Higher cortical deficits influence attentional processing in dementia with Lewy bodies, relative to patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type and controls

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Attentional dysfunction is believed to be a prominent and distinguishing neuropsychological feature of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB); yet, the specific nature of the attentional deficit and factors that can potentially influence attentional processing in DLB have not been fully defined. AIMS: To clarify the nature of the attentional deficit in early-stage DLB relative to patients with early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and elderly controls, and examine the effect of task complexity and type of cognitive load on attentional processing in DLB. METHODS: Attentional impairment and fluctuating attention were investigated in three groups of subjects--patients with cli..