Psychiatric, cognitive and neuromorphological aspects in the earlier phases of Alzheimer's disease

At Alzheimer' disease (AD) onset, psychiatric symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, depression, motor retardation, delusions, hallucinations, agitation can be of great importance. Psychopathological symptoms are described in 1/3 of patients. 13 patients affected by AD at its onset, of both sexes, age ranging from 45 to 80 years (mean 65.46 years ± 12.31 SD) were included in the study. Our study showed that psychopathological symptoms, particularly depression, agitation and eating disorders, negatively influenced patients' ability to carry out the most common daily tasks. No relation was found between cognitive deterioration and worsening of behavioural aspects. From a neuromorphological point of view, lobe atrophy (frontal and parietal) was negatively correlated to depressive symptomatology. Despite the small number of the patients studied, it seems that at AD onset, when cortical atrophy and correlated cognitive impairment are of less degree, the change in mood, becomes prominent.