Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:31:29.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Differences in olfactory and visual memory in patients with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer's disease and the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2004

PAUL E. GILBERT
Affiliation:
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
P. JOYCE BARR
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
CLAIRE MURPHY
Affiliation:
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California San Diego State University/University of California San Diego, Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, California

Abstract

Recognition and remote memory for odors, faces, and symbols were assessed in patients with pathologically confirmed Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease (LBV), patients with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD), and healthy elderly controls. On recognition memory tasks, LBV and AD patients showed significantly lower discriminability (d′) than controls, particularly for olfactory stimuli. However no significant differences were found in the bias measure (c). When participants rated familiarity (a proposed measure of remote memory) of olfactory stimuli LBV and AD patients reported significantly lower familiarity than controls. Familiarity ratings were significantly lower in LBV patients than in AD patients for olfactory, but not for visual stimuli. Consistent with prior reports, the LBV patients showed significantly poorer odor thresholds than AD patients. The results suggest that recognition memory for olfactory stimuli is impaired in LBV and AD. However, patients with LBV are more impaired than patients with AD on tasks requiring remote memory for olfactory but not visual stimuli. The findings suggest that odor memory tasks may be useful in the assessment of LBV and AD. (JINS, 2004, 10, 835–842.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2004 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bacon-Moore, A.S., Paulsen, J.S., & Murphy, C. (1999). A test of odor fluency in patients with Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 21, 34151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailie, J.M., Gilbert, P.E., & Murphy, C. (2003). Odor identification deficits in Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 9, 164165.Google Scholar
Braak, H. & Braak, E. (1992). The human entorhinal cortex: Normal morphology and lamina-specific pathology in various diseases. Neuroscience Research, 15, 631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braak, H. & Braak, E. (1997). Frequency of stages of Alzheimer's-related lesion in different age categories. Neurobiology of Aging, 18, 351357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braak, H., Braak, E., Yilmazer, D., de vos, R.A.I., Jansen, E.N.H., & Bohl, J. (1996). Pattern of brain destruction in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Journal of Neural Transmission, 103, 455490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cain, W.S. (1989). Testing olfaction in a clinical setting. Ear, Nose, and Throat Journal, 68, 7886.Google Scholar
Clements, J. (1975). Chronology of the United States. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Connor, D.J., Salmon, D.P., Sandy, T.J., Galasko, D., Hansen, L.A., & Thal, L.J. (1998). Cognitive Profiles of Autopsy-Confirmed Lewy body variant vs Pure Alzheimer disease. Archives of Neurology, 55, 9941000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doty, R.L. (1991). Olfactory dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders. In T.V. Getchell, R.L. Doty, L.M. Bartoshuk, & J.B Snow, Jr. (Eds.), Smell and taste in health and disease (pp. 735751). New York: Raven Press.
Doty, R.L. (2003). Odor perception in neurodegenerative diseases. In R.L. Doty (Ed.), Handbook of olfaction and gustation (pp. 479502). New York: Marcel Dekker.
Ekman, G., Berglund, B., Berglund, U., & Lindvall, T. (1967). Perceived intensity of odor as a function of time of adaptation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 8, 177186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esiri, M.M. & Wilcox, G.K. (1984). The olfactory bulbs in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 47, 5660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). “Mini-Mental State”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galasko, D., Katzman, R., Salmon, D.P., & Hansen, L. (1996). Clinical and neuropathological findings in Lewy body dementias. Brain and Cognition, 31, 166175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, P.E. & Murphy, C. (in press). The effect of the ApoE ε4 allele on recognition memory for olfactory and visual stimuli in patients with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer's disease, probable Alzheimer's disease, and healthy elderly controls. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.
Hansen, L., Salmon, D., Galasko, D., Masliah, E., Katzman, R., DeTeresa, R., Thal, L., Pay, M., Hofstetter, R., Klauber, M., Rice, V., Butters, N., & Alford, M. (1990). The Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease: A clinical and pathological entity. Neurology, 40, 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyman, B.T. (1997). The neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Clinical-pathological studies. Neurobiology of Aging, 18, S2732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ince, P., Irving, D., MacArthur, F., & Perry, R.H. (1991). Quantitative neuropathological study of Alzheimer-type pathology in the hippocampus: comparison of senile dementia of Alzheimer type, senile dementia of Lewy body type, Parkinson's disease and non-demented elderly control patients. Journal of Neuroscience, 106, 142152.Google Scholar
Insausti, R., Marcos, P., Arroyo-Jimenez, M.M., Blaizot, X., & Martinez-Marcos, A. (2002). Comparative aspects of the olfactory portion of the entorhinal cortex and its projection to the hippocampus in rodents, nonhuman primates, and the human brain. Brain Research Bulletin, 57, 557560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iseki, E., Takayama, N., Marui, W., Ueda, K., & Kosaka, K. (2002). Relationship in the formation process between neurofibrillary tangles and Lewy bodies in the hippocampus of dementia with Lewy bodies brains. Journal of Neuroscience, 195, 8591.Google Scholar
Kesslak, J.P., Cotman, C.W., Chui, H.C., van Dan Noort, S., Fang, H., Pfeffer, R., & Lynch, G. (1988). Olfactory tests as possible probes for detecting and monitoring Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 9, 399403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khachaturian, Z.S. (1985). Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology, 42, 10971105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knupfer, L. & Spiegel, R. (1986). Differences in olfactory test performance between normal aged, Alzheimer, and vascular type dementia individuals. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 1, 314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koss, E., Weiffenbach, J., Haxby, J., & Friedland, R. (1987). Olfactory detection and recognition in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet, 1, 622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macmillan, N.A. & Creelman, D.C. (1991). Signal detection theory: A user's guide. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mattis, S. (1976). Mental status examination for organic mental syndrome in the elderly patient. In L. Bellack & T.B. Katsau (Eds.), Geriatric psychiatry: A handbook for psychiatrists and primary care physicians (pp. 77121). New York: Grune & Stratton.
McShane, R.H., Nagy, Z., Esiri, M.M., King, E., Joachim, C., Sullivan, N., & Smith, A.D. (2001). Anosmia in dementia is associated with Lewy bodies rather than Alzheimer's pathology. Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 70, 739743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirra, S.S., Heyam, A., McKeel, D., Sumi, S.M., Crain, B.J., Brownlee, L.M., Vogel, F.S., Hughes, J.P., van Belle, G., & Berg, L. (1991). The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Part II. Standardization of the neuropathologic assessment of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 41, 47986.Google Scholar
Moberg, P.J., Pearlson, G.D., Speedie, L.J., Lipsey, J.R., Strauss, M.E., & Folstein, S.E. (1987). Olfactory recognition: Differential impairments in early and late Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 9, 650664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, C.D., Nordin, S., & Murphy, C. (1995). Odor identification as an early marker for Alzheimer's disease: Impact of lexical functioning and detection sensitivity. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 17, 793803.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, J.C., Storandt, M., McKeel, D.W., Jr., Rubin, E.H., Price, J.L., Grant, E.A., & Berg, L. (1996). Cerebral amyloid deposition and diffuse plaques in “normal” aging: Evidence for presymptomatic and very mild Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 46, 707719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, C., Cain, W.S., Gilmore, M.M., & Skinner, R.B. (1991). Sensory and semantic factors in recognition memory for odors and graphic stimuli: Elderly versus young persons. American Journal of Psychology, 104, 161192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, C., Gilmore, M.M., Seery, C.S., Salmon, D.P., & Lasker, B.R. (1990). Olfactory thresholds are associated with degree of dementia in Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 11, 465469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niccoli-Waller, C.A., Harvey, J., Nordin, S., & Murphy, C. (1999). Remote odor memory in Alzheimer's disease: Deficits as measured by familiarity. Journal of Adult Development, 6, 131136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordin, S. & Murphy, C. (1996). Impaired sensory and cognitive olfactory function in questionable Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychology, 10, 113119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olichney, J.M., Galasko, D., Salmon, D.P., Hofstetter, C.R., Hansen, L.A., Katzman, R., & Thal, L.J. (1998). Cognitive decline is faster in Lewy body variant than in Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 51, 351357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olichney, J.M., Murphy, C., Hofstetter, R., Hansen, L.A., & Katzman, R. (2002). Anosmia is very common in the Lewy Body Variant of Alzheimer's Disease, but can this improve our diagnostic accuracy? Slide Presentation (Abstract S59.004), American Academy of Neurology Meeting, Denver, CO.
Olichney, J.M., Murphy, C., Hofstetter, R., Foster, K., Hansen, L.A., Thal, L.J., & Katzman, R. (2004). Anosmia is very common in the Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Perry, R.H., Irving, D., Blessed, G., Fairbairn, A., & Perry, E.K. (1990). Senile dementia of Lewy body type. A clinically and neuropathologically distinct form of Lewy body dementia in the elderly. Journal of Neuroscience, 95, 119139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, J.L., Davis, P.F., Morris, J.C., & White, D.L. (1991). The distribution of tangles, plaques and related immunohistochemical markers in early aging and Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 12, 295312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salmon, D.P., Galasko, D., Hansen, L.A., Masliah, E., Butters, N., Thal, L., & Katzman, R. (1996). Neuropsychological deficits associated with diffuse Lewy body disease. Brain and Cognition, 31, 148165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SantaCruz, K.S., Tasaki, C.S., Kim, R.C., & Cotman, C.W. (2002). Brainstem and cortical Lewy bodies in patients presenting clinically with Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 4, 1117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schacter, D.L. & Wagner, A.D. (1999). Medial temporal lobe activations in fMRI and PET studies of episodic encoding and retrieval. Hippocampus, 9, 724.3.0.CO;2-K>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serby, M., Corwin, J., Novatt, A., Conrad, P., & Ritrosen, J. (1985). Olfaction in dementia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 48, 848849.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, L.R. & Zola, S.M. (1996). Structure and function of declarative and nondeclarative memory systems. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 93, 1351513522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorns, V., Mallory, M., Hansen, L., & Masliah, E. (1997). Alterations in glutamate receptor 2/3 subunits and amyloid precursor protein expression during the course of Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body variant. Acta Neuropathologica, 94, 539548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, G.J.G. (1978). The analysis of cross tabulated data. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Verghese, J., Crystal, H.A., Dickson, D.W., & Lipton, R.B. (1999). Validity of clinical criteria for the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies. Neurology, 53, 19741982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wakabayashi, K., Hansen, L.A., Vincent, I., Mallory, M., & Masliah, E. (1997). Neurofibrillary tangles in the dentate granule cells of patients with Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. Acta Neuropathologica, 93, 712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wakabayashi, K., Honer, W.G., & Masliah, E. (1994). Synapse alterations in the hippocampal-entorhinal formation in Alzheimer's disease with and without Lewy body disease. Brain Research, 667, 2432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westervelt, H.J., Ster, R.A., & Tremont, G. (2003). Odor identification deficits in diffuse Lewy body disease. Cognition Behavioral Neurology, 16, 9399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar