Table 2.
Some characteristics of the studies that have used the Stroop Task to assess executive dysfunction in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
| Studies | Participant N (mean age ±SD) | MMSEa | Diagnostic criteria for Adb | Stroop task typologies | Differences between AD group and CG group | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy | Reaction time | Other indices | |||||
| Koss et al., 1984 | CG = 11 (66.0) [5M;6F] | DRS4 | DSM-III | Three conditions: Color (XXXs strings), Word (neutral word), Color-Word (naming the ink of the color word). | AD < CG | AD>CG | – |
| Mild AD = 9 (62.3) [5M;4F] | Mild AD = 111.6 | ||||||
| Moderate AD = 6 (67.6) [4M;2F] | Moderate AD = 73 | ||||||
| MCI = 6 (60.7) [6M;0F] | MCI = 110 | ||||||
| Fisher et al., 1990 | CG = 36 (72.9 ± 8.3) [13M;23F] | BDSe CG = 1.5 ± 6.1 | NINCDS-ADRDA6 | Three conditions: Color (cross), Word (Black Ink), Color-Word (Golden and Freshwater, 1978). | – | – | Interference Score: AD worse than AD |
| AD = 36 (70.1 ± 8.9) [14M;22F] | AD = 15.5 ± 6.1 | ||||||
| Spieler et al., 1996 | Older CG = 50 (85.6 ± 3.4) | CDR | NINCDS-ADRDA | Two conditions: Neutral word, Xs or symbols; Color-Word. | AD < CG | AD>CG | Facilitator Effect [(RT congruent-RT incongruent)/RT neutral]: AD>CG |
| Young CG = 25 (70.5 ± 6.7) | Interference Effects [RT incongruent-RT neutral]: AD = CG | ||||||
| Mild AD = 25 (73.2 ± 6.5) | |||||||
| Severe AD = 40 (73.7 ± 8.8) | |||||||
| Amieva et al., 2002 | CG = 28 (75.2 ± 6.6) | CG = 27.6 ± 1.8 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Three Conditions: Color; Word; Color-Word. | AD < CG | AD>CG | Interference Ratio [RTon C-W task/RT on C task]: AD>CG |
| Mild AD = 28 (75.8 ± 6.1) | Mild AD = 24.6 ± 1.9 | ||||||
| Bondi et al., 2002 | CG = 51 (73.40 ± 7.43) [20M;31F] | DRS | NINCDS-ADRDA | Three conditions: Color (cross); Word (Black Ink); Color-Word (Golden and Freshwater, 1978). | AD < CG | AD>CG | – |
| AD = 59 [31M;28F] | Very Mild = 119–139 | ||||||
| Very mild AD = 22 (71.7 ± 6.97) | Mild = 106–118 | ||||||
| Mild AD = 25 (73.5 ± 5.76) | Moderate = 90–105 | ||||||
| Moderate AD = 12 (72.1 ± 8.41) | |||||||
| Amieva et al., 2004 | CG-I = 22 (74.0 ± 4.7) [5M;17F] | CG-I = 27.9 ± 1.7 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Four conditions: Interference (word-ink, naming the ink); Reading (word in black); Color (color patches) Reverse Stroop Task (reading the word). | AD < CG (in all condition) | AD>CG (in all condition) | – |
| AD-I = 22 (74.0 ± 5.1) [5M;17F] | AD-I = 21.1 ±3.0 | ||||||
| CG-R = 22 (74.9 ± 6.4) [6M;16F] | CG-R = 27.5 ± 1.7 | ||||||
| AD-R = 22 (74.8 ± 6.3) [6M;16F] | AD-R = 21.4 ± 2.4 | ||||||
| Levinoff et al., 2004 | CG = 23 (73.0 ± 6.1) [10M;13F] | CG = 28.8 ± 1.0 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Two subtests: Color (dots), Color-Word (Stroop, 1935). | – | AD>RT | Interference Effect RT: |
| AD = 30 (74.1 ± 8.3) [16M;14F] | AD = 22.4 ± 3.1 | [RT C-W- RT C]: AD>CG | |||||
| Belleville et al., 2006 | CG = 12 (72.7 ± 4.6) [6M;6F] | CG = 28.2 ± 1.1 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Three conditions; Word Condition (name of color in black ink), Color Condition (xxx in color ink), Interference Condition (color word in different color ink). Number of correct responses in 45 s (Golden, 1976). | AD < CG | – | Inhibition Score [Interference/ (Word+Color)/2]: AD>CG |
| Young CG = 12 (22 ± 3.2) [4M;8F] | Young CG = N/A | ||||||
| AD = 12 (72.5 ± 5.9) [4M;8F] | AD = 22.9 ± 2.0 | ||||||
| Duong et al., 2006 | CG = 60 (74.38 ± 5.74) | CG = 29.12 ± 0.97 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Classic Stroop Task. Three conditions: dot (4 dots x 6 lines in four different colors), word (4 words x 6 lines, word in the same color as before), Color-Word (4 color words in incongruent ink x 6 line in the same color as before). | Stroop Task: AD < CG (in all conditions | Stroop Task: AD>CG (in all conditions) | Stroop Task: Interference dot-baseline (ACC e RT). AD worse than CG. |
| AD = 36 (73.62 ± 8.94) | AD = 22.08 ± 3.76 | Stroop Pictures Naming: Picture of animals and letter strings in the drawing. Four conditions: Congruent (letter string is the name of the animals drawing), Incongruent/same item (letter string is the name of a different animals in the task), Incongruent/different item (letter string is the name of an animal not presents in the task), Neutral (xxx on the animal drawing). | Stroop Pictures Naming: | Stroop Pictures Naming: | Interference word-baseline (ACC e RT). AD worse than CG. | ||
| MCI = 61 (74.68 ± 6.48) | MCI = 27.20 ± 2.15 | AD < CG | AD>CG | Stroop Pictures Naming: Facilitation: AD = CG (in RT and n° of errors) | |||
| Inhibition different AD = CG (RT), AD>CG (n° of errors) | |||||||
| Inhibition similar AD = CG (RT), AD>CG (n° of errors) | |||||||
| Stokholm et al., 2006 | CG = 32 (74.3 ± 4.2) | CG = 29.3 ± 0.9 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Color-Word condition (Stroop, 1935). | AD < CG | AD>CG | |
| AD = 36 (76 ± 5.6) | AD = 25 ± 1.5 | ||||||
| Belleville et al., 2008 | CG(AD) = 19 (72.42 ± 8.31) [4M;15F] | CG(AD) = 28.74 ± 0.94 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Stroop Victoria (Spreen and Strauss, 1998). | Incongruent: AD < CG | ||
| AD = 19 (73.42 ± 9.18) [9M;10F] | AD = 24.65 ± 3.60 | Short version (24 items for each condition), three conditions: Color, Neutral Word, Color-Word. | |||||
| CG(MCI) = 25 (66.12 ± 10.09) [5M;20F] | CG(MCI) = 28.88 ± 0.99 | ||||||
| MCI = 25 (64.76 ± 10.83) [11M;14F] | MCI = 28.36 ± 1.98 | ||||||
| Bracco et al., 2007 | CG = 13 (70.46 ± 6.33) [5M;8F] | CG = 29.38 ± 0.87 | – | Three conditions: Word, Color, Color-Word (Stroop, 1935). | – | Interference (C-W) AD>CG | . |
| AD = 50 (73.6 ± 7.1) [10M;40F] | AD = 21.3 ± 3.3 | ||||||
| Very Mild AD = 22 (75.1 ± 6.86) [6M;16F] | Very Mild AD = 23.7 ± 2.2 | ||||||
| Mild AD = 28 (72.4 ± 7.1) [4M;24F] | Mild AD = 19.5 ± 2.8 | ||||||
| Collette et al., 2007 | CG = 28 (70.6 ± 6.8) [13M;15F] | DRS | NINCDS-ADRDA | Two sets: Color, Color-Word (interference, ink and word: incongruent color); naming the ink of the color word (Stroop, 1935). | Color naming: CG = AD | Color naming: AD>CG | Interference ratio [RT Interference Condition/ RT Color Condition]: AD = CG |
| AD = 25 (72.5 ± 5.8) [18M;17F] | Stroop: Task: AD < CG | Stroop: AD>CG | Interference differential score [RT Interference Condition-RT Color Condition]:AD>CG | ||||
| FTD = 13 (65.7 ± 7.5) [5M;8F] | |||||||
| Doninger and Bylsma, 2007 | CG = 30 (83.78 ± 7.81) [6M;24F] | GC = 29 ± 0.87 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Emotional Stroop Task: emotive word in different color. Naming the color. | |||
| Mild AD = 24 (85.34 ± 6.09) [7M;17F] | Mild AD = 25.25 ± 1.80 | Color-Word Stroop (Golden and Freshwater, 1978). | |||||
| Moderate AD = 21 (79.75 ± 9.89) [10M;11F] | Moderate AD = 16.05 ± 3.94 | ||||||
| Belleville et al., 2008 | CG = 25 (72.8 ± 7.6) [14M;11F] | CG-AD = 28.69 ± 0.8 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Stroop Victoria (Regard, 1981). | – | In the C-W condition: AD>CG | – |
| AD = 13 (73.2 ± 8.1) [6M;7F] | AD = 24.85 ± 4 | DSM-IV | Short version (24 items for each condition), three conditions: Color, Neutral Word, Color-Word | ||||
| MCI = 20 (66.3 ± 10.9) [8M;12F] | MCI = 28.15 ± 2.1 | ||||||
| Li et al., 2009 | CG = 9 (65.2 ± 7.2) [4M;5F] | CG = 28.8 ± 0.9 | DSM-IV | Three color names with three color inks (Leung et al., 2000). | AD < CG | AD>CG | – |
| AD = 10 (65.8 ± 6.1) [5M;5F] | AD = 16.7 ± 2.6 | ||||||
| MCI = 9 (63.4 ± 4.6) [5M;4F] | MCI = 26.4 ± 4.2 | ||||||
| Duchek et al., 2009 | CG Older = 220 (71.75 ± 8.31) | CG Older = 29.09 ± 1.17 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Two conditions: color word (incongruent) and neutral word (congruent) with ink color. Naming the ink of the word. | – | – | Congruent Effect RT [RT Congr- RT Incongr]: AD>CG |
| Very Mild AD = 71 (75.25 ± 7.68)* | Very Mild AD = 26.95 ± 2.36 | Congruent Effect ACC [Error Congr- Error Incongr]: AD>CG | |||||
| Bélanger et al., 2010 | CG Young = 20 (23.9 ± 4.7) | CG Young | NINCDS-ADRDA | Stroop version 1) Neutral Condition and Incongruent condition (two different blocks). | AD < CG | AD>CG | – |
| CG Older = 20 (71.10 ± 7.5) | n.a | Stroop version 2 Congruent Condition and Incongruent Condition (mixed block: 75% congruent, 25% incongruent). | |||||
| AD = 11 (75 ± 6.4) | CG Older 28.8 ± 1.4 | ||||||
| MCI = 20 (72.7 ± 6.8) | AD 23.4 ± 3.7 | ||||||
| MCI 27.4 ± 2.1 | |||||||
| Hutchison et al., 2010 | Older CG = 64 (77.24 ± 9.80) | Older CG = 29.19 | CDR | Stroop Switch Task [pc version; stimuli from (Spieler et al., 1996)]. Color word or neutral word. No congruent trial. Participant switching the responding (or color of the ink or reading of the word). | AD < CG | AD>CG | – |
| Young CG = 30 (20.8 ± 1.5) | AD = 28.22 | ||||||
| AD = 32 (78.78 ± 5.89) | |||||||
| McGuinness et al., 2010 | CG = 28 (70.2 ± 7.9) | CG >28 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Three conditions: Color (cross), Word (Black Ink), Color-Word (incongruent). Naming the ink of the word (Golden and Freshwater, 1978). | Color: AD < CG | – | – |
| AD = 75 (77.7 ± 6.9) [24M;52F] | AD and VaD >12 | NINDS- AIREN for Vascular Dementia | Word: AD < CG | ||||
| VaD = 46 (75.9 ± 7.8) [22M;24F] | Color-Word: AD < CG | ||||||
| Tse et al., 2010 | CG = 246 (71.77 ± 7.71) | CDR 0.5 = Very Mild AD | NINCDS-ADRDA | One condition: Color-Word, congruent (color and word are the same), incongruent (color and word are different), neutral (words are not color name). Naming the color ink. | . | . | Stroop-Effect [%errors incongruent trials- % errors congruent trials] = AD>CG |
| Young CG = 32 (20.31 ± 1.12) | Stroop-Effect [RT incongruent trials- RT congruent trials] = AD = CG | ||||||
| Very Mild AD = 74 (75.82 ± 781)* | |||||||
| Coubard et al., 2011 | CG Older = 17 (77.65 ± 7.72) [10M;7F] | – | – | Three conditions: Color (cross), Word (black ink), Color-Word (incongruent ink: suppressing the reading, naming the ink) (Godefroy, 2008). | – | – | Interference ratio n. correct responses in C-W condition/n. correct responses in C condition: AD = CG. |
| CG Young = 18 (25.36 ± 2.78) [8M;10F] | Interference error rate [% errors C-W condition- %errors C condition]: AD = CG | ||||||
| AD = 17 (78.68 ± 6.15) [3M;14F] | |||||||
| Li et al., 2011 | CG = 8 (66) [3M;5F] | CG = 28.7 | – | Three conditions: Word, Color, Color-Word (Stroop, 1935). | AD < CG | Interference Effect: AD>CG | |
| AD = 6 (68) [3M;3F] | Demented = 20.4 | ||||||
| SVD = 6 (66) [4M;2F] | |||||||
| Yun et al., 2011 | CG = 54 (70.4 ± 5.7)[66.7%F] | CG = 26.8 ± 2.3 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Three conditions: Word, Color, Color-Word. Number of responses in 45 s (Golden and Freshwater, 2002). | – | – | Interference Indices: AD worse than CG. |
| AD = 136 (70.2 ± 8.4) [75%F] | AD = 16.6 ± 5.1 | DSM-IV | |||||
| Stawarczyk et al., 2012 | Study2 | MMSE > 21 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Three sets of stimuli: color string (neutral; %%%), congruent stimuli (ink and word same color), incongruent stimuli (ink and word different color); participant were asked to say aloud quickly and accurately as possible the name of the ink. Four conditions: Congruent, Incongruent, Positively Primed Congruent trials, Negatively Primed Incongruent Trials (Hogge et al., 2008). | Neutral: AD = CG | Neutral: AD = CG | Interferent effect RT [RT Neutral Condition- RT Interference Condition]: AD = CG |
| CG = 16 (76.6 ± 10.6) [7M;9F] | Interferent: AD < CG | Interferent: AD = CG | Interferent effect ACC [ACC Neutral Condition- ACC Interference Condition]: AD>CG | ||||
| MildAD = 16 (75.3 ± 10.3) [7M;9F] | Negative Priming Effect [Negatively Primed Incongruent Trials RT- Positively Congruent Trials RT] | ||||||
| Chen et al., 2013 | CG = 100 (75.4 ± 7.3) [68M;32F] | CG = 28.4 ± 1.7 | NINCDS-ADRDA | Correct responses in 120 s of the task. | AD < CG | – | – |
| aMCI = 120 (78.2 ± 7.7) [82M;38F] | aMCI = 26.6 ± 1.4 | Petersen et al. (1999) Criteria For MCI | |||||
| AD = 126 (78.9 ± 5.5) | AD = 20.2 ± 3.6 | ||||||
| [88M;38F] | |||||||
| El Haj et al., 2013 | CG Young = 18 (21.78 ± 3.56) [6M;12F] | CG Young n.a. | NINCDS-ADRDA | [pc-version]. Word, Color, Color-Word (interference: only incongruent trials). | – | – | Interference Effect: [Interference TR- (mean Color and Word TR)]: AD >CG |
| CG Older = 18 (73.28 ± 6.35) [6M;12F] | CG Older = 28.28 ± 1.32 | in the mild stage of severity dementia | |||||
| AD = 18 (76.11 ± 5.92) [5M;13F] | AD = 23.23 ± 1.59 | ||||||
| Peltsch et al., 2014 | CG = 72 (73 ± 6) [22M;50F] | CG = 29 ± 1 | NINCDS- ADRDA | Two conditions: Color and Color-word. | No Cov: AD>CG | – | – |
| aMCI = 22 (76 ± 8) [10M;12F] | aMCI = 27 ± 2 | Cov: AD < CG | |||||
| Mild AD = 24 (76 ± 8) [9M;15F] | Mild AD = 27 ± 2 | ||||||
| Sánchez-Benavides et al., 2014 | CG = 356 (64.9 ± 9.3) [144M;212F] | CG = 28.7 ± 1.5 | NINCDS- ADRDA | Word, Color, Color-Word. | Color: AD < CG | ||
| MCI = 79 (72.8 ± 6.5) [34M;45F] | MCI = 25.7 ± 2.2 | Word: AD < CG | |||||
| AD = 100 (74.4 ± 7.5) | AD = 20.2 ± 4.0 | Color-Word: AD < CG | |||||
| [35M;65F] | |||||||
| Huang et al., 2017 | CG = 31 (76.5 ± 5.9) [45.2%F] | CG = 27.0 ± 1.2 | NINCDS- ADRDA | One condition: incongruent (naming the ink of the color word) (Golden and Freshwater, 2002). | AD < CG | – | – |
| Mild AD = 31 (78.9 ± 6.3) [64.5%F] | Mild AD = 21.2 ± 3.2 | DSM-IV-TR CDR | |||||
*
There is a significant difference between groups. MMSE, Mini Mental State Examination; AD, Alzheimer Disease; CG, Control Group; DRS, Dementia Rating Scale; BDS, Blessed Dementia Scale; NINCDS-ADRDA, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association; RT, Reaction Time; C-W, Naming incongruent ink color on the Stroop Task (Interference task); C, Naming Color Task on the Stroop Task; CG-I, Control Group Interference task; AD-I, Alzheimer Disease Interference task; CG-R, Control Group Reverse task; AD-R, Alzheimer Disease Reverse task; N/A, Data Not Available; MCI, Mild Cognitive Impairment; ACC, Accuracy; FTD, Frontotemporal Dementia; CDR, Clinical Dementia Rating Scale; VaD, Vascular Dementia; SVD, Subcortical Vascular Dementia.