Se. Starkstein et al., A SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC STUDY OF ANOSOGNOSIA INALZHEIMERS-DISEASE, Archives of neurology, 52(4), 1995, pp. 415-420
Objective: To examine the presence of specific regional cerebral blood
flow correlates of anosognosia in patients with probable Alzheimer's
disease. Design: Case series, group comparisons. Setting: Ambulatory c
are referral center. Patients: Twelve patients with probable Alzheimer
's disease and anosognosia and 12 patients with probable Alzheimer's d
isease without anosognosia who were matched for age, duration of illne
ss, and cognitive impairments. Main Outcome Measures: Single-photon em
ission computed tomographic scan studies with technetium Tc 99m hexame
thylpropylene-amine oxime and regional cerebral blood flow measurement
s. Results: Patients with Alzheimer's disease and anosognosia showed s
ignificant blood flow deficits in the frontal inferior and superior (d
orsal) areas of the right hemisphere. On the other hand, no significan
t between-group differences were found in depression scores and neurop
sychological tasks that assessed verbal and visual memory, verbal comp
rehension, naming, verbal fluency, auditory attention, abstract reason
ing, and set-shifting abilities. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates t
hat anosognosia may not be related to deficits in specific cognitive d
omains, but it may result from dysfunction of the right frontal lobe.