Chapter 13 - Neurocognitive Disorders

mild neurocognitive disorder

decline in one or more of these areas

• complex attention

• executive functioning

• learning & memory

• perceptual motor

• social cognitition

• language

DOES NOT interfere with independence, but requires greater effort and compensatory strategies

mild ND based on

• concern from the individual, knowledgeable informant, or a clinician

• modest impairment of cognitive performance on standardized testing

MMSE (mini mental state examination)

can be used to assess mild ND and major ND

major ND

significant decline in the same areas as mild ND

• cognitive deficits interfere with independence

Alzheimers

• meet criteria for mild/major ND

• gradual onset and continuing cognitive decline

• evidence of causative genetic mutation/family history OR 3 factors present

  • clear decline

  • steady/progressive decline without extended plateaus

  • no evidence of mixed etiology

beta amyloid plaques

• fragments of protein found in the brain that clump together outside neurons forming plaques

why are beta amyloid plaques harmful

• disrupt neuron communication

• trigger inflammatory responses

• toxic to brain cells, especially near hippocampus

tau protein tangles

• becomes abnormally modified in those with alzheimers, causing them to detach and tangle inside the cell

why are tau protein tangles harmful

• disrupts neuron transport

• neuron dies due to lack of nutrients/signals

• closely associated with cell death and brain shrinkage

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

• history of repetitive head trauma, causing symptoms similar to a cognitive disorder

• can only be diagnosed POSTmortem

delirium

• disturbance in attention and awareness

• develops over a short period of time

• additional disturbance in cognition