| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥3,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Degradation of higher brain functions is reflected in patients' behavior. We investigated the two types of degenerative dementia, one is fronto-temporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which is a representative of the anterior type of dementia, and the other is Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is a representative of the posterior type of dementia. In this study we tried to solve the functional enigmas of frontal lobe in which working memory is mainly mediated. In cases of fronto-temporal dementia with principle involvement of the frontal lobe, clinical data revealed preservation of procedural skills and other implicit memory, while in cases of semantic dementia with principle involvement of the temporal lobes, procedural skills were preserved, but priming that underlies semantic system was impaired. 'Going my way' behavior is one of the most prominent symptoms of FTLD.This behavior can be interpreted as a loss of control of the frontal lobe over the limbic system. We proposed appropriate utilization of this behavior for the care of patients with FTLD.
In 90 AD patients, we assessed hemokinetics associated with changes in severity of dementia using Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS), which can assess precise cognitive dysfunction in AD.The results revealed the following mechanism for blood flow kinetics associated with changed severity : In an early stage of AD, blood flow in the medial temporal cortex is impaired, and the temporoparietal regions are gradually involved. While the medial temporal impairment of blood flow reaches a plateau, temporoparietal blood flow continues to be impaired well into a severe stage, at which point blood flow impairment in the frontal region is initiated.
|
