Abstract

The primary goal of this project is to improve cognitive abilities in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Patients will be chosen from the Massachusetts General Hospital Memory Disorders Unit according to clinical research criteria for Alzheimer's disease. Although patients with Alzheimer's disease as a group have characteristic deficits in cognitive abilities, there are individual variations in the extent to which memory, attention, language, praxis, and visual perception are impaired. New tests will provide information about mechanisms underlying these disorders and reveal the specific aspects of cognition that are improved by treatment. The cholinergic hypothesis of memory dysfunction will be tested by administering combinations of drugs that enhance acetylcholine (ACh) neurotransmission: lecithin plus physostigmine, and lecithin plus piracetam. The double-blind crossover protocols will measure changes in neurological signs, psychiatric state, neuropsychological test performance, and neurotransmitter markers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH032724-06
Application #
3375370
Study Section
(TDAB)
Project Start
1980-02-01
Project End
1986-04-30
Budget Start
1985-02-01
Budget End
1986-04-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
1985
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code

  Publications

Sullivan, E V; Sagar, H J (1991) Double dissociation of short-term and long-term memory for nonverbal material in Parkinson's disease and global amnesia. A further analysis. Brain 114 ( Pt 2):893-906
Sagar, H J; Gabrieli, J D; Sullivan, E V et al. (1990) Recency and frequency discrimination in the amnesic patient H.M. Brain 113 ( Pt 3):581-602
Sullivan, E V; Sagar, H J; Gabrieli, J D et al. (1989) Different cognitive profiles on standard behavioral tests in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 11:799-820
Sullivan, E V (1989) Hemispheric asymmetry in tactile forgetting induced by tactually-guided movement. Cortex 25:83-92
Sullivan, E V; Sagar, H J (1989) Nonverbal recognition and recency discrimination deficits in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Brain 112 ( Pt 6):1503-17
Sagar, H J; Sullivan, E V; Gabrieli, J D et al. (1988) Temporal ordering and short-term memory deficits in Parkinson's disease. Brain 111 ( Pt 3):525-39
Freed, D M; Kandel, E (1988) Long-term occupational exposure and the diagnosis of dementia. Neurotoxicology 9:391-400
Sagar, H J; Cohen, N J; Sullivan, E V et al. (1988) Remote memory function in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Brain 111 ( Pt 1):185-206
Huff, F J; Growdon, J H; Corkin, S et al. (1987) Age at onset and rate of progression of Alzheimer's disease. J Am Geriatr Soc 35:27-30
Rosen, T J; Growdon, J H; Corkin, S (1987) Comparison of rates of progression in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. J Neural Transm Suppl 24:105-7

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