'Alzheimer's disease': more data, but are we any more informed?

Extending the administration time of the letter fluency test increases sensitivity to cognitive status in aging

The authors examined whether extending the administration time of letter fluency from 1 minute per letter trial (standard administration) to 2 minutes increased the sensitivity of this test to cognitive status in aging. Participants (mean age = 84.6) were assigned to cognitive impairment (n = 20) and control (n = 40) groups. Pearson correlations and scatter plot analyses showed that associations between the Dementia Rating Scale scores and letter fluency were higher and less variable when performance on the latter was extended to 2 minutes. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the cognitive impairment group generated fewer words in the second minute of the letter fluency task compared to the control group. Finally, discriminant function analyses revealed that extending the letter fluency trials to 2 minutes increased discrimination between the control and cognitive impairment groups.

Vascular mild cognitive impairment is highly prevalent after lacunar stroke but does not increase over time: a 2-year follow-up study

Although ample research has been done into cognitive disorders occurring after stroke, relatively few data are available on the development and the course of vascularmild cognitive impairment (VMCI) after first-ever lacunar stroke.

METHODS

A cohort of 95 patients with a first-ever symptomaticlacunar infarct, older than 40 years, MMSE>or=15 and no other neurological or major psychiatric deficits were included. Patients were assessed (clinically and with a neuropsychological test battery) at 1 and 24 months after stroke, and CT was repeated. VMCI was diagnosed when patients had a deficit in at least one cognitive domain, in the absence of dementia.

RESULTS

Approximately 75% of the patients had VMCI at 1 month; this percentage was somewhat lower at 2 years. Only initial stroke severity was an independent predictor of VMCI after stroke.

CONCLUSION

VMCI is highly prevalent after lacunar stroke, but does not increase during the first 2 years thereafter.