Visuospatial function in early Alzheimer's disease: Preliminary study.

Natália Bezerra Mota Quental,Orlando Francisco Amodeo Bueno,Sonia Maria Dozzi Brucki

doi:10.1590/s1980-57642009dn30300010

Natália Bezerra Mota Quental, Orlando Francisco Amodeo Bueno + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-57642009dn30300010

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Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia, accounting for 55% of all cases. AD patients gradually lose functional capacity, manifesting deficits in attention, language, temporal and direction orientation, mood, socialization and visuospatial function. The visuospatial function entails identification of a stimulus and its location. AD patients can present deficits in visuo-spatial skills during initial stages of the disease, but in the course of clinical evolution this function can become severely impaired. One of the neuropsychological tests indicated to evaluate the visuospatial function is the VOSP (The Visual Object and Space Perception Battery).ObjectivesThe aim of this preliminary study was to detect visuospatial dysfunction in early AD patients using the VOSP, and assess its sensitivity in a Brazilian sample.ResultsControls outperformed AD patients on all neuropsychological evaluations, except the Corsi block tapping task and cancellation task-errors. The AD patients performed significantly worse on all object perception and two space perception (Number Location and Cube Analyses) subtests of the VOSP.ConclusionThe AD patients demonstrated impaired visuospatial function in several aspects. The subtests of the VOSP were found to be sensitive for detecting this impairment in mild cases.

Highlights

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia, accounting for 55% of all cases
We evaluated 20 patients (11 females) with a mean age of 74.45 (SD 5.98) years and 8.40 (SD 4.98) years of education, with probable mild AD according to the criteria of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA)[16] recommended by the Brazilian Academy of Neurology.[13]
Working memory seems to remain relatively intact in mild AD patients.[5]

Summary

Introduction

Abstract – Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia, accounting for 55% of all cases. One of the neuropsychological tests indicated to evaluate the visuospatial function is the VOSP (The Visual Object and Space Perception Battery). Um dos instrumentos utilizados para avaliar a função visuo-espacial é o VOSP (Visual Object and Space Perception Battery). Dementia is a syndrome characterized by impairments of cognitive functions, including memory, language, abstraction, organization, projection, and visuospatial skills.[1] In Brazil, according to Herrera,[2] dementia prevalence is 7.1% among subjects aged older than 65 years. Impairment spreads to other functions, such as semantic memory, language and visuospatial ability.[4] The pathological hallmark of AD is the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques, first in regions of the medial temporal lobe (transentorhinal and entorhinal cortex, hippocampus), and with progression of the disease these neuropathological alterations affect other neocortical areas.[5]. Visual dysfunction in AD involving attention, memory, motion and spatial cues may reflect pathology in these vision-related brain areas.[7,8]

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