Purpose: Corpus analyses of spontaneous language fragments of varying length provide useful insights in the language change caused by brain damage, such as caused by some forms of dementia. Sample size is an important experimental parameter to consider when designing spontaneous language analyses studies. Sample length influences the confidence…

Advances in dual-retrieval models of recall make it possible to use clinical data to test theoretical hypotheses about mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's dementia (AD), the most common forms of neurocognitive impairment. Hypotheses about the nature of the episodic memory declines in these diseases, about decline versus sparing of…

The current study investigated the relationship between bilingual language proficiency and onset of probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) in 44 Spanish-English bilinguals at the UCSD Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Degree of bilingualism along a continuum was measured using Boston Naming Test (BNT) scores in each language. Higher degrees of…

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive condition that results in brain wasting and eventual death. With its increasing diagnosis rate, counselors will likely acquire clients with Alzheimer's disease or their caregivers. Important background information and several practical counseling methods are provided that may assist counselors working with this…

It is estimated that 13 million to 15 million adults in the United States have chronic conditions that impair cognitive function, such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and traumatic brain injury. The growing number of people with chronic conditions that include cognitive impairment and the family members who assist them face…

Background: The clinical and neuropathological features associated with dementia in Down's syndrome (DS) are not well established. Aims: To examine clinico-pathological correlations and the incidence of cognitive decline in a cohort of adults with DS. Method: A total of 92 hospitalized persons with DS were followed up from 1985 to December 2000.…

Describes the demographic features and clinical diagnoses in a sample of 58 demented urban black outpatients. Results indicate that probable Alzheimer's disease was the most common cause of dementia whereas probable vascular dementia was uncommon. A multiple etiology dementia was identified in more than one-third of the patients. (RJM)

Assessing higher cerebral functions in patients with known or suspected dementia requires sampling numerous abilities quickly and accurately. This paper reports on the performance of 20 patients with probable dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) on the BNI Screen for Higher Cerebral Functions (BNI Screen). These patients' performances were…

Reviews causes of dementia in later life, especially the Alzheimer's type, its prevalence, the characteristic structural changes, and hypothesized causes. The hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease represents accelerated aging is described. Treatment issues are discussed, primarily in terms of supportive environments, differential diagnosis, and…