Neuropsychological effects of closed head injury in older adults: A comparison with Alzheimer's disease

Author(s): Levin, H. S., Roberts, V. J., Goldman, W. P., Kalechstein, A. S., Winslow, M., Goldstein, S. J.

Journal/Book: Neuropsychology. 1996; 10: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Amer Psychological Assoc. 147-154.

Abstract: In this study, neuropsychological profiles of 14 older adult patients with mild or moderate closed head injury (CHI), 14 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 14 community residing elderly controls were compared. The groups were similar in demographic features, and the CHI and AD patients had comparable Mini-Mental State Examination scores. Tests of verbal learning and memory, letter and category fluency, and naming were administered. Relative to the CHI group, AD patients exhibited more devastated memory and did not show a normal facilitation on the category retrieval task. The patient groups exhibited similar levels of categorical clustering and naming accuracy for both high- and low-frequency words. These results suggest that neuropsychological markers of memory and semantic processing may be useful in differentiating the cognitive effects from AD versus early recovery from CHI.

Note: Article FC Goldstein, Emory Univ, Sch Med, Wesley Woods Hlth Ctr, Dept Neurol, Neurobehav Program, 1841 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA

Keyword(s): SEMANTIC MEMORY; PRACTICAL SCALE; RISK FACTOR; IMPAIRMENT; DEMENTIA

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