Aims

To identify cognitive tests that best differentiate between Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA) and typical Alzheimer's Disease (tAD), as well as PCA and healthy control (HC) participants.

Method

Medline, PsycInfo and Web of Science were systematically searched using terms related to PCA, tAD, and cognitive testing. Seventeen studies were identified, including 441 PCA, 391 tAD, and 284 HC participants. Standardised effect sizes of mean scores were calculated to measure performance differences on cognitive tests for PCA versus tAD and PCA versus HC groups. Meta-analyses used a random effects model.

Results

The most discriminating cognitive tests for PCA and tAD presentations were measures of visuospatial function and verbal memory. Large, significant effect sizes were produced for all measures of visuospatial function, most notably for Rey–Osterrieth Copy (Hedges' g = −2.79), VOSP Fragmented letters (Hedges' g = −1.73), VOSP Dot Counting (Hedges' g = −1.74), and VOSP Cube Analysis (Hedges' g = −1.98). For measures of verbal memory, the RAVLT delay and Digit Span Backwards produced significant medium effects (Hedges’ g = .62 and −.56, respectively).

Conclusion

Establishing a common framework for testing individuals with PCA has important implications for diagnosis and treatment, and forms a practical objective for future research. Findings from this meta-analysis suggest that measures of visuospatial function and verbal memory would form an important part of this framework.

中文翻译：

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后皮质萎缩和典型阿尔茨海默病的神经心理学缺陷：荟萃分析综述

宗旨

确定最能区分后皮质萎缩 (PCA) 和典型阿尔茨海默病 (tAD) 以及 PCA 和健康对照 (HC) 参与者的认知测试。

方法

使用与 PCA、tAD 和认知测试相关的术语系统地搜索了 Medline、PsycInfo 和 Web of Science。确定了 17 项研究，包括 441 名 PCA、391 名 tAD 和 284 名 HC 参与者。计算平均分数的标准化效应大小，以衡量 PCA 与 tAD 和 PCA 与 HC 组在认知测试中的表现差异。荟萃分析使用随机效应模型。

结果

PCA 和 tAD 表现的最有区别的认知测试是视觉空间功能和语言记忆的测量。视觉空间功能的所有测量都产生了大而显着的效应量，最显着的是 Rey-Osterrieth Copy (Hedges' g  = -2.79)、VOSP Fragmented letter (Hedges' g  = -1.73)、VOSP Dot Counting (Hedges' g  = −1.74) 和 VOSP 立方体分析 (Hedges' g  = -1.98)。对于言语记忆的测量，RAVLT 延迟和数字跨度向后产生了显着的中等效应（Hedges 的g 分别为 0.62 和 -.56 ）。

结论

建立一个用于检测 PCA 个体的通用框架对诊断和治疗具有重要意义，并形成了未来研究的实际目标。这项荟萃分析的结果表明，视觉空间功能和语言记忆的测量将构成该框架的重要组成部分。