[Usefulness of the 10 pictures reminding test for memory assessment for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment and anxiety/depression].

Introduction: Episodic memory is often considered to be essential in the neuropsychological examination of elderly people consulting in the memory clinics. Therefore, the performance of three different episodic memory tests were compared in Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and anxiety/depression.

Methods: Seventy-six patients with AD, 46 with MCI, and 36 with anxiety/depression performed three memory tests: (1) three-words immediate and delayed recall of the MMSE test; (2) 10-pictures reminding test; (3) 16-items free and cued reminding test.

Results: Patients with AD and MCI differed from the depressed/anxious participants on all subcomponents of the memory tests. Only the three-words immediate and delayed recall in the MMSE test as well as the immediate recall (encoding) of the free and cued reminding test (16-items) did not differ between AD and MCI. Significant correlations were also evidenced between the free and cued recall of the 10 pictures and the score of the 16-items for all patients. Scores of total and free recalls distinguished the three group of patients; also, a trend was observed for the free recall between the patients with AD and MCI.

Conclusion: The three-words immediate and delayed recall of the MMSE test is linked with hippocampic dysfunction. Also, the present study suggests that the 10-pictures reminding test, is a simple and reliable test for investigating memory, in addition to other evaluation tests. Finally, further studies would be necessary to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the tests.