Investigating executive functions and prospective memory performances in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early stage Alzheimer's-type of dementia

The aim of this study is investigating executive functions (EFs) and prospective memory (PM) in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and early stage Alzheimer type of Dementia patients (ATD). The study sample consisted of 30 MCI and 28 early stage ATD patients who applied to Erzincan Binali Yildirim University Mengucek Gazi Education and Research Hospital Neurology Clinic with forgetfullness and 21 healthy controls. Demografics were collected through Information Collection Form (ICF), depression level was determined through Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), general assessment of cognitive functions was determined through Standardize Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE), deterioration level was determined with Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale (RGDS) and general assessment of memory functions was determined with Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). EFs were determined with Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail Making Test (TMT) and Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT-KAS). PM was assessed by two separate tasks that measure event-based and time-based PM. Findings of this study revealed that, MCI and early stage ATD patients performed worse than healthy controls in attention, inhibition and memory performances with concepts. Also perseveration is higher in MCI and early stage of ATD patients than healthy controls. It was found that the IHUS scores obtained from the event-based prospective memory task differed significantly in all three groups. Although the decrease in prospective memory functions is the highest in the early stage ATD group, it was determined that there was a significant decrease in the MCI group compared to the healthy group. It was observed that there was a significant difference between three groups in terms of DCS score related to time-based prospective memory task. Keywords: Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer Type of Dementia, Executive Functions, Prospective Memory