Table 2.
Demographic information and neuropsychological scores of patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer’s disease
| Demographic information | PCA (n = 26) | tAD (n = 7) | Control (n = 14) | ||
| Gender (male:female) | 10/16 | 12/5 | 5/9 | ||
| Age (mean years ± SD) | 61.4 ± 7.7 | 65.0 ± 5.1 | 62.7 ± 5.0 | ||
| Education level (mean years ± SD) | 14.6 ± 2.3 | 14.9 ± 2.4 | 16.1 ± 2.4 | ||
| Disease duration (mean years ± SD) | 4.7 ± 3.1 | 5.0 ± 1.7 | – | ||
| MMSEa (mean/30 ± SD) | 17.7 ± 5.0 | 17.5 ± 4.9 | – | ||
| Neuropsychology test | Max score |
Raw score |
Norms/comment | ||
| PCA | tAD | Difference P-value | |||
| Background Neuropsychology | |||||
| Short Recognition Memory Testb for words* (joint auditory/visual presentation) | 25 | 19.5 ± 3.7 | 14.7 ± 1.5 | <0.0001 | PCA: 5th–10th percentile, tAD: ∼<5th percentile (cut-off: 19) |
| Short Recognition Memory Test for faces* | 25 | 17.8 ± 4.0 | 16.8 ± 3.0 | >0.3 | Both ∼<5th percentile (cut-off: 18) |
| Concrete Synonyms testc | 25 | 20.0 ± 3.7 | 20.9 ± 2.5 | >0.4 | Both 10th–25th percentile |
| Naming (verbal description) | 20 | 11.4 ± 6.6 | 13.7 ± 6.4 | >0.2 | Both ∼<5th percentile (cut-off: 15) |
| Cognitive estimatesd (error score) | 30 | 14.6 ± 7.5 | 10.6 ± 5.0 | 0.074 | Both ∼<1st percentile (cut-off: 9) |
| Calculation (GDAe)* | 24 | 1.6 ± 2.9 | 4.9 ± 5.3 | <0.05 | PCA: ∼<5th percentile, tAD:5th-25th percentile |
| Spelling (GDSTf- Set B, first 20 items)* | 20 | 8.9 ± 6.5 | 10.8 ± 5.6 | >0.3 | Both 10th–25th percentile |
| Gesture production testg | 15 | 12.7 ± 3.4 | 14.1 ± 1.4 | >0.1 | – |
| Digit span (forwards) | 12 | 6.0 ± 2.6 | 6.1 ± 1.4 | >0.8 | Both 25th–50th percentile |
| Max forwards | 8 | 5.6 ± 1.8 | 5.5 ± 0.8 | >0.9 | – |
| Digit span (backwards) | 12 | 2.6 ± 1.7 | 3.6 ± 1.9 | 0.078 | Both 5th–10th percentile |
| Max backwards | 7 | 2.3 ± 1.3 | 3.3 ± 1.1 | <0.05 | – |
| CORVISTh reading test | 16 | 13.8 ± 3.0 | 15.7 ± 0.8 | <0.05 | – |
| Spatial attentioni: | |||||
| Small words | 48 | 39.9 ± 10.7 | 47.2 ± 2.2 | <0.0005 | – |
| Large words | 48 | 37.8 ± 12.5 | 47.1 ± 1.6 | <0.0005 | – |
| Visual assessment | |||||
| Early visual processing | |||||
| Visual acuity (CORVIST): Snellen | 6/9 | (median 6/9) | (median 6/9) | Normal acuity | |
| Figure-ground discrimination (VOSPj) | 20 | 16.3 ± 3.0 | 18.6 ± 1.3 | <0.01 | PCA: ∼<5th percentile, tAD: 5th–10th percentile |
| Shape discriminationk | 20 | 12.6 ± 3.9 | 17.2 ± 3.2 | <0.0005 | Healthy controls do not make any errors |
| Hue discrimination (CORVIST) | 4 | 2.6 ± 1.1 | 3.0 ± 1.3 | >0.3 | – |
| Visuoperceptual processing | |||||
| Object Decision (VOSP)* | 20 | 10.0 ± 4.1 | 15.9 ± 2.4 | <0.0001 | PCA: ∼<5th percentile, tAD: 10th–25th percentile |
| Fragmented letters (VOSP) | 20 | 2.9 ± 3.9 | 13.5 ± 6.6 | <0.0001 | Both ∼<5th percentile (cut-off: 16) |
| Unusual and usual views:l | |||||
| Unusual | 20 | 6.6 ± 6.8 | 9.9 ± 5.1 | >0.1 | Both ∼<1st percentile (cut-off: 12) |
| Usual | 20 | 8.4 ± 5.5 | 16.5 ± 4.0 | <0.0001 | Both ∼<1st percentile (cut-off: 18) |
| Visuospatial processing | |||||
| Number location (VOSP)* | 10 | 1.8 ± 2.5 | 5.7 ± 3.8 | <0.005 | Both ∼<5th percentile (cut-off: 6) |
| Dot counting (VOSP) | 10 | 3.4 ± 3.2 | 8.1 ± 3.1 | <0.0001 | Both ∼<5th percentile |
| A Cancellationm: Completion time | 90 s | 79.5 s ± 17.4 | 36.3 s ± 15.7 | <0.0001 | Both ∼<5th percentile (cut-off: 32 s) |
| A Cancellationm: Number of letters missed | 19 | 6.6 ± 5.1 | 0.53 ± 1.1 | <0.0005 | – |
*Behavioural screening tests supportive of PCA diagnosis; tAD = typical Alzheimer’s disease.
eGraded Difficulty Arithmetic test (GDA) (Jackson and Warrington, 1986).
fGraded Difficulty Spelling Test (GDST) (Baxter and Warrington, 1994).
gCrutch (unpublished).
hCortical Visual Screening Test (CORVIST) (James et al., 2001).
iPerceptual corpus (Yong et al., 2014).
jVisual Object and Space Perception Battery (VOSP) (Warrington and James, 1991).
kEfron (1968): oblong edge ratio 1:1.20.