Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias logoLink to American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
. 2006 Jan-Feb;21(1):28–36. doi: 10.1177/153331750602100105

Computerized cognitive testing battery identifies mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia even in the presence of depressive symptoms

Glen M Doniger 1, Tzvi Dwolatzky 2, David M Zucker 3, Howard Chertkow 4, Howard Crystal 5, Avraham Schweiger 6, Ely S Simon 7
PMCID: PMC10833222  PMID: 16526587

Abstract

Cognitive and depressive symptoms co-occur, complicating detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early dementia. In this study, discriminant validity of a novel computerized cognitive battery for MCI detection was evaluated after covariation for depressive symptom severity. In addition to the computerized battery, participants at two sites received the 30-item self-administered Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; n = 72); those at two other centers received the observer-administered Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD; n = 88). In both cohorts, a Global Cognitive Score and memory, executive function, visual spatial, and verbal index scores discriminated among cognitively healthy, MCI, and mild dementia groups after covariation for GDS or CSDD, respectively (p < 0.05). Thus, the computerized battery for detection of mild impairment is robust to comorbid depressive symptoms, supporting its clinical utility in identifying neurodegenerative disease even in elderly with depression.

Keywords: mild cognitive impairment, depression, dementia, cognitive assessment, computerized battery

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (161.0 KB).

Contributor Information

Glen M. Doniger, Department of Clinical Science, NeuroTrax Corporation, New York, New York.

Tzvi Dwolatzky, Memory Disorders Clinic and Department of Geriatrics, Shaare Zedek Medical Center and The Ramat Tamir Home for the Aged, Jerusalem, Israel.

David M. Zucker, Department of Statistics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

Howard Chertkow, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Howard Crystal, Department of Neurology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York.

Avraham Schweiger, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Academic College of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ely S. Simon, Department of Clinical Science, NeuroTrax Corporation, New York, New York.

References

  1. Lyketsos CG, Lopez O, Jones B, et al.: Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia and mild cognitive impairment: Results from the cardiovascular health study. JAMA. 2002; 288: 1475-1483. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Petersen RC, Stevens JC, Ganguli M, et al.: Practice parameter: early detection of dementia: Mild cognitive impairment (an evidencebased review). Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2001; 56: 1133-1142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Assal F, Cummings JL: Neuropsychiatric symptoms in the dementias. Curr Opin Neurol. 2002; 15: 445-450. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Robert PH, Schuck S, Dubois B, et al.: Screening for Alzheimer's disease with the short cognitive evaluation battery. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2003; 15: 92-98. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. American Psychological Association, Presidential Task Force on the Assessment of Age-Consistent Memory Decline and Dementia: Guidelines for the evaluation of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1998. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dwolatzky T, Whitehead V, Doniger GM, et al.: Validity of a novel computerized cognitive battery for mild cognitive impairment. BMC Geriatr. 2003; 3: 4-4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Elstein D, Guedalia J, Doniger GM, et al.: Computerized cognitive testing in patients with type I Gaucher disease: Effects of enzyme replacement and substrate reduction. Genet Med. 2005; 7:124-130. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hausdorff JM, Yogev G, Springer S, et al.: Walking is more like catching than tapping: Gait in the elderly as a complex cognitive task. Exp Brain Res. 2005; 164: 541-548. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Petersen RC, Smith GE, Waring SC, et al.: Mild cognitive impairment: Clinical characterization and outcome. Arch Neurol. 1999; 56: 303-308. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Yesavage JA, Brink TL, Rose TL, et al.: Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: A preliminary report. J Psychiatr Res. 1982; 17: 37-49. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Alexopoulos GS, Abrams RC, Young RC, et al.: Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Biol Psychiatry. 1988; 23: 271-284. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Olin JT, Katz IR, Meyers BS, et al.: Provisional diagnostic criteria for depression of Alzheimer disease: Rationale and background. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002; 10: 129-141. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Olin JT, Schneider LS, Katz IR, et al.: Provisional diagnostic criteria for depression of Alzheimer disease. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002; 10: 125-128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lee HB, Lyketsos CG: Depression in Alzheimer's disease: Heterogeneity and related issues. Biol Psychiatry. 2003; 54: 353-362. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Folstein MF, Folstein SC, McHugh PR: “Mini-Mental State”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res. 1975; 12: 189-198. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. McGivney SA, Mulvihill M, Taylor B: Validating the GDS depression screen in the nursing home. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1994; 42: 490-492. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Burrows AB, Morris JN, Simon SE, et al.: Development of a minimum data set-based depression rating scale for use in nursing homes. Age Ageing. 2000; 29: 165-172. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Cauraugh JH: Speed-accuracy tradeoff during response preparation. Res Q Exerc Sport. 1990; 61: 331-337. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. MacLeod CM: Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: An integrative review. Psychol Bull. 1991; 109: 163-203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schweiger A, Doniger GM, Dwolatzky T, et al.: Reliability of a novel computerized neuropsychological battery for mild cognitive impairment. Acta Neuropsychologica. 2003; 1: 407-413. [Google Scholar]
  21. Albert MS, Moss MB, Tanzi R, et al.: Preclinical prediction of AD using neuropsychological tests. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2001; 7: 631-639. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kawas CH, Corrada MM, Brookmeyer R, et al.: Visual memory predicts Alzheimer's disease more than a decade before diagnosis. Neurology. 2003; 60: 1089-1093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Mapstone M, Steffenella TM, Duffy CJ: A visuospatial variant of mild cognitive impairment: Getting lost between aging and AD. Neurology. 2003; 60: 802-808. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Hanninen T, Hallikainen M, Koivisto K, et al.: A follow-up study of age-associated memory impairment: Neuropsychological predictors of dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1995; 43: 1007-1015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Sobin C, Sackeim HA: Psychomotor symptoms of depression. Am J Psychiatry. 1997; 154: 4-17. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

RESOURCES