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Semantic interference deficits and the detection of mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment without dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2004

DAVID A. LOEWENSTEIN ,
AMARILIS ACEVEDO ,
CHERYL LUIS ,
THOMAS CRUM ,
WARREN W. BARKER  and
RANJAN DUARA
DAVID A. LOEWENSTEIN
Affiliation:
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
AMARILIS ACEVEDO
Affiliation:
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
CHERYL LUIS
Affiliation:
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
THOMAS CRUM
Affiliation:
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
WARREN W. BARKER
Affiliation:
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida
RANJAN DUARA
Affiliation:
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
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Abstract

Impairment in delayed recall has traditionally been considered a hallmark feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, vulnerability to semantic interference may reflect early manifestations of the disorder. In this study, 26 mildly demented AD patients (mild AD), 53 patients with mild cognitive impairment without dementia (MCI), and 53 normal community-dwelling elders were first presented 10 common objects that were recalled over 3 learning trials. Subjects were then presented 10 new semantically related objects followed by recall for the original targets. After controlling for the degree of overall memory impairment, mild AD patients demonstrated greater proactive but equivalent retroactive interference relative to MCI patients. Normal elderly subjects exhibited the least amount of proactive and retroactive interference effects. Recall for targets susceptible to proactive interference correctly classified 81.3% of MCI patients and 81.3% of normal elderly subjects, outperforming measures of delayed recall and rate of forgetting. Adding recognition memory scores to the model enhanced both sensitivity (84.6%) and specificity (88.5%). A combination of proactive and retroactive interference measures yielded sensitivity of 84.6% and specificity of 96.2% in differentiating mild AD patients from normal older adults. Susceptibility to proactive semantic interference may be an early cognitive feature of MCI and AD patients presenting for clinical evaluation. (JINS, 2004, 10, 91–100.)

Keywords

Alzheimer's diseaseMemoryProactive interference
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 91 - 100
Copyright
© 2004 The International Neuropsychological Society

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