Alzheimer's Cognitive Declines Before Memory
A new study from a center for Alzheimer's research in the US suggests that cognitive skills other than memory, for example visuospatial skills that help us work out how objects relate to each other in three dimensions as we look at them, start to decline years before patients receive a clinical diagnosis for Alzheimer's.
In an article found at "Longitudinal Study of the Transition From Healthy Aging to Alzheimer Disease."
David K. Johnson; Martha Storandt; John C. Morris; James E. Galvin.
Arch Neurol, Oct 2009; 66: 1254 - 1259, conclusions were that pre-diagnosis events occur that currently do not fit into criteria for Alheimer's diagnosis. Therefore what was formerly thought to be normal aging may actually be signs of Alzheimer's disease.
The studies were funded by grants from the National Institute of Health.
