Lenguaje y funciones ejecutivas en la valoración inicial del deterioro cognitivo leve y la demencia tipo Alzheimer

Assessment of cognitive functions in aging is very important in order to determine the presence of mild cognitive impairment and its possible evolution to dementia. With the aim to determine the importance of assessing language and executive functions in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, a group of 66 patients has been considered. 23 subjects had Alzheimer's disease, 22 were diagnosed of mild cognitive impairment and 21 were elderly with no cognitive affectation. Mini Mental State Examination was administered to obtain data about general cognitive functioning and A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed: Assessment of Parietal Function was also administered to assess processing speed. Language was assessed using the Controlled Oral Word Association subtests of semantic and phonetic verbal fluency and executive function, by using WAIS' subtests of Similarities and Digits and Luria's neuropsychological examination subtest of Rhythms. Findings support that tests assessing executive functions and also processing speed are useful when discriminating between initial states of cognitive impairment whereas language tests are more useful when discriminating between mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Conclusions of the present study show the importance of considering specific cognitive functions when assessing mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, paying special attention to executive functions and language.