Visual contrast sensitivity in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and older adults with cognitive complaints.
Deficits in contrast sensitivity (CS) have been reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the extent of these deficits in prodromal AD stages, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or even earlier, has not been investigated. In this study, CS was assessed using frequency doubling technology in older adults with AD (n = 10), amnestic MCI (n = 28), cognitive complaints without performance deficits (CC; n = 20), and healthy controls (HC; n = 29). The association between CS and cognition was also evaluated. Finally, the accuracy of CS measures for classifying MCI versus HC was evaluated. CS deficits were found in AD and MCI, while CC showed intermediate performance between MCI and HC. Upper right visual field CS showed the most significant difference among groups. CS was also associated with cognitive performance. Finally, CS measures accurately classified MCI versus HC. The CS deficits in AD and MCI, and intermediate performance in CC, indicate that these measures are sensitive to early AD-associated changes. Therefore, frequency doubling technology-based measures of CS may have promise as a novel AD biomarker.
Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Shannon L
SL
Risacher
Darrell
D
Wudunn
Susan M
SM
Pepin
Tamiko R
TR
MaGee
Brenna C
BC
McDonald
Laura A
LA
Flashman
Heather A
HA
Wishart
Heather S
HS
Pixley
Laura A
LA
Rabin
Nadia
N
Paré
Jessica J
JJ
Englert
Eben
E
Schwartz
Joshua R
JR
Curtain
John D
JD
West
Darren P
DP
O'Neill
Robert B
RB
Santulli
Richard W
RW
Newman
Andrew J
AJ
Saykin
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*