title: [Copying and free drawing by patients with Alzheimer disease of different dementia stages].
abstract: In this study we assessed the drawing abilities in 37 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Drawing abilities (drawing: house, flower, clock; Rey-Osterrieth figure; copying: MMST-figure; Rey-Osterrieth figure) were quantified with different rating schemes and related to other neuropsychological assessments. All patients underwent a positron emission tomography with 18-FDG. Drawing performance was highly correlated with severity of dementia--expressed in MMST scores (r = 0.78; p < 0.0001)--with visuo-spatial short-term memory (r = -0.69; p = 0.001), and writing abilities (r = -0.77; p < 0.0001). The summarized drawing score showed a statistically significant correlation with the rate of temporoparietal glucose metabolism measured with positron emission tomography and 18-FDG (r = 0.39; p = 0.017). In the drawings of AD patients omittings and simplifications were typical, whereas perseverations rarely occurred. In severely demented patients closing-in phenomenons could be described, too. A subgroup of AD patients with visuo-constructive impairment as the leading symptom could not be identified.
authors.affiliation: Universitá di Ferrara, Clinica Neurologica, Italien.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gragnaniello
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bley
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mielke
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001154:Art; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009949:Orientation; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
vernacular_title: Abzeichnen und freies Zeichnen bei Alzheimer-Patienten mit unterschiedlicher Demenzausprägung.