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Memory for visuospatial patterns in Alzheimer's disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Dario Grossi,
James T. Becker,
Christine Smith and
Luigi Trojano
Dario Grossi*
Affiliation:
Neurologic Institute, 2nd Medical School, Naples, Italy; Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Fondazione Clinica del Lavoro, Centro Medico di Campoli MT, IRCCS, Campoli, Italy
James T. Becker
Affiliation:
Neurologic Institute, 2nd Medical School, Naples, Italy; Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Fondazione Clinica del Lavoro, Centro Medico di Campoli MT, IRCCS, Campoli, Italy
Christine Smith
Affiliation:
Neurologic Institute, 2nd Medical School, Naples, Italy; Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Fondazione Clinica del Lavoro, Centro Medico di Campoli MT, IRCCS, Campoli, Italy
Luigi Trojano
Affiliation:
Neurologic Institute, 2nd Medical School, Naples, Italy; Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Fondazione Clinica del Lavoro, Centro Medico di Campoli MT, IRCCS, Campoli, Italy
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Dario Grossi, Clinica Neurologica, Ed. 17, Nuovo Policlinico, Via S. Pansini, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
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Synopsis

Immediate memory for visuospatial information was assessed in patients affected by Alzheimer-type dementia but with unimpaired visuo-perceptual functions. Patients were given two tasks: one was a traditional visuospatial memory task (Corsi's block tapping test), the second explored specifically immediate memory for visuospatial patterns. The experiment was conducted in two parallel groups of patients in Italy and the United States, each with its own appropriate sample of normal control subjects. Results showed a specific deficit of visual working memory in demented patients, even in a task in which control subjects achieved error-free performance. These data are interpreted in the light of the Working Memory Model, and suggest that in dementia the functions of the Visuospatial Scratchpad, unlike the functions of the verbal subsystems, may be impaired.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 1993, pp. 65 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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