title: Prospective memory tasks: a more sensitive method for screening cognitive impairment in ALS?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cognitive change is prevalent in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but still lack a widely accepted and sensitive screening method. In this study, we try to find a sensitive screening battery for detecting subtle cognitive deficits in patients with ALS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty consecutive ALS patients and 57 matched normal controls underwent the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), the verbal fluency test (VFT), the Stroop Color Word Interference Test (CWT), and the prospective memory (PM) tests, including event-based (EBPM) and time-based (TBPM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients did not differ from the controls in the MMSE, the VFT and the CWT. By contrast, statistically significant differences were found in the PM tests (EBPM: P=0.043; TBPM: P<0.001). More interestingly, TBPM was more sensitive than EBPM in the early-phase patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prefrontal lobar dysfunction does exist among ALS patients and may spread from the medial to the lateral region. The PM tests seem more sensitive in ALS patients with frontotemporal dysfunction than are the classical cognitive measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Dehua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chui
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dongsheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests