P3‐074: Using the CANTAB computerized battery to discriminate mild cognitive impairment and dementias
Year: 2011
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: While the CANTAB computerized battery has been used in clinical research to identify pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease (De Jager et al., 2002; Egerhaziet al., 2007), the literature on its diagnostic utility is not extensive and its discriminative abilities for examining mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and different dementias are not currently known. The current study seeks to assess the discriminative utility of the CANTAB computerized battery for use in future clinical research, and its discriminant validity with traditional neuropsychological measures. Participants included MCI (N=18), Alzheimer's disease (AD, N=53), and Other Dementia (O-DEM, N=18; made up of roughly equivalent numbers of FTD and DLB participants) groups evaluated at the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (MADRC). Diagnoses were established through consensus. Participants were administered the CANTAB computerized battery, consisting of measures of visual memory, attention, associated learning, working memory, and reaction time, along with traditional neuropsychological measures from the National Alzheimer's Disease Cooperating Center Unified Data Set battery. Measures of spatial working memory (SWM), visual memory (delayed-match-to-sample; DMS), and paired associative learning (PAL) discriminated among diagnostic groups. AD performed worse than MCI and Other Dementia groups on PAL, and worse than only the MCI group on SWM. Both dementia groups performed worse than the MCI group on DMS. These specific CANTAB variables showed the greatest correlation to standard neuropsychological tests, with PAL showing highest correlations with standard memory tests (r=.43), DMS with visual attention and mental flexibility tests (r=.33 and r=.43, respectively), and SWM with orientation and visual learning tests (r=.44 and r=.38, respectively). Particular measures from the CANTAB computerized battery chosen for this study appear to be effective in discriminating pre-clinical dementia (MCI) from dementia groups (AD and O-DEM). Assessment of standard scores also suggested that the MCI group performed below expectation relative to normative samples. The results with PAL suggest particular sensitivity to variable cognitive performance between dementia groups and, in particular, sensitivity to the learning and memory deficits apparent in AD. The PAL displayed strong discriminant validity, and may be especially useful in both clinical and research settings as a supplement to traditional neuropsychological tasks when differentiation of AD patients is essential.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Authors: Dustin Hammers, Laura Michalski, Elizabeth Reese, Carol Persad, Shayla Wilson, Dominique Powells, Arijit Bhaumik, Judith Heidebrink, Nancy Barbas, Bruno Giordani
Institution: University of Michigan
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2075853148