Sm. Kanne et al., RELATING ANATOMY TO FUNCTION IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE - NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES PREDICT REGIONAL NEUROPATHOLOGY 5 YEARS LATER, Neurology, 50(4), 1998, pp. 979-985
Neuropsychological profiles were assessed in a large group of nondemen
ted control subjects (n = 261) and individuals with dementia of the Al
zheimer type (DAT) (n = 407) by subjecting their psychometric test res
ults to a factor analysis. Nondemented control subjects were functiona
lly homogeneous with only one factor accounting for the results. The r
esults of the factor analysis on the very mild DAT and mild DAT groups
, however, yielded a mental control/frontal factor, a memory-verbal/te
mporal factor, and a visuospatial/parietal factor. Forty-one of the or
iginal set of participants came to autopsy an average of 5.1 years aft
er psychometric testing and had neurofibrillary tangles, total senile
plaques, and cored senile plaques estimated from frontal, temporal, an
d parietal regions. The results of correlations indicated that the rel
ative burden of cored senile plaques was systematically related to the
three psychometric factors. These results suggest a connection betwee
n the specific functions as defined by neuropsychological measures and
specific neuropathology occurring in associated areas of cortex.