Dementia n Alzheimer's

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    Dementia and amnestic disorders.

    Dementia.

    1. DEFINITIONDementia is defined as a progressive impairment of cognitive

    functions occurring in clear consciousness (that is, in the absence

    of delirium). Dementia consists of a variety of symptoms that

    suggest chronic and widespread dysfunction. Global impairment of

    intellect is the essential feature, manifested as difficulty with

    memory, attention, thinking, and comprehension. Other mental

    functions may often be affected, including mood, personality, and

    social behavior. Nevertheless, the diagnosis of dementia should not

    be made without evidence of memory deficits and at least one other

    cognitive deficit/Dementia must be distinguished from mental

    retardation and other cognitive disorders, such as amnestic

    disorder, that involve impairment of only one intellectual function,

    memory. Although there are specific diagnostic criteria for various

    dementias, such as Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia, all

    dementias have certain common elements, as defined by the

    revised fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

    Mental Disorders (DSM-IV): The symptoms result in significantimpairment in social or occupational functioning, and they represent

    a, significant decline from a previous level of functioning.

    Epidemiology

    With the aging population, the prevalence of dementia is rising. The

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    prevalence of moderate to severe dementia in different population

    groups is approximately 5 percent in the general population older

    than 65 years of age, 20 to 40 percent in the general population

    older than 85 years of age, 15 to 20 percent in outpatient general

    medical practices, and 50 percent in chronic care facilities. By 2050,

    current predictions suggest that there will be 14 million Americans

    with AIzheimer's disease and, therefore, more than 18 million

    people with dementia.

    ETIOLOGY

    The most common causes of dementia in individuals older than 65

    ears of age are: AIzheimer's disease (which accounts for

    approximately 60 percent), vascular dementia (15 percent), and

    mixed vascular and AIzheimer's dementia (15 percent). Other

    illnesses that account for approximately 10 percent include Lewy

    body dementia; Pick's disease; frontotemporal dementias; normal

    pressure hydrocephalus (NPH); alcoholic dementia; infectiousdementia, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HTV) or syphilis;

    and Parkinson's disease. Some sources suggest that as much as 5

    percent of dementias evaluated in clinical settings may be

    attributable to reversible causes, such as metabolic abnormalities

    (e.g., hypothyroidism, nutritional deficiencies (e.g., vitamin B12 or

    folate deficiencies), or dementia syndrome due to depression.

    Possible Etiologies of Dementia

    Degenerative dementias:Alzheimer's disease

    Frontotemporal dementias (e.g., Pick's disease)Parkinson's disease ;

    Lewy body dementia .

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    Idiopathic cerebral ferrocalcinosis(Fahr's disease)Progressive supranuclear palsyMiscellaneousHuntington's diseaseWilson's disease

    MetachromaticleukodystrophyNeuroacanthocytosis

    PsychiatricPseudodementia of depressionCognitive decline in late-life schizophrenia

    PhysiologicNormal pressure hydrocephalusMetabolicVitamin deficiencies (e.g., vitamin B12,folate)Endocrinopathies (e.g., hypothyroidism)Chronic metabolic disturbances (e.g., uremia)

    TumorPrimary or metastatic (e.g., meningioma or metastatic breast or

    Jungcancer)

    TraumaticDementia pugilistica,posttrauniatic dementia

    SubduralhematomaInfection

    Prion diseases (e.g., Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, bovinespongiform encephalitis, Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome)

    Acquired immune deficiency syndrome

    Syphilis

    Cardiac, vascular, and anoxiaInfarction (single or multiple or strategic lacunar)

    Binswanger's disease (subcorticalarterioscleroticencephalopathy)

    Hemodynamic insufficiency (e.g., hypoperfusion or hypoxia)

    Demyelinating diseases

    Multiple sclerosisDrugs and toxins

    Alcohol

    Heavy metals

    Irradiation

    Pseudodementia due to medications(e.g.,anticholinergics)

    Carbon monoxide

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    DIAGNOSIS

    The diagnosis of dementia is made by careful history, clinical

    examination, and selected diagnostic tests. The clinical history is

    most valid if corroborated with a family member or other

    knowledgeable informant, as patients with memory disorders are

    often poor historians. A social history, including occupationalexposures to toxins or heavy metals, substance use, and HIV risk

    factors, is important in the evaluation. The medical history should

    include current medical conditions and their trpaffnents, history of

    head trauma, cardiovascular illness, vascular risk factors, and

    history of transient ischemic attacks or cerebrovascular accidents

    (CVAs). A family history of dementia is particularly important in

    early-onset Alzheimer's disease or other known genetically

    transmitted diseases, such as Huntington's chorea. A physical and

    neurological examination should be performed to look for activemedical problems, evidence of focal neurological signs, or

    movement disorders.

    Another important aspect to the evaluation of a patient for a

    dementia is a complete mental status examination. In addition to

    the usual components of a mental status examination (appearance,

    mood,thought form and content, etc.), the clinician should evaluate

    of level of alertness and should conduct a screening cognitive

    assessment that addresses language (comprehension, fluency, etc.)

    and cognition. To assess cognition, the clinician must evaluatememory (as observed on interview as well as tested, such as

    remembering a list of words), orientation, reading, writing, speech

    production, calculation, abstraction, executive functioning, and

    constructional ability. Depending on the history, other areas may be

    evaluated, such as fine sensory function (e.g., two-point

    discrimination or graphesthesia) and visuospatial skills. There are a

    variety of standardized assessments used to evaluate cognition.

    The clinical history should include the onset of symptoms, the

    quality of symptom progression (i.e., in a gradual and progressivemanner, stepwise), a review of the cognitive domains defined in the

    DSM-IV (Table), and an assessment of how the cognitive changes

    have affected various areas of functioning. An evaluation for other

    psychiatric disorders is also crucial, as severe depression may

    present as dementia. In addition, schizophrenia is associated with a

    decrease in cognitive abilities, especially after 60 years of age.

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    Table

    Screening Laboratory TestsAssessments RationaleLabs: complete blood count, serum electro- Rule out

    correctable orlytes, renal and hepatic function, glu- contributory causesof

    cose, albumin and protein, vitamin B 12 dementiaand folate, rapid plasma reagin (syphilis),

    thyroid-stimulating hormone, urinalysisImaging: computed tomography without Rule out infarcts,mass

    contrast or magnetic resonance imaging lesions, tumors,and

    hydrocephalusNeurological examination Correlate imaging

    find-ings with clinicalexamination

    Neuropsychological testing Mini-Mental StateExamination

    : screening test

    of cognitivefunction

    Formaldescription of cognitive

    impairments

    CLINICAL FEATURES

    Although the core features are the same for all dementias, the

    onset and course may vary. For example, a stroke followed by a

    dementia is, by definition, rapid in onset. Alzheimer's disease is

    usually insidious in onset.

    The time from the onset of clinical features to presentation for

    evaluation varies considerably and depends on the etiology of the

    dementia, as well as personal and social factors, including

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    individual and cultural attitudes and beliefs about aging, premorbid

    personality, and intelligence. Studies show that, although

    physicians are aware of the prevalence and diagnostic criteria for

    dementia, they .often do not screen for cognitive impairment.

    Cognitive Impairment. The core symptoms of cognitive dysfunction

    in dementia, as defined in the DSM-IV, are described in the

    following sections.

    Memory.Loss of short-term memory is often the first clinical

    feature that comes to the notice of patients and their relatives.

    Typically, memory impairment is manifested by difficulty in learning

    new information. As dementia progresses, retrieval of highly

    learned information (long-term memory) also becomes impaired.

    Memory deficits may be reflected in repetitiveness, missing

    appointments, misplacing objects, and burning meals.

    Topographical memory is also commonly affected, and patients

    may get lost. In mild-stage dementia, disorientation is usuallyconfined to unfamiliar places. As the disease progresses, this

    impairment can occur in familiar environments as well.

    Confabulation may also occur and may manifest itself as insertion

    of false memories.

    Language.Aphasia (impaired or absent comprehension or

    production of speech, writing, or signs) may present as

    impoverished speech and can eventually progress to mutism in the

    severe stage. Nominal aphasia, the difficulty in naming objects, is

    common in the mild stage. Typically, this presents as word-finding

    difficulty, initially for low-frequency words (such as harmonica) but

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    later for higher-frequency words (such as telephone). Later, fluent

    and nonfluent aphasias and jargon aphasia (meaningless phrases)

    may occur. Receptive aphasia, the inability to understand, is also-

    common and is severely disabling. An important clinical point to

    note is that, even when language has disintegrated completely,

    patients may understand nonverbal communication, such as

    gestures and pictures.

    Praxis.Apraxia is the loss or diminished ability to perform

    coordinated motor tasks, assuming that there is no neurological or

    other damage to the peripheral motor apparatus. It reflects

    dominant parietal involvement in the dementia process. Apraxia is a

    major cause of loss of independence in patients, as it is reflected in

    the inability to cook, to dress, to wash, to go to the toilet, and to eat.

    Occasionally, and unwittingly, relatives add to the patient's distress

    by misinterpreting the inability to carry out these acts as laziness or

    as a lowering of standards. This is an area in which the education ofrelatives is important.

    Gnosis.Agnosia, derived from the Greek word gnosis, which means

    knowledge, is the failure to accurately recognize sensory stimuli in

    the absence of sensory (e.g., visual or olfactory) deficits. Visual

    agnosia may be reflected in the functional misuse of everyday

    objects (e.g., urinating in the sink). Prosopagnosia is the inability to

    recognize faces, even of friends and relatives. Agnosias can occur in

    all sensory modalities. Some demented patients may, for example,

    be unable to recognize familiar smells.

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    Executive Functioning. Executive functioning is defined as the

    ability to plan, to sequence, to abstract, and to carry through

    complex tasks. Deficits in executive functioning are seen

    particularly in disorders affecting the frontal lobes. Executive

    functioning can be assessed by reviewing the patient's ability to

    perform at work, to pay bills, and to plan activities.

    Neuropsychological tests directly address executive functioning by

    asking the person to have flexibility in how they approach an

    organizational task (i.e., the ability to shift sets) or to copy complex

    figures, drawing a clock. These latter tests are not specific to

    executive functioning but can demonstrate how the patient

    addresses a task that involves planning and organization.

    Personality and Behavioral Changes. Notwithstanding the

    devastating effects of the cognitive deficits described previously, it

    is, not infrequently, the changes in personality and behavior that

    families find most distressing. In assessing personality changes, theclinician must rely on close family members or friends, because the

    patient often does not have insight into these symptoms. Relatives

    may vary in their description of personality and behavioral change.

    Some overemphasize unpleasant behaviors, whereas others deny

    any changes at all. Individuals with dementia may lose drive and

    initiative and become indecisive and introverted. The spectrum of

    emotions displayed may be narrowed, with the loss of warmth and

    humor. As the illness progresses, patients may sit all day in the

    same place, apparently doing little. This constellation of symptoms,

    often called negative symptoms, is usually characterized by

    prominent apathy. It is important to differentiate these latter

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    symptoms from depression, which characteristically has prominent

    sadness, tearfulness, neurovegetative changes, suicidal tendency,

    and inappropriate guilt,among other characteristics. The negative

    symptoms do not respond to antidepressant medication.

    Abnormalities of mood are well described in; the early stages of

    dementia. In addition, severe depression may mimic or exacerbate

    dementia. Mania is,also occasionally seen.

    In other patients, changes in behavior are reflected in agitation

    or

    disinhibition. Social skills may be lost, and there may be sexual

    disinhibition, use of inappropriate language, or both. Agitation may

    include irritability, angry outbursts, and threatening or aggressive

    behavior, as well as pacing and purposeless behaviors (e.g., packing

    and unpacking). Patients may wander, including leaving their homes

    in the middle of the night.

    ALZHEIMER'S disease.

    Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementiain

    the elderly. Alzheimer first described the illness in 1907 whenhe

    reported the case of a 51-year-old woman with memory loss, topo-

    graphical disorientation, persecutory delusions, misidentifications,

    and behavioral disturbances. At her death, he examined her brain

    and documented the neuropathological hallmarks of amyloid

    plaque and neurofibrillary tangles. A definitive diagnosis ofAlzheimer's disease can only be made at autopsy, using specific

    histopathological criteria that have been laid out by the

    Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease

    (CERAD). Clinical diagnoses are made by evaluating the course

    and history and by ruling out other causes of dementia, as

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    discussed previously. With an appropriate history and laboratory

    workup, Alzheimer's disease has becomea diagnosis of inclusion,

    and the clinical accuracy in specialized centers is more than 85

    percent.

    DSM-lV Diagnostic

    Criteria for Dementia of the

    Alzheimer's Type

    A. The development of multiple cognitive

    deficits manifested by both:

    (1) Memory impairment (impaired ability to

    learn new information or to recall previously

    learned information)

    (2) One (or more) of the following cognitive

    disturbances:

    (a) Aphasia (language disturbance)

    (b) Apraxia (impaired ability to carry outmotor activities, despite intact motor function)

    (c) Agnosia (failure to recognize or to identify

    objects, despite intact sensory function)

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    (d) Disturbance in executive functioning (i.e.,

    planning, organizing, sequencing, or

    abstracting).

    B. The cognitive deficits in Criteria A1 and A2 each cause

    significant impairment in social or occupational functioning and

    represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.

    C. The course is characterized by gradual onset and continuing

    cognitive decline.

    D.The cognitive deficits in Criteria A1 and A2 are not due to any of

    the following:

    (1) Other central nervous system conditions that cause

    progressive deficits in memory and cognition (e.g.,

    cerebrovascular disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease,

    subdural hematoma, normal-pressure hydrocephalus, and brain

    tumor).

    (2) Systemic conditions that are known to cause dementia (e.g.,

    hypothyroidism, vitamin B, or folic acid deficiency, niacin

    deficiency, hypercalcemia, neurosyphilis, or human

    immunodeficiency virus infection)

    (3) Substance-induced conditions.

    E. The deficits do not occur exclusively during the course of a

    delirium.

    F. The disturbance is not better accounted for by another Axis I

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    disorder (e.g., major depressive disorder or schizophrenia).

    Code based on presence or absence of a clinically significant

    behavioral disturbance:

    Without behavioral disturbance: if the cognitive disturbance is not

    accompanied by any clinically significant behavioral disturbance.

    With behavioral disturbance: if the cognitive disturbance is

    accompanied by a clinically significant behavioral disturbance

    (e.g., wandering or agitation).

    Specify subtype: With early onset: if onset is at 65 years of age or

    younger .With late onset: if onset is after 65 years of age.

    Coding note: Also code Alzheimer's disease on Axis III. Indicate

    other prominent clinical features related to the Atzheimer's

    disease on Axis I (e.g., mood disorder due to Alzheimer's disease,with depressive features, and personality change to Alzheimer's

    disease, aggressive type).

    VASCULAR dementia.

    Vascular dementia is the secondmost common cause of dementiaafter Alzheimer's disease. There are several important conceptual

    changes that have occurred over the past decade with regard to

    vascular dementia, and specific criteria have been developed to aid

    in clinical and pathological diagnosis.

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    DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Vascular Dementia.

    A; The development of multiple cognitive deficits manifested by

    both:

    (1) Memory impairment (impaired ability to learn new informationor to recall previously learned information)

    (2) One (or more) of the following cognitive disturbances:

    (a) Aphasia (language disturbance)

    (b)Apraxia(impaired ability to carry out motor activities, despite

    intact motor function)

    (c) Agnosia (failure to recognize or to identify objects, despite

    intact sensory function)

    (d) Disturbance in executive functioning (i.e., planning,

    organizing, sequencing, or abstracting).

    B. The cognitive deficits in Criteria A1 and A2 each cause

    significant impairment in social or occupational functioning and

    represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.

    C. Focal neurological signs and symptoms (e.g., exaggeration of

    deep tendon reflexes, extensor plantar response, pseudobulbar

    palsy, gait abnormalities, and weakness of an extremity) or

    laboratory evidence indicative of cerebrovascular disease (e.g.,

    multiple infarctions involving cortex and underlying white matter)

    that are judged to be etiologically related to the disturbance.

    D. The deficits do not occur exclusively during the course of a

    delirium.

    Code based on predominant features:

    With delirium: if delirium is superimposed on the dementia.

    With delusions: if delusions are the predominant feature.

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    With depressed mood: if depressed mood (including presentations

    that meet full symptom criteria for a major depressive episode) is

    the predominant feature. A separate diagnosis of mood disorder due

    to a general medical condition is not given.

    Uncomplicated: if none of the previous conditions predominates in

    the current clinical presentation.

    Specify if: With behavioral disturbance/

    Coding note: Also code cerebrovascular condition on Axis III.

    Amnestic disorders

    Perhaps no other psychiatric disorder has so captured the

    imagination of the public as the amnestic disorder. The notion of

    losing the ability to identify one's self, to recognize friends and

    family or even one's own life has been incorporated into countless

    novels, plays, and movies. The amnestic is a central literary device

    that allows the author to then detail the search for self and the

    ramifications and repercussions of such a search. Often, the

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    rediscovery of self depends on unearthing an unspeakable trauma,

    the liberating force of a powerful kiss or other such manifestation of

    love, or simply a second head injury that mysteriously corrects the

    impact of the original.

    Unfortunately, these fanciful dramatizations bear little

    resemblance to the clinical picture ofamnestic disorders, 'neither in

    their clinical presentations nor in the natural course or response to

    treatment. Amnesia for person is rare if not unheard of. The picture

    of a highly intelligent, fully functional, introspective and articulate

    subject experiencing amnesia is also rare; more often, the amnestic

    has associ ated impairments in personality and function. The

    amnestic nonetheless experiences an existential predicament, the

    loss of a personal history and one's place in that history. Every day,

    if not every moment, is isolated and independent of its predecessor.

    The only comfort for such an existential limbo is that the subject

    often cannot retain awareness of his or her condition beyond

    fleeting and evanescent insights. The amnestic disorders are a broad category that includes a

    variety of diseases and conditions that present with an amnestic

    syndrome. The syndrome is defined primarily by impairment in the

    ability to create new memories. More details regarding the

    syndrome and its signs, symptoms, course, and treatment are

    presented in the following sections.

    DIAGNOSIS AND CLINICAL FEATURES

    Symptoms and Signs. Amnestic disorders of a nonhysterical nature

    always involve anterograde amnesia, meaning impaired ability to

    leam and to retain new information, and a lesser degree of

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    retrograde amnesia, meaning impaired ability to recall previously

    learned information. The retrograde amnesia typically follows

    Ribot's law, as it is most prominent for recently learned information,

    with older memories being the best protected.

    The following, then, are the core features ofall amnestic disorders:

    - There are severe deficits in new learning (anterograde amnesia).

    -Attention span (roughly the same as working memory, short-term

    memory, immediate memory, and registration)is intact

    -General intelligence is intact.

    -Retrograde amnesia is present but temporally graded,with more

    remote memories preserved.

    -Procedural memory or the ability to leam new tasks as opposed

    to new ideas, events, or words is intact.

    Amnestic subjects can also learn with priming and conditioning in

    laboratory circumstances. The practical usefulness of such

    preserved learning skills appears limited however; without the

    ability to consciously recall the new information, the learning

    accomplished is not pragmatically useful.

    Korsakoff's syndromewas the test amnestic syndrome described,

    and it is a good clinical model for the amnestic sydrome. As noted

    by Korsakoff, the memory deficit involves new learning but not older

    established memories and knowledge. Korsakovian patients

    typically demonstrate a change in personality as well, such that

    they display a lack of initiative, diminished spontaneity, and a lack

    of interest or concern. These changes appear frontal lobe-like,

    similar to the personality change ascribed to patients with frontal

    lobe lesions or degeneration. Indeed, Korsakov an patients often

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    demonstrate executive function deficits on neuropsychological tasks

    involving attention, planning, set shifting, and inferential reasoning

    consistent with frontal pattern injuries. For this reason, Korsakoff's

    syndrome is not a pure memory disorder, although it certainly is a

    good paradigm of the more common clinical presentations for the

    amnestic syndrome.

    Much of what is known about memory derives from the study of

    patients with pure lesions of memory and discretely localized brain

    damage. The patient H.M., studied over several decades by a series

    of distinguished neuropsychologists, developed amnesia after

    surgical extirpation of significant portions of the medial temporal

    lobe bilaterally to alleviate intractable epilepsy.These well-defined

    lesions allowed the delineation of differential aspects of memory

    through descriptions of what memory capacities H. M. had lost and

    which were retained. H. M., although providing an invaluable lesion

    model for memory function, is not a typical example of a patient

    with an amnestic disorder. The more common etiologies ofnutritional deficiency, cerebrovascular disease, tumor, and cerebral

    infection tend to have more widespread cerebral involvement and,

    therefore, at least subtle deficits in domains other than memory.

    The DSM-IV offers subtypes of amnestic disorders: amnestic

    disorder due to general medical condition, substance-induced

    (specifying alcohol, sedative-hypnotic, anxiolytic, or unknown

    substances) persisting amnestic disorder, and amnestic disorder not

    otherwise specified. These subtypes do not differ in clinical signs

    and symptoms but only in the putative etiology.

    Associated Signs and Symptoms.

    Confabulation refers to the fabrication of information

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    spontaneously or in response to questions. Confabulation can be

    distinguished from conscious dissimulation or lying, as the patient

    believes his or her utterances and has no intent to mislead.

    Confabulations are not delusions per se either: They lack the

    systematic and fixed quality of a delusion. Two types of

    confabulation are noted: the more common momentary

    confabulations and the more rare, fantastic confabulations.

    Typically, confabulations arise in response to a question and have a

    fill in the gap quality:

    "Did you have your breakfast?" is met with the confabulatory

    response of "I certainly did, let's see ... a good breakfast at that:

    orange juice, eggs, bacon, and a blueberry muffin." The

    confabulations may not be noted until the patient is asked open-

    ended questions that challenge his or her recall of details. The

    content is mundane and related to the question at hand. Fantastic

    confabulations, on the other hand, are often offered spontaneously

    and are striking for their dramatic content.The fill-in-the-gaps quality of the confabulation has led many to

    associate confabulations with memory disorders. However,

    confabulations may relate more to a failure of executive function

    than memory dysfunction. This is clearly the case with fantastic

    confabulations as presented in the previous case. The notion of

    "little Indians" or Nazis populating the closets is striking more for its

    patent absurdity than for how it solves the riddle of what the noises

    are that are emanating from the closet. There is obviously a failure

    of the frontal lobe executive function responsible for inhibiting

    absurd interpretations and responses. This executive function has

    the role of censoring the hypotheses that other regions of the brain

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    develop as explanations for sensory stimuli. Confabulation and

    personality change are more common in diencephalic amnesia (e.g.,

    Korsakoff's syndrome) than in pure hippocampal amnesia, perhaps

    reflecting a concomitant involvement of frontal lobe structures or

    connections.

    Personality Change. The personality change seen in amnesticdisorders may involve apathy or irritability, or a combination of the

    two. The following case illustrates the inactivity and constriction of

    interests that can be seen, as well as the persistent irritability and

    agitation that can accompany the amnesia.

    Motor and Sensory Symptoms. Motor and sensory symptoms may

    variably accompany an amnestic disorder, depending on the

    etiology. Some amnestic syndromes, such as transient global

    amnesia, are striking for the preservation of motor and sensory

    function. In contrast, the vitamin deficiencies are often accompanied

    by motor and sensory symptoms that persist beyond the initial

    recovery from acute Wernicke'sencephalopathy.

    Patients with amnestic disorders deriving from Wemicke-Korsakoff

    syndrome may have gait abnormalities due to peripheral neurop

    athies, muscle weakness, or gait instability related to the comorbid

    cerebellar degeneration of chronic alcoholism. The latter may also

    account for the frequently seen fine motor dyscoordination.

    Although the more striking ocular abnormalities related to an acute

    Wernicke's encephalopathy often resolve with vitamin

    replenishment, patients might still manifest residual restriction in

    gaze, as well as subtle lateral nystagmus. Anosmia can accompany

    some amnestic disorders, such as that due to herpes simplex

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    encephalitis and certain strokes.

    As described previously, the signs and symptoms of the amnestic

    disorder are not restricted to the domain of memory. The foltowing

    case exemplifies the more common real-life presentation of a

    patient with amnestic disorder. Although the primary and most

    obvious deficit is in memory, this patient also has obvious

    impairments in comportment and judgment. The latter appear as an

    exaggeration of premorbid traits. This case illustrates the

    devastating impact of memory impairment on daily functioning and

    the capacity to live independently.

    Assessment. The assessment of a memory disorder begins even

    before the patient is seen. Is it the patient calling with subjective

    worries regarding his or her memory function or is it a friend or

    relative calling with concerns that the patient seems unaware of?

    How the patient arrives for evaluation is pertinent. Did he or she

    travel alone and maneuver public transportation or was he or she

    driven? Many patients with severe amnestic disorders areevaluated on inpatient medical or psychiatric services, where they

    are held out

    of concern for their ability to manage on their own. The typical office

    or bedside examination can provide many clues. The Folstein MMSE

    is the most widely used cognitive screen and is available in a

    multitude of languages. Poor performance on the ten orientation

    items provides a general estimate of overall cognitive function.

    Although the overall score may not be reflective of severe

    impairment, specific answers can be informative. For example,

    responding "1968" to the year is far more suggestive of memory

    impairment, perhaps a retrograde amnesia of decades, than missing

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    the-year by 1 or 2 years. Asking the patient to repeat three items

    assesses registration or immediate recall. Patients with amnestic

    disorders ought to be able to repeat these items accurately.