Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: !! ii!! iii The body of work described in this thesis used saccades (fast eye movements) and MRI measures to characterise an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) group. Saccades are served by a network of cortical and subcortical regions, and abnormalities of impaired inhibitory responses and prolonged step reflexive saccade latency in AD are known. There has been a sole prior study using fMRI in AD. The present study utilised a comprehensive battery of saccadic tasks (step reflexive, gap reflexive, predictive and antisaccades) and neuropsychological testing to probe the integrity of the saccadic system in 15 subjects with mild to moderate AD and 16 healthy older control subjects using fMRI. Saccadic performance was impaired in the AD group, and correlated with the degree of cognitive impairment. The saccadic abnormalities exhibited were prolonged step reflexive saccade latency, impaired procedural learning in the predictive task, prolonged latency of correctly performed antisaccades and an increased error rate of antisaccades. There was increased activity in the middle temporal gyri in the AD group when
Author: Sarah Wright
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W31645481