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P300 and Reaction-Time Measures in Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

P. A. Williams ,
G. H. Jones ,
M. Briscoe ,
R. Thomas  and
P. Cronin
P. A. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Whitchurch Hospital, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF4 7XB
G. H. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Whitchurch Hospital
M. Briscoe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Whitchurch Hospital
R. Thomas
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Whitchurch Hospital
P. Cronin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Whitchurch Hospital
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Abstract

Auditory evoked potentials were recorded in a choice reaction-time task. This test paradigm elicited the attention-related P300 component and was used to study cognitive processing. Compared with age-matched controls, 17 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type were shown to have significantly longer reaction times as well as delayed latencies of several components of the auditory evoked potentials. The fractional increase in the reaction times was much greater than that of the P300 peak latency. The latter is commonly accepted as an index of stimulus-evaluation time. These findings suggest a delay in both response selection and stimulus evaluation.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 410 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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