Investigation of the relationship between upper limb apraxia and neuropsychological profile in Alzheimer’s disease dementia and mild cognitive impairment
Saliha Şahintürk1
, İrem Doğanoğlu1, Lütfü Hanoğlu2, Erol Yıldırım3
1İstanbul Medipol University, Research Institute For Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), İstanbul, Türkiye
2Department of Neurology, İstanbul Medipol University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
3Department of Psychology, İstanbul Medipol University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, İstanbul, Türkiye
Keywords: Alzheimer disease, apraxia, dementia, mild cognitive impairment, neuropsychology
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to examine the differences in upper limb apraxia assessments and neuropsychological profiles of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy controls.
Patients and methods: A total of 53 participants were included in the retrospective study, including nine patients with MCI, 23 patients diagnosed with AD, and 21 healthy patients equivalent in age and education level. The participants’ data were collected between July 2021 and December 2022. A 12-question mini-test taken from the Test of Upper Limb Apraxia (TULIA) was used in the apraxia evaluation. Individuals’ upper limb apraxia evaluations were compared according to diagnostic groups, and their neuropsychological profiles were also examined.
Results: Apraxia was found to be associated with impairments in memory retrieval function, executive dysfunction, and decrease in object naming performance. Significant differences were observed between diagnostic groups in both apraxia assessment and neuropsychological tests.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the cognitive profile that emerges with the combined use of upper extremity apraxia assessment and related neuropsychological tests may serve as a marker and guide in the planning and correct execution of treatment in the transition to Alzheimer-type dementia, similar to other neuropsychological tests.
Cite this article as: Şahintürk S, Doğanoğlu İ, Hanoğlu L, Yıldırım E. Investigation of the relationship between upper limb apraxia and neuropsychological profile in Alzheimer’s disease dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Turk J Neurol 2024;30(2):93-101. doi: 10.55697/tnd.2024.4.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
The study protocol was approved by the İstanbul Medipol University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (date: 05.01.2023, no: 06). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
A written informed consent was obtained from each patient.
Idea/concept, design, control/ supervision, data collection and/or processing, analysis and/or interpretation, literature review, writing the article, critical review, references and fundings, materials: S.Ş., İ.D.; Statistical analysis: L.H., E.Y.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.