title: Functional ability in executive variant Alzheimer's disease and typical Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: A frontal, or executive, variant of Alzheimer's disease (EAD) has been described in the literature in which frontal dysfunction accompanies temporal and parietal changes in the early stages of the illness. However, no study has empirically investigated associated aspects, such as neuropsychiatric symptoms, instrumental activities of daily living, or caregiver burden in this EAD subgroup. We compared the performance of two subgroups of mild Alzheimer's disease patients (e.g., EAD and typical Alzheimer's disease; TAD) on neuropsychological and associated measures. Results revealed that the EAD group, selected based on poor executive scores, did not significantly differ from the TAD group on nonexecutive neuropsychological tests of intelligence, language, verbal and nonverbal memory, or visual-spatial abilities. However, the EAD group evidenced more severe neuropsychiatric symptoms, impaired activities of daily living, and greater caregiver distress than the TAD group. Thus, the EAD subgroup is characterized by executive dysfunction, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional disability in excess of that seen in TAD. Whether our EAD subgroup represents an actual frontal variant of Alzheimer's disease awaits replication in a larger sample including neuroimaging and pathological confirmation, as well as longitudinal assessment of cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. cback@hsc.usc.edu
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Back-Madruga
authors.forename: Kyle Brauer
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Boone
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Briere
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McPherson
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fairbanks
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception