Memory and attention in patients with senile dementia of the alzheimer type and in normal elderly subjects

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that cholinergic blockade in normal subjects induces impairment of vigilance as well as memory deficits. In the present investigation we have examined the validity of this pharmacological model of dementia by administering a battery of cognitive tasks to patients with mild and moderate senile dementia of the Alzheimer type and to age-matched controls. In contrast to volunteers receiving scopolamine all the mildly demented patients, and half of those moderately affected, performed normally on tests of vigilance whilst exhibiting the expected memory deficits. These data suggest that the mechanism of memory loss in Alzheimer's disease may differ from that found in scopolamine-induced amnesia.