Attention and inhibition in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

  1. Clara Zancada-Menéndez 1
  2. Patricia Sampedro-Piquero 1
  3. Azucena Begega 1
  4. Laudino López 1
  5. Jorge Luis Arias 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Oviedo
    info

    Universidad de Oviedo

    Oviedo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/006gksa02

Journal:
Escritos de psicología

ISSN: 1138-2635,  1989-3809

Year of publication: 2013

Volume: 6

Issue: 3

Pages: 43-50

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5231/PSY.WRIT.2013.0710 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Escritos de psicología

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Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment is understood as a cognitive deficit of insufficient severity to fulfil the criteria for Alzheimer's disease. Many studies have attempted to identify which cognitive functions are most affected by this type of impairment and which is the most sensitive neuropsychological test for early detection. This study investigated sustained and selective attention, processing speed, and the inhibition process using a sample of people divided into three groups mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease and cognitively healthy controls selected and grouped based on their scores in the Mini Mental State Examination and Cambridge Cognitive Examination-revised. Three tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (Motor Screening Task, Stop Signal Task and Reaction time) were used as well as the d2 attention test. The results show that that participants with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease showed lower levels of concentration compared with the cognitively healthy controls group in the d2 test and longer reaction times in the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, although the differences were not marked in the latter test. The impairments in basic cognitive processes, such as reaction time and sustained attention, indicate the need to take these functions into account in the test protocols when discriminating between normal aging and early and preclinical dementia processes.

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Data source: Dialnet