Biomedical subjects

Ambre Piquard

Publications and source records attributed to Ambre Piquard.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Neuropsychological changes in patients with primary lateral sclerosis.

Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) has been defined as rare, and the neuropsychological changes remain poorly defined. We studied 20 patients with a diagnosis of PLS. We carried out an extensive psychometric testing including a general assessment (memory, language, attention, visual-constructional ability and praxis) and a more specific assessment of prefrontal and premotor cortex functions in order to characterize the neuropsychological profile of the patients compared to matched controls, and explore executive functions and premotor cortex functions. None of the PLS patients was demented but they all presented memory deficits reflecting an executive dysfunction. All patients but three had signs of premotor and/or prefrontal cortex deficits. The cognitive impairment in PLS, specifically related to a frontal lobe dysfunction, seems qualitatively similar to ALS. Our results suggest a patchy distribution of cortical involvement in PLS but it remains difficult to draw any definite conclusion as to the spatio-temporal progression of the disease into the different regions of the frontal lobe.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Psychopathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a preliminary study with 27 ALS patients.

Considering the few studies published on the psychopathology of ALS patients, we carried out a preliminary study evaluating depression, anxiety, emotional reactions and coping strategies in such patients. Twenty-seven ALS patients were included and evaluated using a semi-structured interview, after which they were asked to complete a questionnaire. The rater asessed the DSM-IV criteria for a major depressive episode, dysthymia and generalized anxiety, using the MADRS scale for depression, the Covi anxiety scale and the Depressive Mood scale. Subsequently, patients completed the Ways of Coping checklist. Patients were neither anxious nor depressed. Patients whose diagnosis was recent (less than six months) presented greater emotional deficit. Patients younger than 50 years of age used problem focused strategies more frequently. Those having received the diagnosis in the preceeding six months used emotion focused strategies significantly more often.The absence of characterized depression and anxiety confirmed results of the literature. The significance of this study is found in the observation of specific emotional reactions present in the first six months following diagnosis disclosure. The results show that it is useful to continue the affective evaluation of these patients and to undertake longitudinal studies starting at the time of diagnosis disclosure.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Deficit of preparatory attention in frontotemporal dementia.

We studied preparatory attention in patients suffering from frontotemporal dementia in the beginning stages of the disease, using an experimental test developed by LaBerge, Auclair, and Siéroff (2000). In this experimental test, a distracter can appear while subjects have to prepare to respond to a simple target. The probability that a distracter can appear in a trial is varied across three blocks. Normal controls show an increase of response times to targets (slope) as a function of the distracter probability, preparatory attention to the target is reduced by the increase of the distracter probability. Patients suffering from frontotemporal dementia show a slope of response times which is more than twice as large as the slope obtained by their matched controls. Such an abnormal increase of response times to targets is interpreted as a deficit in preparatory attention. Patients also show more omissions than controls. We suggest that this deficit in preparatory attention is related to the frontal lesion presented by the patients and can result in higher distractibility, a symptom frequently encountered in these patients.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

[Planning and activities of daily living in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between the disturbances in activities of daily living and the scores on tests assessing planning activities in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Eleven patients with FTD were compared to 11 patients with AD and 29 healthy controls. Cognitive status, evaluated by the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was identical in the two groups of patients. Activities of daily living were assessed by three questionnaires completed by the main caregiver: (1) the Cognitive Difficulties Scale (CDS); (2) the NADL, a composite scale including the Physical self-maintenance scale (ADL) the Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) the social activities scale, (SADL); (3) the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) from the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome. Planning abilities were assessed by the tower of London and three tests from the BADS: the key search, the zoo map and the six elements. RESULTS: No quantitative differences were found between FTD and AD patients in daily living activities disturbances or scores on planning tests. Both were closely related to the global cognitive performance assessed by the DRS or the MMSE but no clear relationship was found between them. The scores on the tower of London were not correlated to those on the tests from the BADS. CONCLUSION: Neither assessment of activities of daily living or scores on the planning tests could differentiate FTD from AD. Planning appears as a multidimensional construct poorly assessed by the usual assessment tools.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2004

[Attention and aging].

Due to progress in the cognitive theories in the last twenty years, the description of attentional deficits associated with normal or pathological aging has substantially improved. In this article, attentional deficits are presented according to Posner theory, which describes three sub-systems in a global network of attention: vigilance, selective attention, command. This theory not only characterizes the functions of these subsystems, but gives precise indications about their anatomical and neurochemical substrates. Several clinical tests can be described for each of these different subsystems. The main attentional deficits are presented in the second part of this paper: if some decline of the attentional command occurs in normal aging, a real deficit in this subsystem is found in most degenerative processes (frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases). Alzheimer disease is also frequently associated with a deficit of selective spatial attention, early in the evolution of the disease.

Age Factors↗