Cognitive stimulation therapy in the Italian context: its efficacy in cognitive and non-cognitive measures in older adults with dementia.

Objective: Cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) has been shown to have significant benefits in enhancing cognitive functioning and improving the quality of life of people with mild to moderate dementia. The present study examines the efficacy of the Italian version of the therapy (CST-IT).

Methods: Older adults with mild to moderate dementia (n = 39) were randomly assigned to two programs: one group participated in the CST-IT, consisting of 14 sessions (twice a week for 7 weeks) and the active control group took part in alternative general activities.

Visuospatial planning and problem solving in Alzheimer's disease patients: a study with the Tower of London Test.

Background: Executive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been recently recognized as an early and prominent clinical sign. The Tower of London (ToL), a task specifically devised to test executive functions of visuospatial planning and problem solving, has frequently been used in neuropsychological experiments, but rarely in the clinical ground.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-one AD patients and 212 nondemented healthy controls were administered a simplified ToL version.

The traveling salesman problem as a new screening test in early Alzheimer's disease: an exploratory study. Visual problem-solving in AD.

Background And Aims: In the clinical setting, brief general mental status tests tend to detect early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) less well than more specific cognitive tests. Some preliminary information was collected on the diagnostic accuracy of the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) compared with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in recognizing early AD from normal aging.

Methods: Fifteen AD outpatients (mean +/- SD MMSE: 24.