A transcultural cognitive marker of Alzheimer's Disease.
Temporary binding (TB) is sensitive and specific to Alzheimer's Disease (AD), is not affected by age, repeated testing or level of education. Hence, TB is useful to assess patients with very different socio-cultural backgrounds. However, the current computerised version of the test is not suitable for use in clinical settings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a clinically friendly version of the TB task results in overlapping outcomes compared to the computerised version.



A newly devised Flash-card version of the TB assesses temporary visual binding for arrays of stimuli such as shapes (polygons), colours, or combinations of shapes and colours. In Experiment 1, this version was compared with the laboratory computerised version. In Experiment 2, 33 AD patients and 33 matched controls, recruited from various geriatric centres in Romania, were assessed with the new TB test and with Free and Cued Selective Reminding test.



The results with the Flash-card version of the TB test were comparable to those obtained with the computerised version. TB was not affected by age, but it was impaired by AD. The sensitivity and specificity of the new TB test were found to be greater than those achieved by a Selective Reminding test.



TB deficits may be conceived as a fundamental marker of AD. The Flash-card version is suitable for clinical use also in primary care facilities and in intervention trials, requires minimal training for administration and scoring, is quick to administer, non-invasive, inexpensive, and facilitates cross-cultural studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology Department, University of Edinburgh, UK.|Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Sergio
S
Della Sala
Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology Department, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Irina
I
Kozlova
Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology Department, University of Edinburgh, UK.
Andreea
A
Stamate
Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, UK.|School of Social Sciences, Psychology, University Heriot-Watt, UK.|Scottish Dementia Clinical Research Network, NHS Scotland, UK.|Alzheimer's Scotland Dementia Research Centre, UK.|UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Psychology, Chile.|Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.
Mario A
MA
Parra
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D015415:Biomarkers
Alzheimer's Disease; cognitive marker; flash-cards; selective reminding; temporary binding