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P2‐248: IMPAIRED VERBAL FLUENCY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EVOLUTION OF COGNITIVE DECLINE IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Author(s) -
Muraoka Rena,
Saito Mayumi,
Shinoda Tomomi,
Satoh Yuichi,
Maeda Tetsuya,
Yamazaki Takashi,
Takano Daiki,
Fujimaki Yumi,
Nagata Ken
Publication year - 2014
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.2014.05.925
Subject(s) - apathy , verbal fluency test , neuropsychology , audiology , psychology , depression (economics) , medicine , cognition , psychiatry , economics , macroeconomics
Background: Theory of Mind (ToM) is generally known as an important psychological domain since the eighties, clinical investigations in dementia are scarce. We therefore sought to assess ToM in a large sample of nursing home residents with dementia. We aimed to analyze whether a cognitive impaired person is able to attribute a mental state to oneself and others. We presented firstrespectively second-order-false-belief-tasks. There are only few studies showing the results of such tasks in patients with dementia. Methods:Our hypothesis is a relationship between the degree of severity of the mental deterioration and the corresponding understanding of false beliefs. From a total sample of 397, there were 125 residents of nursing homes who accepted the requirements of our study. A well-established deception task worked out in the research of ToM was modified, the first-respectively second-order-false-belief-tasks were presented to the test persons. Results: A Spearman correlation analysis showed a relationship between the mental deterioration and the lack of recognition of false beliefs in others (r1⁄4 -.396, p< .01).Conclusions:ToM is a necessary life skill for understanding intentions of other persons, which is not least essential in view of the assessment of financial capacity. Regarding limitations of the study, further investigations are required to demonstrate deficits of ToM in nursing home residents.