1,720,990 research outputs found
Italian verb inflection in Alzheimer dementia.
No full textA group of 20 patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD) and a control group were tested in a verb
generation task, in a verb synonym task and several cognitive tests. Three types of verbs and novel verbs
were presented in simple sentence frames, in two different conditions. In one condition participants were
presented with the verb in the infinitive, providing information about the conjugation of the verb and the
most likely type of past participle mapping required. The second was an ambiguous condition in which
the suffix of the input verb did not provide any clue to the conjugation. The aim was to investigate if
different types of verbs and input mapping affected patients’ performance, and to what extent the deficit
increased when the illness became more severe. Dependent measures were accuracy rates, rates of differ-
ent morpho-phonological transformations and error type rates. Patients showed a more marked deficit
in verb generation, when input was ambiguous. Correlation between the verb synonym test and accu-
racy in verb generation indicated that a deficit in lexical–semantic memory was partially responsible for
impaired performance. Data suggest that patients maintained information about frequency distribution
of different verb types and verb classes in each conjugation, but were impaired in operating complex
phonological transformations
Distinguishing between Clinical and Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy on the basis of Specific Cognitive Impairment.
No full textVerbal versus non-verbal performances in mild Alzheimer's disease.
No full textThe purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of cognitive impairment in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). We tested thirty patients (10 men and 20 women) with mini mental state examination (MMSE) scores between 20 and 24. The mental deterioration battery (MDB) was administered to all subjects. For each patient, the mean general score for the 4 verbal and the 4 non-verbal items were calculated, in order to verify the existence of a significant difference between them. In our sample the results showed that the difference between verbal and non-verbal items was not significant, i.e., the disease seems to affect both domains uniformly
Minimal hepatic Encephalopathy: 10 years Follow-up After Successful Liver Transplantation, a data extension.
No full textBackground: The long-term effect of liver transplantation (LT) on cognitive functions and the complete reversibility of minimal hepatic encephalopathy are poorly documented. Much evidence indicates that spatial attention improves starting from the immediate period after LT. However, at least in the first 2 years, some cognitive defects seem to persist to some degree, especially for supramodal nonverbal cognitive functions. The aim of this study is to investigate (i) whether the improvements observed in the perioperative period fluctuate or remain stable 10 years after LT and (ii) whether the functions that have been found defective also improve. Methods: We called patients previously included in a prospective study (Mattarozzi et al., Arch Neurol 2004; 61: 242) for a further neuropsychological evaluation. We compared the cognitive evaluation after 7 to 10 years with previous data gathered 6 and 18 months after LT. Results: The improvements obtained in the first 2 years after transplantation remain stable during the 7 to 10 years thereafter, especially for visuospatial attention, F(12,96) 1.70; P=0.04 and selective attention, F(6,66) 3.51; P=0.005. Furthermore, these findings also seem to suggest an improvement in supramodal cognitive functions, such as spatial planning intelligence, measured by the Elithorn Maze Test, F(3,33) 7.42; P=0.002. Verbal short-term memory, F(3,33) 3.69; P=0.038, and visuospatial short-term memory, F(6,64) 2.97; P=0.013, show a more fluctuating trend over time. Conclusions: Despite the risk of surgery, the neurotoxicity of immunosuppression therapy, and the effects of aging and related comorbidities, our data indicate that LT is able to significantly improve patients cognitive functions in the long term
A case of occipital epilepsy in an elderly woman
No full textA 73-year-old woman experienced stereotype episodes of complex visual hallucinations over five months. Initially, they were rare and consisted of pleasant static pictures emerging from the left visual field, usually lasting 5 to 10 seconds. Subsequently, they became moving, tormenting pictures, recurring several times a day. On admission, neurological examination revealed reduced contact, nystagmus with fast phase to the left and a left homonymous hemianopia. Electroencephalography (EEG) demonstrated recurrent epileptic discharges starting from the right occipital lobe. The EEG showed sporadic occipital epileptiform activity during the attack-free periods. Phenytoin therapy stopped the seizures and normalized the EEG. An ischemic lesion in the right occipital lobe was detected on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with gadolinium. She continued antiepileptic treatment without recurrence of seizures in the following nine months. This observation of vascular damage-related occipital seizures indicates that epilepsy may be the cause of misdiagnosed behavioral and cognitive disturbances in the elderly. Its prompt recognition is important, since treatment may resolve this type of disorder
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