Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Originalartikel

Dual tasking in Alzheimer’s disease and depression

Published Online:February 27, 2013https://doi.org/10.1024/1016-264X/a000089

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with a marked impairment in the ability to do two things at once, or ‘dual task’. Several studies have reported that depression is also associated with impairments in cognitive functioning, particularly executive functioning, but it remains unclear if depression also leads to impairments in dual tasking ability. Therefore, this paper describes two experiments, assessing (1) dual tasking ability in 50 people with AD and 50 healthy controls, and (2) dual tasking and planning ability, as assessed using the Tower of Hanoi task, in 24 people with depression and 21 healthy controls. The AD group showed marked impairment in dual tasking ability, but the depressed group showed impairment on the Tower of Hanoi task, but preserved performance on the measure of dual tasking. This shows that shows that whereas AD is associated with gross impairment in dual tasking ability, depression is associated with a patchy pattern of impairment across the different cognitive functions, but, importantly, preserved dual tasking ability.


Dual Tasking bei Alzheimer-Erkrankungen und Depression

Die Demenz vom Alzheimer-Typ (AD) ist gekennzeichnet durch einen deutliche Einschränkung der Fähigkeit zwei Dinge auf einmal zu tun, d. h. der Fähigkeit zum ′dual-tasking′. Mehrere Studien berichteten dass Depression ebenfalls mit Defiziten kognitiver Funktionen einhergehen, insbesondere der exekutiven Funktionen, aber es blieb unklar ob Depression ebenfalls zu Einschränkungen der Fähigkeit zum dual-tasking führt. Daher beschreibt unsere Studie zwei Experimente zum (1) Untersuchung der Fähigkeit zum dual-tasking bei 50 Personen mit AD im Vergleich zu 50 gesunden Kontrollpersonen, und (2) Dual-Tasking und Planungsfähigkeit, operationalisiert durch die Turm-von-Hanoi-Aufgabe bei 24 depressiv Erkrankten verglichen mit 21 Kontrollpersonen. Die AD-Gruppe zeigte deutliche Beeinträchtigungen in der Fähigkeit zum Dual-Tasking während die depressiv Erkrankten Einrschränkungen beim Turm-von-Hanoi zeigten, aber erhaltene Dual-Tasking-Leistungen. Die zeigt auf, dass während AD mit deutlichen Dual-Tasking-Beeinträchtigungen assoziiert ist Depression mit einem unscharfen Muster von Defiziten verschiedener kognitiver Funktionen verbunden ist, aber – was wichtig ist – mit einer erhaltenen Fähigkeit zum Dual-Tasking.

References

  • Alderman, N. (1996). Central executive deficit and response to operant conditioning methods. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 6, 161 – 186. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baddeley A. D. (2007). Working memory, thought, and action. Oxford: Oxford University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Baddeley, A. & Della Sala, S. (1996) “Working memory and executive control”. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 351, 1397 – 1404. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baddeley, A. D. , Baddeley, H. A. , Bucks, K. S. & Wilcock, G. K. (2001). Attentional control in Alzheimer’s disease. Brain, 124, 1492 – 1508. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baddeley, A. D. , Bressi, S. , Della Sala, S. , Logie, R. H. & Spinnler, H. (1991). The decline of working memory in Alzheimer’s disease: A longitudinal study. Brain, 114, 2521 – 2542. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baddeley, A. , Della Sala, S. , Gray, C. , Papagno, C. & Spinnler, H. (1997). Testing central executive functioning with a pencil-and-paper test. In P. Rabbitt (Ed.), Methodology of frontal and executive function (pp. 61 – 80). Hove: Psychology Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Baddeley, A. D. , Logie, R. , Bressi, S. , Della Sala, S. & Spinnler, H. (1986). Dementia and working memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38 A, 603 – 618. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Baudic, S. , Tzortzis, C. , Dalla Barba, G. & Traykov, L. (2004). Executive deficits in elderly patients with major unipolar depression. Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology, 17, 195 – 201. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Beats, B. C. , Sahakian, B. J. & Levy, R. (1996). Cognitive performance in tests sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction in the elderly depressed. Psychological Medicine, 26, 591 – 603. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berg, L. (1988). Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). Psychopharmacol Bull., 24, 637 – 639. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Brown, R. G. , Scott, L. C. , Bench, C. J. & Dolan, R. J. (1994). Cognitive function in depression: Its relationship to the presence and severity of intellectual decline. Psychological Medicine, 24, 829 – 847. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Channon, S. & Green, P. S. S. (1999). Executive function in depression: The role of performance strategies in aiding depressed and non-depressed participants. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 66, 162 – 171. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Channon, S. , Baker, J. E. & Robertson, M. M. (1993). Working memory in clinical depression: An experimental study. Psychological Medicine, 23, 87 – 91. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Clark, L. Chamberlain , S. R. & Sahakian, B. J. (2009). Neurocognitive mechanisms in depression: Implications for treatment. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 32, 57 – 74. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Della Sala, S. (2007). www.psy.ed.ac.uk/people/view.php?name=sergio-della-sala#test. Accessed 07 Feb 2013. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Della Sala, S. , Baddeley, A. , Papagno, C. & Spinnler, H. (1995). Dual-task paradigm: A means to examine the central executive. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 769, 161 – 171. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Della Sala, S. , Foley, J. A. , Beschin, N. , Allerhand, M. & Logie, R. H. (2010). Assessing dual task performance using a paper-and-pencil test: Normative data. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 25, 410 – 419. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Elliott, R. (1998). The neuropsychological profile in unipolar depression. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2, 447 – 454. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Elliott, R. , Sahakian, B. J. , McKay, A. P. , Herrod, J. J. , Robbins, T. W. & Paykel, E. S. (1996). Neuropsychological impairments in unipolar depression: The influence of perceived failure on subsequent performance. Psychological Medicine, 26, 975 – 989. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fisk, J. E. & Sharp, C. A. (2004). Age-related impairment in executive functioning: Updating, inhibition, shifting and access. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 7, 874 – 890. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Foley, J. A. , Cantagallo, A. , Della Sala, S. & Logie, R. H. (2010). Dual task performance and post traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 24, 851 – 858. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Foley, J. A. , Logie, R. H. & Della Sala, S. (2011). Dual-task performance in Alzheimer’s disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and normal ageing. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 26, 340 – 348. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Foley, J. A. , Kaschel, R. , Della Sala, S. & Logie, R. H. (in press). Dual task performance in Parkinson’s disease. Behavioural Neurology. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Fossati, P. , Ergis, A. M. & Allilaire, J. F. (2002). Executive functioning in unipolar depression: A review. L’Encéphale, 28, 97 – 107. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Friedman, N. P. , Miyake, A. , Young, S. E. , DeFries, J. , Corley, R. P. & Hewitt, J. K. (2008). Individual differences in executive function are almost entirely genetic in origin. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137, 201 – 225. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gohier, B. , Ferracci, L. , Surguladze, S. A. , Lawrence, E. , El Hage, W. , Kefi, M. Z. et al. (2009). Cognitive inhibition and working memory in unipolar depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 116, 100 – 105. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Grant, M. M. , Thase, M. E. & Sweeney, J. A. (2001). Cognitive disturbance in outpatient depressed younger adults: Evidence of modest impairment. Biological Psychiatry, 50, 35 – 43. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Harvey, P. O. , Le Bastard, G. , Pochon, J. B. , Levy, R. , Allilaire, J. F. , Dubois, B. et al. (2004). Executive functions and updating of the contents of working memory in unipolar depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 38, 567 – 576. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Holtzer, R. , Burright, R. G. & Donovick, P. J. (2004). The sensitivity of dual-task performance to cognitive status in aging. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 230 – 238. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kaschel, R. , Logie, R. H. , Kazén. M. & Della Sala, S. (2009). Alzheimer’s Disease, but not ageing or depression, affects dual-tasking. Journal of Neurology, 256, 1860 – 1868. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lehto, J. E. , Juujärvi, P , Kooistra, L. & Pulkkinen, L. (2003). Dimensions of executive functioning: Evidence from children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21, 59 – 80. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Logie, R. H. , Cocchini, G. , Della Sala, S. & Baddeley, A. (2004). Is there a specific executive capacity for dual task coordination? Evidence from Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychology, 18, 504 – 513. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • MacPherson, S. E. , Della Sala, S. & Logie, R. H. (2004). Dual-task interference on encoding and retrieval processes in healthy and impaired working memory. Cortex, 40, 183 – 184. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • MacPherson, S. E. , Della Sala, S. , Logie, R. H. & Wilcock, G. K. (2007). Specific AD impairment in concurrent performance of two memory tasks. Cortex, 43, 858 – 865. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • McDermott, L. M. & Ebmeier, K. (2009). A meta-analysis of depression severity and cognitive function. Journal of Affective Disorders, 119, 1 – 8. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • McKhann, G. , Drachman, D. , Folstein, M. , Katzman, R. , Pice, D. , Stadian, E.M. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: report of the NINCDS-ADRDA work group under the auspices of department of Health and Human Services task force on Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology, 34, 189 – 198. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Merriam, E. P. , Thase, M. E. , Haas, G. L. , Keshavan, M. S. & Sweeney, J. A. (1999). Prefrontal cortical dysfunction in depression determined by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 780 – 782. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Meudell, P. R. , Mayes, A. & MacDonald, C. (1994). Dual task performance in amnesic and normal people: Does resource depletion cause amnesia? Cortex, 30, 159 – 166. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Miyake, A. , Friedman, N. P. , Emerson, M. J. , Witzki, A. H. , Howerter, A. & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex ‘‘frontal lobe’’ tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49 – 100. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Morris, R. G. (1986). Short-term forgetting in senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 3, 77 – 97. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Morris, R. G. & Baddeley, A. D. (1988). Primary and working memory functioning in Alzheimer-type dementia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 10, 279 – 296. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nebes, R. D. , Vora, I. J. , Meltzer, C. C. , Fukui, M. B. , Williams, R. L. , Kamboh, M. I. et al. (2001). Relationship of deep white matter hyperintensities and apolipoprotein E genotype to depressive symptoms in older adults without clinical depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 878 – 884. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nebes, R. J. , Pollock, B. G. , Houck, P. R. , Butters, M. A. , Mulsant, B. H. , Zmuda, M. D. et al. (2003). Persistence of cognitive impairment in geriatric patients following antidepressant treatment: A randomized double-blind clinical trial with noritriptyline and paroxetine. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 37, 99 – 108. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Paelecke-Habermann, Y. , Pohl, J. & Leplow, B. (2005). Attention and executive functions in remitted major depression patients. Journal of Affective Disorder, 89, 125 – 135. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Palmer, B. W. , Boone, K. B. , Lesser, I. M. , Wohl, M. A. , Berman, N. & Miller, B. L. (1996). Neuropsychological deficits among older depressed patients with predominantly psychological or vegetative symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 41, 17 – 24. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Porter, R. J. , Gallagher, P. , Thompson, J. M. & Young, A. H. (2003). Neurocognitive impairment in drug-free patients with major depressive disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 182, 214 – 220. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Purcell, R. , Maruff, P. , Kyrios, M. & Pantelis, C. (1997). Neuropsychological function in young patients with unipolar major depression. Psychological Medicine, 27, 1277 – 1285. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Raven, J. C. (1976). Standard progressive matrices: Sets A, B, C, D & E. Oxford: Oxford Psychologists Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Reppermund, S. , Zihl, J. , Lucae, S. , Horstmann, S. , Kloiber, S. , Holsboer, F. et al. (2007). Persistent cognitive impairment in depression: The role of psychopathology and altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system regulation. Biological Psychiatry, 62, 400 – 406. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Robbins, T. W. , Elliott, R. & Sahakian, B. J. (1996). Neuropsychology – dementia and affective disorders. British Medical Bulletin, 52, 627 – 643. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Robbins, T. W. , Weinberger, D. , Taylor, J. G. & Morris, R. G. (1996). Dissociating executive functions of the prefrontal cortex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 351, 1463 – 1471. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rogers, M. A. , Kasai, K. , Koji, M. , Fukuda, R. , Iwanami, A. , Nakagome, K. et al. (2004). Executive and prefrontal dysfunction in unipolar depression: A review of neuropsychological and imaging evidence. Neuroscience Research, 50, 1 – 11. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Salthouse, T. A. , Rogan, J. D. & Prill, K. A. (1984). Division of attention: Age differences on a visually presented memory task. Memory & Cognition, 12, 613 – 620. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schermuly, I. , Fellgiebel, A. , Wagner, S. , Yakushev, I. , Stoeter, P. , Schmitt, R. et al. (2010). Association between cingulum bundle structure and cognitive performance: An observational study in major depression. European Psychiatry, 25, 355 – 360. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sebastian, M. V. , Menor, J. & Elosua, M. R. (2006). Attentional dysfunction of the central executive in AD: Evidence from dual task and perseveration errors. Cortex, 42, 1015 – 1020. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shallice, T. (1982). Specific impairments of planning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 298, 199 – 209. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Veiel, H. O. F. (1997). A preliminary profile of neuropsychological deficits associated with major depression. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 4, 587 – 603. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar