Domains of awareness in Alzheimer's disease: The influence of executive function.

OBJECTIVE: Awareness is a developing area in dementia research and the evaluation of its domains has been increasingly included as part of care for people with Alzheimer's disease (PwAD). Our aim is to examine whether executive dysfunction is associated with awareness domains. METHODS: A consecutive series of 75 people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease completed assessments about global cognitive function, executive functioning, and their awareness of disease. Their primary caregivers' dyad provided information about demographics, awareness of disease, dementia severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional status. RESULTS: Different types of executive dysfunction were presented as a predictor for awareness of disease (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory), of emotional state (short-term memory and attention) and of social functioning and relationships (visuospatial organization, integrative functions, and abstract thinking). Awareness of cognitive functioning and health condition and of functional activity impairments exhibit only global cognitive function as a predictor. CONCLUSIONS: Findings confirm some degree of independence between awareness domains. The importance of identifying differences in domains of awareness relies in the understanding of awareness as a clinical phenomenon in order to guide the management and support of PwAD and their caregivers.

The Relationship between Social Cognition and Executive Functions in Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Social Cognition (SC) is a complex construct that reflects a wide variety of implicit and explicit cognitive processes. Many neurocognitive domains are associated with SC and the Executive Function (EF) is the most representative one. We conducted a systematic review aiming at clarifying whether SC impairments are associated with dysfunction on EF in people with Alzheimer Disease (AD). METHODS: The search, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses (PRISMA), was undertaken between January 2007 and December 2019 using Pubmed, SciELO, BIREME and Thomson Reuters Web of Science electronic databases. The keywords were SC, AD, EF, Neuropsychological functioning and Executive Disorder. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-six articles were identified and fifteen were included. These studies are not in agreement about the extent of SC deficits in AD, mainly in the mild stage of the disease. EF deficits, specifically inhibition and the ability to manipulate verbal information, are associated with the impairment in SC in AD. SC decreases with the disease progression, a relationship explained by global cognition impairment and SC specific symptoms. CONCLUSION: SC impairment is associated with disease progression, mainly because of the decline in EF. Studies on SC components are unequal, contributing to a frequent generalization of Theory of Mind results, and often hampering the investigation of other components, mainly empathy. More precise knowledge about SC functioning in AD may contribute to a better understanding of the behavioral changes and interpersonal interactions.

Patterns of discrepancies in different objects of awareness in mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: Awareness is considered a heterogeneous and non-linear phenomenon in dementia. We aim to investigate patterns of change of different domains of awareness (awareness of cognitive functioning and health condition, activities of daily living, emotional state, social functioning, and relationships) in people with mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and aspects related to each domain.Method: Cross-sectional assessment of dyads of people with AD (PwAD) and caregivers (n = 128; CDR1 = 74, CDR2 = 54). PwAD completed assessments about quality of life, cognition and their awareness of disease. Caregivers provided information about PwAD and received quality of life and burden of care assessments.Results: Mild AD group showed a mildly impaired awareness (n = 40; 54.05%), while moderate AD group, showed higher presence of moderately impaired awareness (n = 22; 40.74%). There was a significant difference between groups in awareness of cognitive functioning and health condition (p < 0.004), functional activity impairments (p < 0.001) and total score of awareness (p < 0.01). Conversely, awareness of emotional state (p = 0.22) and of social functioning and relationship (p = 0.44) presented no significant difference between groups. Unawareness of functional activity impairments showed higher discrepancy scores between PwAD and caregivers in both groups.Conclusions: Significant differences were found only in patterns of discrepancies in awareness of cognitive functioning and health condition, of ADL and socio-emotional functioning. Different factors are related to different domains in mild and moderate group, reinforcing the heterogeneity of awareness in dementia. ADL deficits have an important role in awareness phenomenon, independent of the severity of disease.

Concepts and objects of awareness in Alzheimer’s disease: an updated systematic review / Conceitos e objetos da consciência na doença de Alzheimer: uma revisão sistemática atualizada

ABSTRACT Objectives To compare and discuss the objects of awareness in Alzheimer’s disease (AD): awareness of cognitive deficits, of functional activities, of social-emotional functioning and behavioral impairment. Methods A search in the PsycINFo, Pilots, PubMed/Medline and ISI electronic databases according to Prisma methodology was performed. We included studies about awareness in people with AD published between 2010 and 2015, with the combination of keywords: “Alzheimer AND awareness of deficits”, “Alzheimer AND anosognosia”, “Alzheimer AND insight”, “dementia AND awareness of deficits”, “dementia AND anosognosia”, “dementia AND insight”. The articles were categorized according to the specific object of awareness. Results Seven hundred and ten records were identified and, after application of the exclusion criteria, 191 studies were retrieved for potential use. After excluding the duplicates, 46 studies were included. Most studies assessed the cognitive domain of awareness, followed by the functional, social-emotional, and behavioral impairment domains. Memory deficits were not sufficient to explain impaired awareness in AD. Longitudinal studies did not find discrepancies between patients and caregivers’ reports, indicating that awareness is not related to cognition. Conflicting findings were observed, including the relation between awareness, mood, severity of disease, and personal characteristics. Conclusions The studies show lack of conceptual consensus and significant methodological differences. The inclusion of samples without differentiation of dementia etiology is associated to symptomatic differences, which affect awareness domains. Awareness in AD is a complex and multidimensional construct. Different objects elicit different levels of awareness.

RESUMO Objetivos Comparar e discutir os objetos de consciência na doença de Alzheimer (DA): consciência dos déficits cognitivos, das atividades funcionais, do funcionamento socioemocional e prejuízos comportamentais. Métodos Realizou-se uma busca nas bases de dados PsycINFo, Pilots, PubMed/Medline e ISI de acordo com a metodologia do Prisma. Os artigos incluídos, publicados entre 2010 e 2015, avaliavam a consciência na DA com as combinações de palavras-chave: “Alzheimer AND consciência do déficit”, “Alzheimer AND anosognosia”, “Alzheimer AND insight”, “demência AND consciência do déficit”, “demência AND anosognosia”, “demência AND insight”. Os artigos foram categorizados conforme os objetos específicos da consciência. Resultados Setecentos e dez estudos foram identificados e, após a aplicação dos critérios de exclusão, 191 foram selecionados. Após a exclusão dos duplicados, 46 estudos foram incluídos. A maioria dos estudos avaliou o domínio cognitivo da consciência, seguido do funcional, do funcionamento socioemocional e prejuízos comportamentais. Déficits na memória não se mostraram suficientes para explicar o prejuízo da consciência na DA. Os estudos longitudinais não encontraram discrepâncias entre os relatos de pacientes e cuidadores, indicando que a consciência não está relacionada à cognição. Observaram-se controvérsias nos resultados na relação entre consciência, humor, gravidade da doença e características pessoais. Conclusões Os estudos demonstraram falta de consenso conceitual e diferenças metodológicas significativas. A inclusão de amostras sem diferenciação da etiologia demencial está associada a diferenças sintomáticas que afetam os domínios da consciência. A consciência na DA é um constructo complexo e multidimensional. Diferentes objetos suscitam diferentes níveis de consciência.