Cognitive anosognosia and behavioral changes in probable Alzheimer's disease patients

Anosognosia, impairment insight and unawareness of deficits are used as equivalent terms in this study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the presence of anosognosia symptoms and cognitive domains, functional abilities, and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (pAD) and elderly controls (EC). METHODS: Twenty-one pAD (14 women) and twenty-two EC (16 women) were submitted to a neuropsychological battery of tests assessing global cognitive status, and specific cognitive functions: memory, executive and attention functions, verbal fluency and visuoconstructive abilities. Additionally, functional abilities (FAQ) and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI) were measured. RESULTS: The linear regression statistical test found general anosognosia to be associated with subjective memory complaints, age and Arithmetic-DRS in the EC group. On the other hand, cognitive and functional abilities scores (Arithmetic-DRS, IQCODE and FAQ) were the best predictors in pAD patients, particularly for behavioral awareness. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that different variables are associated with self-awareness for pAD patients and EC, but for both groups executive functions appear to play an important role, contributing particularly to awareness of behavioral changes.