Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T11:59:30.025Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Color perception differentiates Alzheimer's Disease (AD) from Vascular Dementia (VaD) patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2017

N. A. Arnaoutoglou Open the ORCID record for N. A. Arnaoutoglou [Opens in a new window] ,
M. Arnaoutoglou ,
P. Nemtsas ,
V. Costa ,
S. J. Baloyannis  and
K. P. Ebmeier
N. A. Arnaoutoglou
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Of Oxford, Oxford, UK
M. Arnaoutoglou*
Affiliation:
First Department of Neurology, AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
P. Nemtsas
Affiliation:
First Department of Neurology, AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
V. Costa
Affiliation:
First Department of Neurology, AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
S. J. Baloyannis
Affiliation:
First Department of Neurology, AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
K. P. Ebmeier
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Of Oxford, Oxford, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Arnaoutoglou Nikitas, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Warneford Ln, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK. Phone: + 44 (0)1865 223635; Fax: + 44 (0)1865 793101. Email: nikitas.arnaoutoglou@psych.ox.ac.uk.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Vascular Dementia (VaD) are the most common causes of dementia in older people. Both diseases appear to have similar clinical symptoms, such as deficits in attention and executive function, but specific cognitive domains are affected. Current cohort studies have shown a close relationship between αβ deposits and age-related macular degeneration (Johnson et al., 2002; Ratnayaka et al., 2015). Additionally, a close link between the thinning of the retinal nerve fiber (RNFL) and AD patients has been described, while it has been proposed that AD patients suffer from a non-specific type of color blindness (Pache et al., 2003).

Methods:

Our study included 103 individuals divided into three groups: A healthy control group (n = 35), AD (n = 32) according to DSM-IV-TR, NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, and VaD (n = 36) based on ΝΙΝDS-AIREN, as well as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) results. The severity of patient's cognitive impairment, was measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and was classified according to the Reisberg global deterioration scale (GDS). Visual perception was examined using the Ishihara plates: “Ishihara Color Vision Test - 38 Plate.”

Results:

The three groups were not statistically different for demographic data (age, gender, and education). The Ishihara color blindness test has a sensitivity of 80.6% and a specificity of 87.5% to discriminate AD and VaD patients when an optimal (32.5) cut-off value of performance is used.

Conclusions:

Ishihara Color Vision Test - 38 Plate is a promising potential method as an easy and not time-consuming screening test for the differential diagnosis of dementia between AD and VaD.

Keywords

dementiaAlzheimer's Disease (AD)Vascular Dementia (VaD)neuropsychological testingscreening
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 29 , Issue 8 , August 2017 , pp. 1355 - 1361
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (IV-TR), 4th edn, text revision revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Birch, J. (2012). Worldwide prevalence of red-green color deficiency. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 29, 313–320.Google Scholar
Bowler, J. V. (2007). Modern concept of vascular cognitive impairment. British Medical Bulletin, 83, 291–305.Google Scholar
Cronin-Golomb, A. and Hof, P. R. (eds.) (2004). Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology and Geriatrics. Basel: Karger AG.Google Scholar
Cronin-Golomb, A., Sugiura, R., Corkin, S. and Growdon, J. H. (1993). Incomplete achromatopsia in Alzheimer's Disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 14, 471–477.Google Scholar
Crutcher, M. D., Calhoun-Haney, R., Manzanares, C. M., Lah, J. J., Levey, A. I. and Zola, S. M. (2009). Eye tracking during a visual paired comparison task as a predictor of early dementia. American Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Other Dementias, 24, 258–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Curcio, C. A. and Drucker, D. N. (1993). Retinal ganglion cells in Alzheimer's disease and aging. Annals of Neurology, 33, 248–257.Google Scholar
Davies, D. C., Mccoubrie, P., Mcdonald, B. and Jobst, K. A. (1995). Myelinated axon number in the optic nerve is unaffected by Alzheimer's disease. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 79, 596–600.Google Scholar
De Jager, C. A., Hogervorst, E., Combrinck, M. and Budge, M. M. (2003). Sensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological tests for mild cognitive impairment, vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Psycholochical Medicine, 33, 1039–1050.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubois, B. et al. (2014). Advancing research diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease: the IWG-2 criteria. Lancet Neurology, 13, 614–629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
European Medicines Agency (2012). Qualification opinion of Alzheimer's disease novel methodologies/biomarkers for: PET amyloid imaging (positive/negative) as a biomarker for enrichment, for use in regulatory clinical trials in predementia Alzheimer's disease. Available at: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Regulatory_and_procedural_guideline/2012/04/WC500125018.pdf; last accessed 16 February 2012.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and Mchugh, P. R. (1975). “Mini-mental state”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
G8 Dementia Summit Declaration. (2013). Global action against dementia. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265869/2901668_G8_DementiaSummitDeclaration_acc.pdf; last accessed 11 December 2013.Google Scholar
Gilmore, G. C., Wenk, H. E., Naylor, L. A. and Koss, E. (1994). Motion perception and Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Gerontology, 49, P52–P57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guerin, F., Belleville, S. and Ska, B. (2002). Characterization of visuoconstructional disabilities in patients with probable dementia of Alzheimer's type. Journal of Clinical Experimental Neuropsychology, 24, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hof, P. R. and Morrison, J. H. (1990). Quantitative analysis of a vulnerable subset of pyramidal neurons in Alzheimer's disease: II. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 301, 55–64.Google Scholar
Holmes, C., Cairns, N., Lantos, P. and Mann, A. (1999). Validity of current clinical criteria for Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 174, 45–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jack, C. R. Jr et al. (2011). Introduction to the recommendations from the national institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement, 7, 257–262.Google Scholar
Jacoby, R., Oppenheimer, C., Dening, T. and Thomas, A (2008). Oxford Textbook of Old Age Psychiatry, 4th edn, Revised (pp. 86–90). OUP Oxford. ISBN-10: 0199298106.Google Scholar
Johnson, L. V., Leitner, W. P., Rivest, A. J., Staples, M. K., Radeke, M. J. and Anderson, D. H. (2002). The Alzheimer's Aβ-peptide is deposited at sites of complement activation in pathologic deposits associated with aging and age-related macular degeneration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99, 11830–11835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaeser, P. F., Ghika, J. and Borruat, F. (2015). Visual signs and symptoms in patients with the visual variant of Alzheimer disease. BMC Ophthalmology, 15, 65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livingstone, M. S. and Hubel, D. H. (1987). Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, movement, and depth. Journal of Neuroscience, 7, 3416–3468.Google Scholar
Lonie, J. A. et al. (2009). Dual task performance in early Alzheimer's disease, amnestic mild cognitive impairment and depression. Psychological Medicine, 39, 23–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mckhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D. and Stadlan, E. M. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: report of the NINCDS-ADRDA work group under the auspices of department of health and human services task force on Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 34, 939–944.Google Scholar
Mendez, M. F., Mendez, M. A., Martin, R., Smyth, K. A. and Whitehouse, P. J. (1990). Complex visual disturbances in Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 40, 439–443.Google Scholar
Pache, M. et al. (2003). Colour vision deficiencies in Alzheimer's disease. Age and Ageing, 32, 422–426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parisi, V., Restuccia, R., Fattapposta, F., Mina, C., Bucci, M. G. and Pierelli, F. (2001). Morphological and functional retinal impairment in Alzheimer's disease patients. Clinical Neurophysiology, 112, 1860–1867.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ratnayaka, J. A., Serpell, L. and Lotery, A. (2015). Dementia of the eye: the role of amyloid beta in retinal degeneration. Eye, 29, 1013–1026.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reisberg, B., Ferris, S. H., De Leon, M. J. and Crook, T. (1982). The global deterioration scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 1136–1139.Google ScholarPubMed
Roman, G. C. et al. (1993). Vascular dementia: diagnostic criteria for research studies. Report of the NINDS-AIREN International Workshop. Neurology, 43, 250–260.Google Scholar
Salamone, G. et al. (2009). Color discrimination performance in patients with alzheimer's disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 27, 501–507.Google Scholar
Sartucci, F. et al. (2010). Dysfunction of the magnocellular stream in Alzheimer's disease evaluated by pattern electroretinograms and visual evoked potentials. Brain Research Bulletin, 82, 169–176.Google Scholar
Suri, S., Topiwala, A., Mackay, C. E., Ebmeier, K. P. and Filippini, N. (2014). Using structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging to differentiate the dementias. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 14, 475.Google Scholar
Tan, L. P., Herrmann, N., Mainland, B. J. and Shulman, K. (2015). Can clock drawing differentiate Alzheimer's disease from other dementias? International Psychogeriatrics, 27, 1649–1660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tang, E. Y., Birdi, R. and Robinson, L. (2016). Attitudes to diagnosis and management in dementia care: views of future general practitioners. International Psychogeriatrics, 63, 1–6.Google Scholar
Thompson, C., Brodaty, H., Trollor, J. and Sachdev, P. (2010). Behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia subtype and severity. International Psychogeriatrics, 22, 300–305.Google Scholar
Verriest, G. (1963). Further studies on acquired deficiency of color discrimination. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 53, 185–195.Google Scholar
Verriest, G. (1982). Colour Vision Deficiencies VI - Page 161. ISBN 978-90-6193-729-6.Google Scholar
Wallin, A., Milos, V., Sjogren, M., Pantoni, L. and Erkinjuntti, T. (2003). Classification and subtypes of vascular dementia. International Psychogeriatrics, 15, 27–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wetterling, T., Kanitz, R. D. and Borgis, K. J. (1996). Comparison of different diagnostic criteria for vascular dementia (ADDTC, DSM-IV, ICD-10, NINDS-AIREN). Stroke, 27, 30–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Alzheimer Report. (2014). Dementia and risk reduction. Available at: https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2014.pdf; last accessed October 2014.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2012). Dementia: a public health priority. Available at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/dementia_report_2012/en/; last accessed 2012.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2015). Dementia fact sheet. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs362/en/; last accessed April 2016.Google Scholar
Zola, S. M., Manzanares, C. M., Clopton, P., Lah, J. J. and Levey, A. I. (2013). A behavioral task predicts conversion to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, 28, 179–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed