Visual event-related potential in mild dementia of the Alzheimer's type.
Visual event-related potentials (ERP) and behavioral measures were recorded during a geometrical-figure discrimination task to examine sensory processing in 10 patients with mild dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and 10 age-matched controls. No difference existed between the groups in P1, N1, and P2 potentials, which reflects the early stage of sensory processing, as well as in NA potential, which reflects pattern recognition. The patients showed reduced amplitude of P3 potential, retarded reaction time, and increased behavioral errors compared to controls. These findings suggest that the patients with mild DAT were intact in early sensory processing including pattern recognition but were selectively compromised in higher-level processing, including integration of information and memory matching, which may influence behavioral deviation.
Saito
H
H
Clinical Research Institute, Minami-Hanamaki National Hospital, Japan. saitoh@health.is.tohoku.ac.jp
Yamazaki
H
H
Matsuoka
H
H
Matsumoto
K
K
Numachi
Y
Y
Yoshida
S
S
Ueno
T
T
Sato
M
M
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D004569:Electroencephalography; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012720:Severity of Illness Index