Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-lrf7s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T12:32:50.011Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cholinergic effects on constructional abilities and on mnemonic processes: a case report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Barbara Sahakian ,
Eileen Joyce  and
W. A. Lishman
Barbara Sahakian*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Eileen Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
W. A. Lishman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Barbara Sahakian, Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

The effects of physostigmine on test performance of a patient with multiple cognitive deficits were observed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Scores on tests of learning and memory and tests of visuo-spatial and constructional ability were both improved by physostigmine, while lecithin improved scores only on the former tests.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , May 1987 , pp. 329 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bartus, R. T., Dean, R. L. III, Beer, B. & Lippa, A. S. (1982). The cholinergic hypothesis of geriatric memory dysfunction. Science 217, 408–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beller, S. A., Overall, J. E. & Swann, A. C. (1985). Efficacy of oral physostigmine in primary degenerative dementia. A double-blind study of response to different dose level. Psychopharmacology 87, 147–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benton, A. L. (1974). Revised Visual Retention Test, Clinical and Experimental Applications. 4th ed.The Psychological Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Bowen, D. M. (1984). Cellular ageing: Selective vulnerability of cholinergic neurones in human brain. Monographs in Developmental Biology 17, 42–59.Google ScholarPubMed
Brinkman, S. D. & Braun, P. (1984). Classification of dementia patients by a WAIS profile related to central cholinergic deficiencies. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology 6, 393–400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christie, J. E., Shering, A., Ferguson, J. & Glen, A. I. M. (1981). Physostigmine and arecoline: effects of intravenous infusions in Alzheimer presenile dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry 138, 46–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, K. L., Mohs, R. C. & Tinklenberg, J. R. (1979). Enhancement of memory by physostigmine. New England Journal of Medicine 301, 946.Google ScholarPubMed
Drachman, D. A. & Sahakian, B. J. (1979). Effects of cholinergic agents on human learning and memory. In: Nutrition and the Brain, vol. 5. (ed. Barbeau, A., Growdon, J. H. and Wurtman, R. J.), pp. 351–366. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Drachman, D. A., Noffsinger, D., Sahakian, B. J., Kurdziel, S., & Fleming, P. (1980). Aging, memory and the cholinergic system: A study of dichotic listening. Neurobiology of Aging 1, 39–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Francis, P. T., Palmer, A. M., Sims, N. R., Bowen, D. M., Davison, A. N., Esiri, M. M., Neary, D., Snowden, J. S. & Wilcock, G. K. (1985). Neurochemical studies of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. New England Journal of Medicine 313, 7–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fuld, P. A. (1984). Test profile of cholinergic dysfunction and of Alzheimer-type dementia. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology 6, 380–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, A. J. & Kendrick, D. C. (1979). The Kendrick Battery for the Detection of Dementia in the Elderly. NFER: Windsor, Berks.Google Scholar
Little, A., Levy, R., Chuaqui-Kidd, P. & Hand, D. (1985). A double-blind, placebo controlled trial of high-dose lecithin in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 48, 736–742.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muramoto, O., Sugishita, M. & Ando, K. (1984). Cholinergic system and constructional praxis: A further study of physostigmine in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 47, 485–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, E. K. (1986). The cholinergic hypothesis – ten years on. British Medical Bulletin 42, 63–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossor, M. N., Iversen, L. L., Reynolds, G. P., Mountjoy, C. Q. & Roth, M. (1984). Neurochemical characteristics of early and late onset types of Alzheimer's disease. British Medical Journal 288, 961–964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sahakian, B. J. (1987). Cholinergic drugs and human cognitive performance. In Handbook of Psychopharmacology, vol. 20 (ed. Iversen, L., Iversen, S. D., and Snyder, S. H.). Plenum: New York. (In the press.)Google Scholar
Sullivan, E. V., Shedlack, K. J., Corkin, S. & Growdon, J. H. (1982). Physostigmine and lecithin in Alzheimer's disease. In Aging, Vol. 19, Alzheimer's Disease: A Report of Progress (ed. Corkin, S., Davis, K. L., Growdon, J. H., Usdin, E. and Wurtman, R. J.), pp. 361–367. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). WAIS-R Manual. The Psychological Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. & Stone, C. P. (1973). Manual Wechsler Memory Scale. The Psychological Corporation (copyright The Journal Press): New York.Google Scholar