A visual recognition memory test for the assessment of cognitive function in aging and dementia.
Young, non-demented elderly, and elderly demented subjects were administered a computerized visual recognition memory task. In the task, subjects were instructed to point out the new object from a group of objects whose number was progressively incremented. The test was subject-paced and made use of face-valid stimulus materials; it is closely comparable to tests developed for memory assessment in non-human primates that are sensitive to the effects of hippocampal ablation. The present task was found to elicit significant differences in performance between young and non-demented aged subjects, between the non-demented and demented elderly, and between demented subjects in the early and more advanced stages of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT). In a discriminant analysis, the visual recognition memory test scores correctly classified 72.6% of the aged subjects and early SDAT patients. No significant difference in task performance was found between SDAT patients and demented patients with a significant cerebrovascular etiological component. Thus, although the task does not appear to be suitable for diagnostic purposes it would be useful for the assessment of treatment effects upon age-related cognitive dysfunction.
Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center, NY 10016.
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Flicker
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Ferris
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Crook
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Bartus
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D003071:Cognition; D003704:Dementia; D004538:Eidetic Imagery; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time