Abnormal Psychology II Flashcards
Define Alzheimer’s disease
A neurodegenerative disease, afflicting growing percentages of the elderly population over 50
Root of 50% of dementia cases
What is the onset and course of Alzheimer’s?
Gradual onset, progressive course
What is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s?
Memory impairments, along with agnosia, apraxia, aphasia, and executive functioning deficits
Describe the early stage of Alzheimer’s
time, cognitive, physical and emotional changes
First 3 years
Cognitive: Marked by being forgetful, misplacing things, reduced awareness of current events, less able to learn and complete complex mental tasks, deficits in episodic and some in semantic memory
Physical: Low energy
Emotional: sad, muted affect in demanding environments
Describe the middle stage of Alzheimer’s
time, emotional/personality, cognitive, and physical changes
3-10 years from onset
(The Notebook)
Personality/Emotional: Marked by personality changes, delusions or hallucinations, mood swings, irritability, restlessness
Cognitive: aphasia (forget words), difficulty remembering names of family members and loved ones but can distinguish familiar faces. Stage with most rapid cognitive decline - unable to perform simple math
Physical: less able to perform activities of daily living, wander off
Describe the late stage of Alzheimer’s
time, cognitive, physical and emotional/personality changes
10-15+ years from onset
Physical: bedridden, can’t talk (meaningfully), need total care (can’t eat or use the bathroom by themselves), poor motor coordination (can’t walk or sit up without help), seizures, may die within 8-10 years of onset, 15 of first sx
Cognitive: severe cognitive decline
How is Alzheimer’s diagnosed?
Neuropsych testing - process of elimination after testing for other types of dementia
Autopsy - only way to make definitive diagnosis: characteristic neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques, cholinergic dysfunction. Atrophy in temporal and parietal lobes, cingulate gyrus and frontal lobes (everything in FPOT except O).
Low levels of acetylcholine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and somatostatin
What are the similarities and differences between Korsakoff’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease?
Similarities: anterograde amnesia for declarative speech (can’t remember things that have happened since onset)
Differences: Alzheimer’s shows cognitive deficits beyond amnesia (more severe cognitive problems)
What is important to know about depression and Alzheimer’s?
- Depression can mimic or be comorbid with Alzheimer’s
- Characteristic sx of comorbid depression and Alzheimer’s is decreased positive affect or pleasure in response to social contacts and usual activities
- Declarative memory more affected than procedural memory during initial phases of depression comorbid with Alzheimer’s
What are the risk factors for Alzheimer’s? (4)
- age
- Down’s syndrome
- history of brain trauma
- female - women more likely to develop
What is the treatment for Alzheimer’s?
Cholinergic medications
Family support
Creating optimal living environment
What is the difference between pseudodementia and dementia?
Pseudodementia:
memory loss is isolated, fluctuating, contradictory, severity of cognitive impairment is exaggerated.
No brain abnormalities in CT scans of patients with pseudodementia
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome? What are the symptoms?
Amnesia due to thiamine deficiency due to chronic alcoholism
sx: anterograde and retrograde amnesia, confabulation, disorientation, flat affect, lack of insight
What is Vascular dementia? What are the symptoms and course of the disease?
Cognitive disorder due to stroke (CerebroVASCULAR Accident)
sx: memory problems, aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, problems with executive functioning
course: sudden onset with fluctuating course, rapid changes in cognitive functioning
What is a cerebrovascular accident?
stroke
