RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Recent findings of neuroimaging studies indicate that reading aloud and arithmetic calculation activate bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of humans. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of reading aloud and arithmetic calculation, by elderly people who were clinically diagnosed with dementia Alzheimer type, on their brain functions and activities of daily living. METHODS: Sixteen experimental and 16 age- and Mini-Mental State Examination score-matched control subjects participated. The participants in the experimental group were asked to perform a training program using learning tasks in reading and arithmetic for 2-6 days a week. The function of the frontal cortex of the subjects was assessed by FAB at bedside (Frontal Assessment Battery). RESULTS: After 6 months of training, the FAB score of the experimental group showed a statistically significant improvement. The FAB score of the control group decreased slightly over the 6-month period, and the difference between the scores of the experimental and control groups was statistically significant. We also observed the restoration of communication and independence in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that learning tasks of reading aloud and arithmetic calculation can be used for cognitive rehabilitation of dementia patients.
Asunto(s)
Demencia/rehabilitación , Lóbulo Frontal/fisiología , Matemática , Trastornos de la Memoria/prevención & control , Lectura , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Envejecimiento/fisiología , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Trastornos del Conocimiento/diagnóstico , Trastornos del Conocimiento/rehabilitación , Demencia/diagnóstico , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Evaluación Geriátrica , Humanos , Masculino , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Probabilidad , Sensibilidad y Especificidad , Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
The purpose of this study was to examine brain areas involved in simple arithmetic, and to compare these areas between adults and children. Eight children (four girls and four boys; age, 9-14 years) and eight adults (four women and four men; age, 40-49 years) were subjected to this study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed during mental calculation of addition, subtraction, and multiplication of single digits. In each group, the left middle frontal, bilateral inferior temporal and bilateral lateral occipital cortices were activated during each task. The adult group showed activation of the right frontal cortex during addition and multiplication tasks, but the children group did not. Activation of the intraparietal cortex was observed in the adult group during each task. Although, activation patterns were slightly different among tasks, as well as between groups, only a small number of areas showed statistically significant differences. The results indicate that cortical networks involved in simple arithmetic are similar among arithmetic operations, and may not show significant changes in the structure during the second decade of life.