Language impairment and rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.
There is growing evidence that AD consists of different subtypes, and that language is a pertinent factor to identify a subgroup with a fast rate of cognitive decline. We report the first results of a longitudinal study in which we compared two groups of patients with probable AD. The main result showed that a subgroup with stable MMSE scores during a 1-year follow-up period had an impairment in language domains which are usually preserved until an advanced stage of the disease. It is proposed that this group may correspond to a variety of AD who, in addition to symptoms of AD, present characteristics of primary progressive aphasia. In other respects, we underscore that the high loading in language-mediated tasks of the MMSE makes it a poor index to accurately measure the rate of cognitive decline.
Goldblum
M C
MC
Unité de Neuropsychologie et Neurobiologie du Vieillissement Cérébral, U. 324-INSERM-Centre Paul Broca, Paris, France.
Tzortzis
C
C
Michot
J L
JL
Panisset
M
M
Boller
F
F
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests