Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T21:18:22.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Everyday action in dementia: Evidence for differential deficits in Alzheimer's disease versus subcortical vascular dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2006

TANIA GIOVANNETTI ,
KARA S. SCHMIDT ,
JENNIFER L. GALLO ,
NICOLE SESTITO  and
DAVID J. LIBON
TANIA GIOVANNETTI
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
KARA S. SCHMIDT
Affiliation:
Center for Aging, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford, New Jersey
JENNIFER L. GALLO
Affiliation:
Center for Aging, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford, New Jersey
NICOLE SESTITO
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Center for Aging, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford, New Jersey
DAVID J. LIBON
Affiliation:
Center for Aging, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford, New Jersey
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The relationship between dementia diagnosis and everyday action (e.g., meal preparation, grooming) is not well understood. This study examines differences between individuals diagnosed with vascular dementia (VaD; n = 25) versus Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 23) on the Naturalistic Action Test (NAT; Schwartz et al., 2003), a performance-based measure that includes three tasks of increasing complexity. The percentage of task steps accomplished, number of errors, and performance times were recorded for each task. While the groups did not differ in dementia severity or overall impairment on the NAT, the VaD group committed more errors (3.3 vs. 1.6, p = 02). The VaD group also accomplished significantly fewer steps when salient distractor objects were present (74.0% vs. 91.3%, p < .01). Correlations between NAT variables and neuropsychological tests suggest the executive control deficits associated with VaD may contribute to specific action difficulties, such as distractor interference and inefficient, error-prone action on complex tasks. In AD, everyday action may be negatively influenced by episodic memory failures. Thus, dementia diagnosis has relevance to everyday function. (JINS, 2006, 12, 45–53.)

Keywords

Naturalistic actionActivities of daily living (ADL)Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL)Functional abilitiesErrors of actionCortical dementiaSubcortical dementia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 45 - 53
Copyright
© 2006 The International Neuropsychological Society

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

REFERENCES

Adam, S., van der Linden, M., Jullerat, A.-C., & Salmon, E. (2000). The cognitive management of daily life activities in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease in a day care center: A case report. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 10, 485–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akritas, M.G. & Arnold, S.F. (1994). Fully non-parametric hypotheses for factorial designs. Part I: multivariate repeated measures designs. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 89, 336–343Google Scholar
Argüelles, S., Loewenstein, D., Eisdorfer, C., & Argüelles, T. (2001). Caregivers' judgments of the functional abilities of the Alzheimer's disease patient: Impact of caregivers' depression and perceived burden. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry & Neurology, 14, 91–98.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition Text Revision). Arlington: American Psychiatric Association.
Buxbaum, L.J., Schwartz, M.F., & Carew, T.G. (1997). The role of semantic memory in object use. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 14, 219–254.Google Scholar
Buxbaum, L.J., Schwartz, M.F., & Montgomery, M. (1998). Ideational apraxia and naturalistic action. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 15, 617–643.Google Scholar
Chui, H.C., Victoroff, J.I., Margolin, D., Jagust, W., Shankle, R., & Katzman, R. (1992). Criteria for the diagnosis of ischemic vascular dementia proposed by the state of California Alzheimer's disease diagnostic and treatment centers. Neurology, 42, 473–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum.
DeBettignies, B.H., Mahurin, R.K., & Pirozzolo, F.J. (1990). Insight for impairment in independent living skills in Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 12, 355–363.Google Scholar
DeBettignies, B.H., Mahurin, R.K., & Pirozzolo, F.J. (1993). Functional status in Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia: A comparison of patient performance and caregiver report. Clinical Gerontologist, 12, 31–49.Google Scholar
Delis, D.C., Kramer, J., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B.A. (1987). California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) research edition-adult version. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Duncan, J. (1986). Disorganization of behaviour after frontal lobe damage. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 3, 271–290.Google Scholar
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). Mini-mental state a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.Google Scholar
Fuster, J.M. (1989). The prefrontal cortex (2nd ed.). New York: Raven Press.
Giovannetti, T., Lamar, M., Cloud, B.S., Grossman, M., & Libon, D.J. (1997). Impairment in category fluency in ischemic vascular dementia. Neuropsychology, 11, 400–412.Google Scholar
Giovannetti, T., Lamar, M., Cloud, B.S., Swenson, R., Fein, D., Kaplan, E., & Libon, D. (2001). Different underlying mechanisms for deficits in concept formation in dementia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 16, 547–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giovannetti, T., Libon, D.J., Buxbaum, L.J., & Schwartz, M.F. (2002a). Naturalistic action impairments in dementia. Neuropsychologia, 40, 1220–1232.Google Scholar
Giovannetti, T., Libon, D.J., & Hart, T. (2002b). Awareness of naturalistic action errors in dementia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8, 633–644.Google Scholar
Gourovitch, M.L., Kirkby, B.S., Goldberg, T.E., Weinberger, D.R., Gold, J.M., Esposito, G., Van Horn, J., & Berman, K.F. (2000). A comparison of rCBF patterns during letter and semantic fluency. Neuropsychology, 14, 353–360.Google Scholar
Graham, N.L., Emery, T., & Hodges, J.R. (2004). Distinctive cognitive profiles in Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 75, 61–71.Google Scholar
Hargrave, R., Reed, B., & Mungus, D. (2000). Depressive symptoms and functional ability in dementia. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 13, 72–77.Google Scholar
Junque, C., Pujol, J., Vendrell, P., Brunn, O., Gadder, M., Ribs, J.C., Vias, J., Capdevila, A., & Marti-Vialta, J.L. (1990). Leuko-araiosis on magnetic resonance imaging and speed of mental processing. Archives of Neurology, 47, 151–156.Google Scholar
Kaplan, E., Goodglass, H., & Weintraub, S. (1983). The Boston Naming Test. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger.
Knopman, D.S., Kitto, J., Deinard, S., & Heiring, J. (1988). Longitudinal study of death and institutionalization in patients with primary degenerative dementia. Journal of American Geriatric Society, 36, 108–112.Google Scholar
Knopman, D.S. & Selnes, O. (2003). Neuropsychology of Dementia. In K. Heilman & E. Valenstein (Eds.), Clinical Neuropsychology (pp. 574–616). NY: Oxford.
Kramer, J.H., Delis, D.C., Blusewicz, M.J., Brandt, J., Ober, B.A., & Strauss, M. (1988). Verbal memory errors in Alzheimer's and Huntington's dementias. Developmental Neuropsychology, 4, 1–5.Google Scholar
Lamar, M., Podell, K., Carew, T.G., Cloud, B.S., Resh, R., Kennedy, C., Goldberg, E., & Kaplan, E. (1997). Perseverative behavior in Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia. Neuropsychology, 11, 523–534.Google Scholar
Lamar, M., Price, C.C., Davis, K.L., Kaplan, E., & Libon, D.J. (2002). Capacity to maintain mental set in dementia. Neuropsychologia, 40, 435–445.Google Scholar
Lamar, M., Swenson, R., Kaplan, E., & Libon, D.J. (2004). Characterizing alterations in executive functioning across distinct subtypes of cortical and subcortical dementia. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 18, 22–31.Google Scholar
Lawton, P. (1988). Scales to measure competence in everyday activities. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 24, 609–614.Google Scholar
Libon, D., Schmidt, K.S., Gallo, J.L., Penney, D.L., Swenson, R., Giovannetti, T., & Miller, J.A. (2005). The prototypicality of extra-list intrusion errors produced on a serial list-learning task by patients with mild dementia. [Abstract] Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11 (Suppl. 1), 92–93.Google Scholar
Libon, D.J., Bogdanoff, B., Bonavita, J., & Skalina, S. (1997). Dementia associated with periventricular and deep white matter alterations: A subtype of subcortical dementia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 12, 239–250.Google Scholar
Libon, D.J., Bogdanoff, B., Cloud, B.S., Skalina, S., Giovannetti, T., Gitlin, H.L., & Bonavita, J. (1998). Declarative and procedural learning, quantitative measures of hippocampus, and subcortical white alterations in Alzheimer's disease and ischaemic vascular dementia. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 20, 30–41.Google Scholar
Libon, D.J., Bogdanoff, B., Swenson, R., Gitlin, H.L., Ball, S., Leopold, N., Hurka, R., Bonavita, J., & Skalina, S. (2001). Neuropsychological profiles associated with subcortical white matter alterations and Parkinson's disease: Implications for the diagnosis of dementia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 16, 19–32.Google Scholar
Libon, D.J., Mattson, R.E., Glosser, G., & Kaplan, E. (1996). A nine-word dementia version of the California Verbal Learning Test. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 10, 237–244.Google Scholar
Libon, D.J., Price, C.C., Garrett, K.D., & Giovannetti, T. (2004). From Binswanger's disease to leuokoaraiosis: What we have learned about subcortical vascular dementia. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 18, 83–100.Google Scholar
Luria, A.R. (1966). Higher cortical functions in man. New York: Basic Books.
Mangone, C.A., Sanguinetti, R.M., & Bauman, P.D. (1993). Influence of feelings of burden on the caregivers' perception of the patient's functional status. Dementia, 4, 287–293.Google Scholar
Massman, P.J., Delis, D.C., Butters, N., Levin, B.E., & Salmon, D.P. (1990). Are subcortical dementias alike?: Verbal learning and memory in Parkinson's and Huntington's disease patients. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 12, 729–744.Google Scholar
Mast, B.T., Azar, A.R., MacNeill, S.E., & Lichtenberg, P.A. (2004). Depression and activities of daily living predict rehospitalization within 6 months of discharge from geriatric rehabilitation. Rehabilitation Psychology, 49, 219–223.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D., & 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
Murayama, S. & Saito, Y. (2004). Neuropathological diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease. Neuropathology, 24, 254–260.Google Scholar
Noale, M., Maggi, S., Minicuci, N., Marzari, C., Destro, C., Farchi, G., Scafato, E., Baldereschi, M., DiCarlo, A., & Crepaldi, G. (2003). Dementia and disability: Impact on mortality. Dementia & Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 16, 7–14.Google Scholar
Norman, D.A. & Shallice, T. (1980). Attention to action: Willed and automatic control of behavior. New York: University of California.
Saffran, E. & Schwartz, M.F. (1994). Of cabbages and things: Semantic memory from a neuropsychological perspective—A tutorial review. In C. Umilta & M. Moscovitch (Eds.), Attention and Performance XV: Conscious and Nonconscious Information Processing (pp. 507–536). Cambridge, MA: Bradford.
Schwartz, M.F., Buxbaum, L.J., Ferraro, M., Veramonti, T., & Segal, M. (2003). The Naturalistic Action Test. Bury St. Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.
Schwartz, M.F., Buxbaum, L.J., Montgomery, M.W., Fitzpatrick-DeSalme, E., Hart, T., Ferraro, M., Lee, S.L., & Coslett, H.B. (1999). Naturalistic action production following right hemisphere stroke. Neuropsychologia, 37, 51–66.Google Scholar
Schwartz, M.F., Montgomery, M.W., Buxbaum, L.J., Lee, S., Carew, T.G., Coslett, B., Ferraro, M., Fitzpatrick-DeSalme, E., Hart, T., & Mayer, N.H. (1998). Naturalistic action impairment in closed head injury. Neuropsychology, 12, 13–27.Google Scholar
Schwartz, M.F., Segal, M., Veramonti, T., Ferraro, M., & Buxbaum, L.J. (2002). The Naturalistic Action Test: A standardised assessment for everyday action impairment. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 12, 311–339.Google Scholar
Siegal, S. & Castellan, N.J. (1988). Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences 2nd Edition. Boston: McGraw–Hill.
Sestito, N., Schmidt, K., Gallo, J., Giovannetti, T., & Libon, D. (2005). Using the Naturalistic Action Test (NAT) to assess everyday action in healthy older adults and patients with dementia. [Abstract] Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11 (Suppl. 1), 90–91.Google Scholar
Shen-shan, Z. & Le-hua, L. (2004). Comparative study on cognitive function of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 12, 272–273.Google Scholar
Sirigu, A., Zalla, T., Pillon, B., Grafman, J., Agid, Y., & Dubois, B. (1995). Selective impairments in managerial knowledge following pre-frontal cortex damage. Cortex, 31, 301–316.Google Scholar
Spreen, O. & Strauss, E. (1991). A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests. Oxford: New York.
SPSS 11.0 for Mac OS X. (2003). SPSS Inc.
Teri, L., Borson, S., Kiyak, A., & Yamagishi, M. (1989). Behavioral disturbance, cognitive dysfunction, and functional skill: Prevalence and relationship in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 37, 109–116.Google Scholar
Yesavage, J. (1986). The use of self-rating depression scales in the elderly. In L.W. Poon (Ed.), Handbook of clinical memory assessment of older adults (pp. 213–217). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Zanetti, O., Geroldi, C., Frisoni, G.B., Bianchetti, A., & Trabucchi, M. (1999). Contrasting results between caregivers' report and direct assessment of activities of daily living in patients affected by mild and very mild dementia: The contribution of the caregiver's personal characteristics. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 47, 196–202.Google Scholar
Zimmer, N.A., Hayden, S., Deidan, C., & Loewenstein, D.A. (1994). Comparative performance of mildly impaired patients with Alzheimer's disease and multiple cerebral infarctions on tests of memory and functional capacity. International Psychogeriatrics, 6, 143–154.Google Scholar