ABSTRACT
Alzheimer's disease is the fourth most common cause of death in the United States, and is the leading cause of functional disability in the elderly. This article analyzes the pathologic validity of mental status tests and the biochemistry of Alzheimer's disease patients.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/diagnosis , Biomarkers/analysis , Aged , Humans , Neuropsychological TestsABSTRACT
Psychomotor assessment is a collaborative effort between the neurologic and the neuropsychologic evaluation. Changes associated with normal aging must be differentiated from signs and symptoms that indicate abnormal functioning. Recent developments in computer-based technology should add to the precision and accuracy of differential diagnosis in the psychomotor evaluation of the older patient.
Subject(s)
Aged , Psychomotor Performance , Humans , Neuropsychological TestsABSTRACT
Less-common causes of dementia are briefly discussed. Disorders covered include Pick's disease, primary progressive aphasia, progressive supranuclear palsy, Huntington's disease, olivopontocerebellar atrophies, closed head injury, dementia pugilistica, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Pseudodementia is also discussed. These disorders are compared and contrasted with the more common etiologies of dementia that are reviewed in other articles in the issue. Topics covered include treatment, differential diagnosis, clinical features, and pathogenesis.
Subject(s)
Dementia/etiology , Nervous System Diseases/complications , Aged , Dementia/diagnosis , Diagnosis, Differential , HumansABSTRACT
Binaural response properties of single neurons in the medial superior olivary nucleus (MSO) were investigated in the anesthetized rat. Stimulus parameters studied included interaural time difference and interaural intensity difference. In the present study, of the two cell types observed in the rat MSO nucleus, EE and EI, variations in the binaural response properties of the MSO neurons permitted further subclassifications, which may be related to the dendritic dominance of the MSO neurons.
