Visuospatial planning and problem solving in Alzheimer's disease patients: A study with the tower of london test

Franceschi, M.; Caffarra, P.; De Vreese, L.; Pelati, O.; Pradelli, S.; Savare, R.; Cerutti, R.; Grossi, E.; Padovani, A.; Mecocci, P.; Pettenati, C.; Perri, R.; Alberoni, M.; Gallucci, M.; Gianelli, M. V.; Cester, A.; Stracciari, A.; Neri, M.

doi:10.1159/000109827

Background: Executive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been recently recognized as an early and prominent clinical sign. The Tower of London (ToL), a task specifically devised to test executive functions of visuospatial planning and problem solving, has frequently been used in neuropsychological experiments, but rarely in the clinical ground. Methods: One hundred and sixty-one AD patients and 212 nondemented healthy controls were administered a simplified ToL version. Results: AD patients were significantly impaired (p < 0.0001) in all ToL scores and in the total execution time. The 'accuracy' score of ToL at a cut off of ≤29/36 yielded a sensitivity of 71.2% and a specificity of 76.4% (AUC 0.79) for the diagnosis of AD versus controls. Conclusions: Visuospatial planning and problem solving are significantly impaired in early dementia of the Alzheimer's type. A successful sensitivity/specificity ratio, the independence of education and the simplicity of this version of ToL make it a useful executive functioning screening test for early AD. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG.

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Titolo:	Visuospatial planning and problem solving in Alzheimer's disease patients: A study with the tower of london test
Autori:	Franceschi M. Caffarra P. De Vreese L. Pelati O. Pradelli S. Savare R. Cerutti R. Grossi E. Padovani A. MECOCCI, Patrizia Pettenati C. Perri R. Alberoni M. Gallucci M. Gianelli M. V. Cester A. Stracciari A. Neri M. mostra contributor esterni nascondi contributor esterni
Data di pubblicazione:	2007
Rivista:	DEMENTIA AND GERIATRIC COGNITIVE DISORDERS
Abstract (en):	Background: Executive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been recently recognized as an ...early and prominent clinical sign. The Tower of London (ToL), a task specifically devised to test executive functions of visuospatial planning and problem solving, has frequently been used in neuropsychological experiments, but rarely in the clinical ground. Methods: One hundred and sixty-one AD patients and 212 nondemented healthy controls were administered a simplified ToL version. Results: AD patients were significantly impaired (p < 0.0001) in all ToL scores and in the total execution time. The 'accuracy' score of ToL at a cut off of ≤29/36 yielded a sensitivity of 71.2% and a specificity of 76.4% (AUC 0.79) for the diagnosis of AD versus controls. Conclusions: Visuospatial planning and problem solving are significantly impaired in early dementia of the Alzheimer's type. A successful sensitivity/specificity ratio, the independence of education and the simplicity of this version of ToL make it a useful executive functioning screening test for early AD. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG.
Handle:	http://hdl.handle.net/11391/1491434
Appare nelle tipologie:	1.1 Articolo in rivista

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