Table 1.
Neuropsychological characteristics of the participant groups
| Healthy subjects |
Patients |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20–39 (N = 20) | 40–59 (N = 19) | 60–80 (N = 24) | aMCI (N = 14) | AD (N = 16) | FTLD (N = 11) | |
| Age (years) | 28.2 (5.7) | 48.3 (6.8)* | 72 (4.2)* | 70.8 (8.8) | 70.0 (9.0) | 68.2 (7.8) |
| Sex (M/F) | 9/11 | 10/9 | 11/13 | 10/4 | 8/8 | 6/5 |
| Education (years) | 13.4 (1.7) | 12.3 (1.9) | 12.6 (1.9) | 12.9 (3.8) | 13.1 (2.2) | 13.5 (2.2) |
| Computer experience | 2.1 (0.8) | 1.8 (0.8) | 0.8 (0.7)* | 1.0 (0.8) | 0.7 (0.8) | 0.4 (0.5) |
| MMSEb | ||||||
| Orientation | 9.7 (0.5) | 9.8 (0.4) | 9.7 (0.4) | 8.7 (1.4) | 7.4 (2.1) | 8.6 (1.1) |
| Recall | 2.8 (0.4) | 2.5 (0.6) | 2.5 (0.6) | 2.0 (1.0) | 0.9 (1.0) | 2.3 (0.9)† |
| Total (24/30) | ||||||
| General cognitive function | 28.8 (1.2) | 27.9 (1.4) | 28.3 (1.2) | 25.9 (3.4) | 22.8 (3.5) | 24.9 (2.5) |
| CBT | ||||||
| Forwards span | ||||||
| Attention/working memory | 9.4 (1.7) | 8.6 (2.0) | 7.2 (1.3)* | 5.8 (1.6) | 4.7 (1.8) | 4.9 (1.1) |
| Backwards span | 8.9 (1.8) | 8.2 (1.7) | 6.7 (1.2)* | 4.4 (1.3) | 3.4 (1.2) | 3 (1.3) |
| FCSRTc | ||||||
| Free recall (17/48) | ||||||
| Verbal memory | 36.2 (4.1) | 33.4 (4.3) | 30.8 (5.0)* | 11.6 (4.7) | 9.2 (7.0)a | 17.7 (11.1)a |
| Total recall (40/48) | 46.6 (1.2) | 46.7 (1.1) | 46.1 (1.7) | 27.5 (8.8) | 23 (10.5)a | 37.5 (6.8)a† |
| Cue sensitivity (71%) | 93.9 (9.3) | 92.0 (7.0) | 89.6 (9.2) | 45.4 (8.8) | 38.1 (8.9)a | 67.2 (15.4)a† |
| RCFT | ||||||
| Copy (/36) | ||||||
| Visual memory | 35.3 (1.0) | 34.3 (1.7) | 33.6 (1.7)* | 31.7 (4.4) | 25.9 (9.4) | 27.5 (5.6) |
| Memory (/36) | ||||||
| Visuoconstructive function | 26 (3.7) | 21.8 (5.3)* | 18.3 (5)* | 7.1 (3.4)a | 3.9 (3.7)a | 15.5 (6.1)a† |
| FAB (12/16)d | ||||||
| Executive function | 18.0 (0.0) | 17.8 (0.4) | 17.1 (0.8)* | 14.9 (2.3)† | 13.3 (2.2) | 11.5 (1.4) |
Shown are mean values (standard deviation). Higher test scores indicate better performances.
*Scheffe post hoc test, p < 0.05, 40–59 or 60–80 groups compared with 20–39 age group.
†Scheffe post hoc test, p<0.05, patient group compared with AD group.
aScores on the RCFT memory test are missing for 3 aMCI, 4 AD, and 6 FTLD patients and scores on the FCSRT are missing for 1 AD and 1 FTLD patient.
b–dCutoff scores for certain tests (MMSE, FCSRT, FAB) are indicated in parentheses and their explanations are detailed here, below:
bMMSE: Dementia (above cutoff score) versus healthy adult (below cutoff score) (Lezak, 1983).
cFCSRT memory subtests: Prodromal AD (i.e, some aMCI patients, below cutoff scores) versus normal aging (above cutoff scores) (Sarazin et al., 2007).
dFAB: AD (above cutoff score) versus frontotemporal dementia (below cutoff score) (Dubois et al., 2000; Slachevsky et al., 2004).