LETTER AND CATEGORY FLUENCY IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING CANADIAN SENIORS - A COMPARISON OF NORMAL PARTICIPANTS TO THOSE WITH DEMENTIA OF THE ALZHEIMER OR VASCULAR TYPE

Measures of letter (FAS) and category (Animal Naming) fluency were com pleted by community-dwelling, cognitively normal seniors (n = 635). an d by individuals diagnosed with dementia. of the Alzheimer type (DAT) (n = 155), or with vascular dementia (n = 39). Among normal seniors, c ategory, but not letter fluency, declined with age. females performed better than males on letter but not on category fluency, and performan ce increased with education on both tasks. Among participants with DAT , letter fluency was influenced by level of education, whereas categor y fluency was education-, age-, and gender-invariant. Both measures di fferentiated normal seniors from those with dementia. Category fluency was mon impaired than letter fluency at both mild and moderate stages of dementia, but neither task differentiated DAT from vascular dement ia.