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Visual Function in Alzheimer's Disease and Normal Aging a
Author(s) -
CRONINGOLOMB ALICE,
RIZZO JOSEPH F.,
CORKIN SUZANNE,
GROWDON JOHN H.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1991.tb00186.x
Subject(s) - flicker fusion threshold , audiology , stereoscopic acuity , medicine , alzheimer's disease , visual system , neuroscience , optic nerve , retina , contrast (vision) , ophthalmology , disease , psychology , visual acuity , pathology , flicker , artificial intelligence , computer science , electrical engineering , engineering
We examined a wide range of visual behaviors in 59 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 35 elderly control subjects, and 12 young control subjects. A subset of the patients with AD received neuro-ophthalmologic and electrophysiologic examinations in order to evaluate the integrity of the retino-calcarine pathway. Patients with AD showed significant, selective losses in visual function, including color discrimination, stereoacuity, contrast sensitivity, and backward masking, but not in critical flicker fusion. The deficits were not attributable to clinically apparent lesions of the retina or optic nerve. We therefore suggest that AD lesions in primary visual and posterior association cortices underlie the observed behavioral abnormalities.