The impact of cerebral small vessel diseases on the neuropsychological profile of Alzheimer disease

Hiroshi Yoshizawa, Kazuo Kitagawa

Department of Neurology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University

The initial neuropsychological symptom of Alzheimer disease （AD) is memory disturbance, which is caused by the pathological changes of medial temporal lobe such as hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, followed by the hypofunction of parieto-temporal association area.　In contrast, the cognitive profile of small vessel disease （SVD) is characterized by the presence of inattention and executive dysfunction.　Vascular lesions are observed in a significant number of patients with AD, indicating that AD and SVD fall on a continuous spectrum of disease.　The cognitive symptom of each patient composed of a gradient of features of AD pathology and vascular pathology.　Estimation of the impact of the vascular factor through evaluating the neuropsychological profile will contribute the cure and care of the AD patients.

Address correspondence to Dr. Hiroshi Yoshizawa, department of Neurology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University （8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjukuku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan）