Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology Advance Access published online on July 8, 2009
Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, doi:10.1093/arclin/acp029
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The Contribution of Executive Control on Verbal-Learning Impairment in Patients with Parkinson's Disease with Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
a Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
b Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
c Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
* Corresponding author at: SC 650, 1530 3rd Avenue S., Birmingham, AL, USA. Tel.: +1-205-934-2334; fax: +1-205-975-3094. E-mail address: rlgriffith{at}uabmc.edu
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Abstract |
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Deficits in learning, memory, and executive functions are common cognitive sequelae of Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the pattern of deficits within these populations is distinct. Hierarchical regression was used to investigate the contribution of two measures with executive function properties (Verbal Fluency and CLOX) on list-learning performance (CVLT-II total words learned) in a sample of 25 PDD patients and 25 matched AD patients. Executive measures were predictive of list learning in the PDD group after the contribution of overall cognition and contextual verbal learning was accounted for, whereas in the AD group the addition of executive measures did not add to prediction of variance in CVLT-II learning. These findings suggest that deficits in executive functions play a vital role in learning impairments in patients with PDD; however, for AD patients, learning difficulties appear relatively independent of executive dysfunction.
Keywords Parkinson's disease with dementia; Alzheimer's disease; Executive function; List learning; Neuropsychologic tests; Comparative studies
Accepted: June 11, 2009