NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PRECLINICAL ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

We attempted to characterize the changes in cognition associated with the earliest, or preclinical, stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by ad ministering a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery to a group of initially nondemented older adults participating in a prospective epidemiologic study of dementia. Using Cox regression analyses, we exa mined the associations between baseline neuropsychological test scores and subsequent development of AD. Results confirmed preliminary findi ngs that baseline scores on the Boston Naming Test, Immediate Recall o n the Selective Reminding Test, and the Similarities subtest of the We chsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised were significantly and indepen dently associated with later diagnosis of AD. Analyses controlled for the effects of age, education, sex, and language of test administratio n. These results lend support to the notion of a preclinical phase of AD and indicate that this very early stage of AD is characterized by p oor word-finding ability, abstract reasoning, and memory.