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Cited by 119Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchHistorical and Modern Theater StudiesNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Increased variability accompanies frontal lobe damage in dementia

MURTHA, SUSAN, CISMARU, ROXANNA, WAECHTER, RANDALL, CHERTKOW, HOWARD·2002·Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
DOI 10.1017/s1355617702813170
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Abstract

Performance variability on neuropsychological measures is not a unitary phenomenon, and different measures (consistency, dispersion, diversity) evaluate separate elements of variability. It has been suggested that increased variability may be a specific attribute of frontal lobe pathology. This hypothesis was tested in 2 matched groups of demented subjects, 8 with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), 5 with frontal lobe dementia (FLD), compared with 10 elderly normal controls (ENC). A Stroop test and Reaction Time measures were administered weekly for 5 weeks to all subjects. Both measures contained three subtests varying in degree of complexity. The results from the Stroop task indicated that the FLD group showed significantly greater variability on measures of consistency (fluctuations over time) and diversity (between participant variability) regardless of the complexity of the subtest. For the Reaction Time subtests, measures of consistency and diversity showed significantly greater variability in FLD, but were affected in a different pattern. Greater variability in terms of consistency of performance was manifested only in the more attentionally demanding of the Reaction Time subtests (Choice Reaction Time, CRT). On the measure of diversity, variable performance was found to be greater on the Simple Reaction Time (SRT) subtest than on the more effortful CRT. Dispersion (within participant variability) was only assessed on the reaction time subtests. The results indicate no significant evidence for an increase in dispersion for the FLD patients. The hypothesis that variability will be increased in frontal lobe dementia is thus confirmed, and the independence of the three forms of variability measurement is demonstrated in dementia subjects.

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  • Adults with frontal lobe lesions tend to have higher reaction time variability than controls and adults with lesions to other brain areas.

    “Moreover, several studies have also demonstrated that adults with lesions to the frontal lobes tend to have higher RTV than controls and adults with lesions to other brain areas [59,60].”

    From Reaction Time Variability in ADHD: A Review (2012) · cites this paper as [59]

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Authors
MURTHA, S., CISMARU, R., WAECHTER, R., & CHERTKOW, H.
Affiliations
  • York University (CA)
  • Jewish General Hospital (CA)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2002-03
Volume
8
Issue
3
Pages
360-372
ISSN
  • 1355-6177 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-7661
DOI
10.1017/s1355617702813170
OpenAlex
W1965243091
Cited by
119
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 4
FWCI
1.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 76 d)
Locations
  • Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Alzheimer Society
  • Medical Research Council Canada
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Historical and Modern Theater Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
performance variability, frontal lobe dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Stroop task, reaction time, consistency, dispersion, diversity, frontal lobe pathology, neuropsychological assessment
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Attention, Color Perception, Dementia, Diagnosis, Differential, Discrimination Learning, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychometrics, Reaction Time, Semantics, Reproducibility of Results

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