VISUAL INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE ALZHEIMER COGNITION

描述(改编自调查者摘要)：视觉的大部分方面 阿尔茨海默病(AD)患者的认知和记忆受损，包括 识别和区分物体、人脸、字母和单词的能力，以及 其他模式。最近的研究表明，基本视力缺陷是 在这种疾病中很普遍，而且视觉缺陷可以很好地预测 视觉认知障碍，表明基本视力可能是一种合乎逻辑的 改善阿尔茨海默病认知的非药理学干预观点。这个 这项研究的具体目的包括实验操作视力测试 变量，并确定哪些操作最能提高测试性能 有针对性的认知能力，这开始解决长期目标 通过制定干预措施提高AD患者的认知能力 旨在恢复受损的视觉能力。一项双部位纵向研究 建议，利用波士顿阿尔茨海默病中心和 克利夫兰将影响参与者的注册和数据质量。这项计划要求 测试80名健康的老年人、80名健康的年轻人和160名痴呆症患者 患者，其中50%将被诊断为可能的AD，35%将被诊断为 血管性痴呆。其余的将包括路易体和FrontoTemporal 痴呆症。目标对比度敏感度和后向掩蔽，视觉能力 作为认知干预的起点，最有希望的是 这项研究的目标是。第三种能力，运动感知，将是 作为可能的干预点进行更多的初步调查。 据假设，对刺激对比度、亮度和 持续时间将导致显著改善，甚至正常化 痴呆症患者在几项视觉认知测试中的表现 包括字母和单词阅读、人脸识别和识别、对象 命名和复杂模式完成。对于运动感知来说， 注意方向和对几种运动信号的先验适应 将会被研究。这项研究承诺提供与确定 动态认知能力可能会通过以下方式得到改善 对这些运动感知变量的操纵。通过将以下发现联系起来 视觉、认知和临床缺陷导致创新和有效 干预，该项目可能提供新的见解，以改善认知和 因此，正常的老年人，特别是个人的生活质量 患有阿尔茨海默病和其他原因的痴呆。

DESCRIPTION (adapted from investigator's abstract): Most aspects of visual cognition and memory are impaired in Alzheimer's Disease (AD), including the abilities to recognize and discriminate objects, faces, letters and words, and other patterns. Recent research indicates that deficits in basic vision are prevalent in this disorder and that visual deficits can strongly predict impairments in visual cognition, suggesting that basic vision may be a logical non-pharmacological point of intervention for improving cognition in AD. The specific aims of the study include experimentally manipulating vision test variables and determining which manipulations most improve performance on tests of targeted cognitive capacities, which begins to address the long-term goal of enhancing cognitive performance in AD through the development of interventions aimed at restoring deficient visual capacities. A dual-site longitudinal study is proposed, using the strengths of the Alzheimer Centers of Boston and Cleveland to effect participant enrollment and data quality. The plan calls for testing 80 healthy elderly adults, 80 healthy young adults, and 160 demented patients, of whom 50% will be diagnosed with probable AD and 35 percent with Vascular Dementia. The remainder will include Lewy Body and Frontotemporal Dementias. Target contrast sensitivity and backward masking, visual capacities that show the most promise as launching points for cognitive intervention, are targeted in this research. A third capacity, motion perception, will be the subject of more preliminary investigation as a possible point of intervention. It is hypothesized that manipulations of stimulus contrast, luminance, and duration will result in significant improvement or even normalization of performance of demented patients on several tests of visual cognition, including letter and word reading, face discrimination and recognition, object naming, and complex pattern completion. For motion perception, the role of the direction of attention and prior adaptation to several types of motion signals will be studied. This research promises to yield data relevant to determining the dynamic cognitive capacities that might be amenable to improvement through manipulation of these motion perception variables. By bridging the findings of visual, cognitive, and clinical deficits to innovative and effective intervention, the project may provide new insights to improving cognition and hence the quality of life of normal elderly adults and especially individuals with AD and dementia of other etiologies.