Centre for Policy on Ageing



Neuropsychological assessment in Alzheimer's disease: current status and future directions
Author(s)	Karen Ritchie
Journal title	International Psychogeriatrics, vol 9, supplement 1, 1997
Pages	pp 95-104
Keywords	Dementia ; Cognitive processes ; Evaluation ; Diagnosis ; France.
Annotation	Neuropsychological assessment involves the observation and measurement of an individual's behaviour in relation to a given stimulus that has been selected for its likelihood to provoke an abnormal response in the presence of neurological damage. In the case of Alzheimer's disease (AD) this methodology has assumed considerable importance, since behavioural indicators remain the principal basis for provisional diagnosis when there are no biological markers. Observations of older people with and without senile dementia have led to the development of stimuli, or tests, that are able to assess the functioning of specific cognitive processes affected in AD as opposed to age-associated changes. Many of the tests are culturally portable. Diagnostic difficulties arise principally from the fact that many such tests cannot be used in isolation, from uncertainty as to the limits of "normal" functioning, and from the psychometric problems related to pathological thresholds and item-weighing. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-981001230 A
Classmark	EA: DA: 4C: LK7: 765
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