Abstract

The identification, diagnosis, and effective management of psychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are critical to reduce the cost of health care, to increase practitioner efficiency and to improve the quality of life for AD patients and their caregivers. Until research finds a means of treating AD with curative measures, symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations must be aggressively identified, diagnosed, and managed. Although recent research has shown a high prevalence of psychosis in AD and has implicated a worse prognosis for those AD patients with psychosis, the risk factors for and underlying mechanisms of psychosis in AD are poorly understood. The proposed project will be the first study to prospectively investigate the neuropsychologic factors associated with psychosis in AD. With the aim of exploring the heterogeneity of behavioral presentation and course in AD, the proposed studies are designed to prospectively compare the neuropsychological performances of AD patients who develop psychosis with AD patients who do not develop psychosis. Furthermore, the current proposal will retrospectively analyze the neuropsychological performances of AD patients currently enrolled in the research centers at UCSD who are identified as having psychosis.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29MH055331-04
Application #
2675448
Study Section
Mental Disorders of Aging Review Committee (MDA)
Project Start
1996-09-30
Project End
2001-04-30
Budget Start
1998-05-01
Budget End
1999-04-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
University of Iowa
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
041294109
City
Iowa City
State
IA
Country
United States
Zip Code
52242

  Publications

Hamilton, J M; Salmon, D P; Corey-Bloom, J et al. (2003) Behavioural abnormalities contribute to functional decline in Huntington's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 74:120-2
Paulsen, J S; Zhao, H; Stout, J C et al. (2001) Clinical markers of early disease in persons near onset of Huntington's disease. Neurology 57:658-62
Ready, R E; Stierman, L; Paulsen, J S (2001) Ecological validity of neuropsychological and personality measures of executive functions. Clin Neuropsychol 15:314-23
Paulsen, J S; Ready, R E; Hamilton, J M et al. (2001) Neuropsychiatric aspects of Huntington's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 71:310-4
Rohrer, D; Salmon, D P; Wixted, J T et al. (1999) The disparate effects of Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease on semantic memory. Neuropsychology 13:381-8