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Biomedical subjects

M Storandt

Publications and source records attributed to M Storandt.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Very mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. II. Psychometric test performance.

A brief battery of psychometric tests was used to compare 41 individuals with very mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) with 83 healthy participants and 66 individuals with mild SDAT. Although canonical analysis indicated that the same psychological functions (memory, speeded psychomotor performance, and language) are involved in both very mild and mild SDAT, objective levels of performance by the very mildly affected individuals overlapped extensively with those of both healthy aged and mildly demented individuals. Consideration of premorbid individual differences in psychological functions will probably be required if psychometric test performances are to be effective in detecting SDAT in the very mild stage.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Older adults' perceptions of psychopathology.

In this study, 40 older female and 40 older male community volunteers (age range = 60-78 years) read fictional case descriptions of a healthy person and of individuals with one of five types of psychopathology (paranoia, depression, dementia, hypochondriasis, and alcohol abuse). In each group, 1/2 of the volunteers read descriptions of an older woman and 1/2 read analogous descriptions of an older man. Participants rated the psychological disturbance of the stimulus individuals. The hypothesis that older women would rate symptoms of psychopathology of elderly people as more severe than would older men was not supported. Normal stimulus individuals were typically perceived to be extremely healthy, thus, strongly accounting for a main effect of pathology type. The five psychopathology conditions also were viewed differentially in terms of severity. These results suggest that older women are no more perceptive of psychopathology than are older men.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Subject attrition and testability in research.

There are inherent methodologic problems in investigating senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) but this study indicated that, with regard to behavioral test measurement, some of the obvious problems are partially mitigated. First, these data showed that the progressive decline seen in longitudinal SDAT studies is of the same type and magnitude seen in cross-sectional comparisons. Thus, comparing SDAT groups differing in severity provides for the same observations as following up subjects with mild SDAT over time. This study also demonstrates that with certain kinds of tests, selective subject attrition may not be any greater in longitudinal investigations than found in normal aging research. Subjects who dropped out of the longitudinal study were not that different from those who remained in, at least in terms of initial test performance on challenging tests. In this study less than 5% of the subjects with SDAT originally classified as being in the mild stage of the disease remained in this stage after 6 3/4 years of investigation. This inexorable downward path of the subject with SDAT is what appears paramount. Given the similarity of staging in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, prior test performance levels in the latter studies can be ascertained even if with less accuracy than in longitudinal studies.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1988

Mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type: 2. Longitudinal assessment.

Forty-three subjects with mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT, so-called probable Alzheimer's disease) were studied longitudinally by serial administration of several tests to rate dementia. Comparison was made with 58 healthy elderly controls. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed in all 16 autopsies. At 5 years after entry into the study, the cumulative rate of nursing home placement was 73%, and of death, 30%, rising at 7 years to 84% and 44%, respectively. Four of six clinical measures of dementia were found to correlate with the natural history of SDAT. Several measures are better than a single one in carrying out longitudinal studies of the disorder.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Behavioral changes in patients with mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

Behavioral changes in 44 subjects with well-characterized mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT) and 16 subjects with only questionable SDAT were compared to a control group of 58 subjects. Answers to both open-ended questions and personality items from the Blessed Dementia Scale were examined. Seventeen items were classified into seven categories by factor analysis and then further categorized into four clinically useful groups: passive, agitated, self-centered, and suspicious. Over 75% of subjects with mild SDAT had behavioral changes compared to 10% of controls. Passive symptoms were the most common, occurring in two-thirds of mild SDAT subjects. Agitated and self-centered symptoms were also common, occurring half as frequently as passive symptoms. Passive symptoms occurred alone in 25% of those with mild SDAT, whereas passive symptoms, together with agitated and/or self-centered symptoms, were present in 11-16% of subjects with mild SDAT. Agitated or self-centered symptoms rarely occurred alone. Characterizing the behavioral symptoms of SDAT is important for their clinical implications and for an approach to understanding brain-behavioral relationships.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Similarities in visual imagery ability in young and old women.

Young (age 25 to 39 years, n = 50) and old (age 65 to 79 years, n = 50) women were administered both subjective and objective measures of imagery ability and imagery control. Little evidence of an age-related deficit in image vividness was observed. It would appear that imaginal ability does not vary with age. Alternatively, self-reports of images may not be accurate representations of images experienced.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Aging, alcoholism, and performance on the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery.

The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) was used to test the hypothesis that alcoholism produces premature or accelerated aging. This hypothesis was tested by the interaction between age (in individuals ranging from 30 to 76 years of age) and alcoholism (nonalcoholics vs. alcoholics). No evidence was observed in support of the hypothesis. Additionally, the differences in LNNB performance found among age groups were different from those found between the alcoholics and nonalcoholics. This suggests that different mechanisms may be associated with age-related psychological deficits as compared with psychological dysfunction associated with alcoholism.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A longitudinal, behavioral study of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Subjects with mild cases of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT n = 18) were followed up over four years with 16 behavioral tests given during four test periods. This group was compared with a normal group (n = 30) matched on age (64 to 81 years), sex, and socioeconomic status. Each of the 16 tests reflected significant group differences, with the normal subjects showing little or no decline and the subjects with SDAT showing progressive decline. The test showing the greatest decline over the four years was the logical memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale, and the test showing the least decline was the Wechsler Memory Scale digit span forward subtest. Even the latter test, however, reflected much decline. There were five subjects with SDAT whose dementia remained mild throughout the four-year study. The others progressed to more severe levels. The five subjects performed more ably on each of the 16 tests than those who progressed to more severe levels. In fact, after an initial level of decline, several of the tests showed little or no decline among the five subjects. Four hypotheses are offered in examining the differences between those subjects whose dementia remained mild and those whose dementia did not.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Countercontrol treatment of sleep-maintenance insomnia in relation to age.

We administered countercontrol behavioral therapy for sleep-maintenance insomnia to 34 insomniacs--ranging in age from 35 to 78 years--in small groups. Twenty-two subjects received immediate and 12 received delayed treatment. Three self-report measures of sleep disruption were collected on daily sleep diaries at baseline, termination of treatment, 1-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up. Although amount of time awake at night was correlated with age (r = .50), response to treatment was not. Even though older people experienced more time awake after sleep onset prior to treatment, they were able to profit from therapy as well as the younger insomniacs. Countercontrol therapy reduced the sleep complaint for the total group by about 30% at the end of treatment, with gradual improvement continuing through a 4-week follow-up. Nevertheless, it appears that sleep-maintenance insomnia may be more difficult to treat than sleep-onset problems.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Age and its effect on perceptions of psychopathology.

Fifty young (M age = 27.2 years) and 50 older (M age = 66.1 years) laywomen read descriptions of a healthy woman and women with four types of psychopathology. One half of each age group read descriptions of a younger woman, and one half read identical descriptions of an older woman. Participants rated both the severity of the problem and reasons for their judgments. No support was obtained for the hypothesis that psychopathological symptoms are viewed as part of the "normal" aging process.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

A longitudinal EEG study of mild senile dementia of Alzheimer type: changes at 1 year and at 2.5 years.

This longitudinal study of resting EEGs compared patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer type (SDAT) and healthy controls at 3 times of testing over a 2.5 year period. Measures included the mean EEG frequency as well as the percentage of power in alpha, beta, theta, and delta frequency bands obtained from power spectral analysis. The values from occipital to vertex derivations were averaged for the left and right hemispheres. In healthy older adults delta increased, and both beta and mean frequency decreased over the study period; there was no significant change in theta or alpha. In the SDAT group, all 5 EEG measures changed significantly; there were increases in delta and theta, and decreases in beta, alpha and mean frequency. Theta percentage power distinguished between all 4 stages of dementia (control, mild, moderate and severe). Other EEG measures discriminated only at certain stages. In the mild stage of SDAT theta, beta and mean frequency were already different from control values. In the moderate stage, these differences persisted, and alpha became different. Delta was the last to change, and in the present small sample of those with severe SDAT the difference had not yet reached significance.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Memory-skills training, memory complaints, and depression in older adults.

This study examined the effectiveness of a self-taught program of memory-skills training for older adults complaining of memory difficulties in an immediate-treatment/waiting-list design. Analyses of covariance of measures of memory performance, memory evaluation (complaints), and a self-rating depression scale revealed a significant impact of training on memory performance but not on memory complaints or symptoms of depression. Subsequent evaluation of the waiting-list group, which was provided training after participation in the initial portion of the study, provided a partial replication of the design. The pattern of results was remarkably consistent with that obtained in the controlled evaluation of the training program. Finally, those complaining of memory problems were compared with a group of noncomplaining older adults. The two groups were comparable in memory performance and depression scores. Thus, memory complaints do not appear to reflect, systematically, memory problems or depression.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Psychometric differentiation of mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.

A brief (ten-minute), easily administered battery of four psychological tests was developed to classify successfully 98% of patients with mild dementia of the Alzheimer's type and healthy older persons matched for age, sex, and social position. Only two of 84 persons (one demented, one healthy) were misclassified. The four tests are the logical memory and mental control subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, Form A of the Trailmaking Test, and word fluency for letters S and P.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Age and sex differences in somatic complaints associated with depression.

Following the procedure used by Zemore and Eames (1979) with the Beck Depression Inventory, the 20 items of the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale were categorized as either somatic or psychological symptoms of depression. Scores of 179 college students and 462 community-dwelling older adults revealed significant, though small, age differences in somatic complaints. Somatic complaints were especially prominent in older women. Age differences in psychological symptoms of depression were not significant. Diagnosis of depression in later life, especially in women, may be confounded by the use of physical symptoms of depression that are comparable to physical changes that accompany the aging process.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Predictive features in mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Forty-three subjects with mild senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, diagnosed and staged by clinical research criteria, were studied with clinical, psychometric, EEG, visual evoked potential, and CT measures. During the 12 months following entry into the study, 21 subjects progressed to moderate or severe dementia, 21 remained mild, and one was lost to follow-up. Many of the clinical and psychometric measures of impairment were predictive of the progression to moderate or severe dementia. Electrophysiologic and CT measures were not. In a discriminant function analysis, the scores on two measures (the digit symbol subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and an Aphasia Battery) correctly predicted the stage of dementia 1 year later in 95% of the subjects.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1983

Understanding senile dementia: a challenge for the future.

The causes of dementia in later life are reviewed. Special attention is paid to senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type, its prevelance, the characteristic structural changes in the brains of persons suffering from this disorder, and the hypothesized causes of the disease. The hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease represents accelerated aging is described. Treatment issues are discussed, primarily in terms of supportive environments, differential diagnosis, and assistance to the caregiver.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Bender Gestalt performance of normal older adults.

With increased numbers of older adults in the population, psychologists are faced frequently with diagnostic questions that concern the neuropsychological functioning of an older client. The need for a brief screening measure of organicity can be filled by the Bender Gestalt Test (BGT), a measure widely used by psychologists. This report provides normative data on the BGT with a sample of 334 normal older adults aged 60 and above who are residing in the community. Using the Hutt-Briskin scoring criteria, it is shown that these older adults, as a group, do not perform on the BGT in a manner that can be called brain-damaged. Use of the cut-off score developed with younger persons appears to be appropriate even with older adults.

Aged↗