Some putative cognitive precursors in subjects hypothesized to be at-risk for dementia

Virtually no data exists on the early cognitive precursors of dementia, primarily SDAT. This paper presents preliminary cross-sectional data on two elderly groups hypothesized to be at risk for SDAT and a well group matched individually on age, education and gender. The neuropsychological results, based on factor scores and individual t-test comparisons, revealed significant differences between the well group and the two at risk groups, each of which revealed a different pattern of cognitive impairment (specific vs. general). These results stimulated a number of hypotheses concerning the early precursors of SDAT that will be tested in the annual follow-up investigation of these subjects.