‘Alzheimer’ feel upon meeting AD patients. This maybe based on the way that people with AD scan faces. We found that pairing of emotional expressions, but not naming of the emotional expressions was lower in AD cases than controls, indeed suggesting impairments in facial scanning which then limits recognition and matching (Burnham,2003). Methods: We have developed a visual sensitivity test which incorporates detection of randomly placed low and high-contrast stimuli, as well as face and emotional recognition tasks. The advantage of the visual sensitivity test is that it is short (3 min), reliable (little learning effect) and does not provoke test anxiety as many other cognitive tests do (Bandelow,2008). These computer-based tests yield behavioural data based on participant responses, as well as integrated eye tracking data.Results:Our research at theOxfordProject To InvestigateMemory and Ageing showed that patients withMild Cognitive Impairment (MCI, n1⁄4 15) took longer to detect targets than age-matched controls (n 1⁄4 67). Of particular interest was the loss of central visual field detection speed advantage inMCI participants compared to controls. Age-related visual disease (macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy) were controlled for in this study. We will also present novel results from eye movement patterns during this test and the face and emotion recognition tests. The eye tracking data is analysed to identify common patterns that differ between theparticipant groups, andwhether thesepatternshave sufficient discriminatory capacity to accurately diagnose MCI and dementia. Conclusions: Our studies suggest that differences in eye scanningpatternsmaybe indicativeof some of thecognitivedeficits seen inAD.This approachcouldbeused tonon-invasively screen for AD.