Distinguishing Alzheimer's disease from vascular dementia: an exploration of five cognitive domains.

The disease process of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Vascular Dementia (VaD) are dissimilar; however, the cognitive presentations may be difficult to distinguish as they may present in tandem or result in similar deficits despite different pathogenesis. This study examined the efficacy of memory, confrontational naming, visuoconstructional ability, processing speed, and executive functioning in differentiating AD from VaD. Delayed verbal memory, visuoconstructional ability, and confrontational naming as measured by WMS-R Logical Memory II, WAIS-R Block Design (BD), and Boston Naming Test, respectively, were most effective in discriminating between these two disorders. Results indicated AD was best classified by BD, and BD was the most sensitive to AD-related pathogenesis. Delayed memory and confrontational naming were highly implicated in each subtype, suggesting they are sensitive to each disease process, thus reducing the reliability of utilizing them as sole differentiating agents.