Automatic and Controlled Attentional Processes in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Use of a Mini-Verbal Test

Jonas Jardim de Paula, Danielle de Souza Costa, Edgar Nunes de Moraes, Rodrigo Nicolato, Manuel Sedó, Leandro Fernandes Malloy-Diniz

Internal Medicine Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Mental Health Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Mini-Verbal Tests, Boston, US.
Neuropsychological Investigations Laboratory, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2012.35053                

Abstract

Recent finding suggests that in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) executive functions deficits may be a frequent clinical finding. Automatic and Controlled attentional processes are related to the allocation of cognitive resources in different stimuli, being important to executive functioning. The present study aims at assessing the hypothesis of executive dysfunction deficits in MCI patients. Method: forty five MCI patients and forty five normal aging controls (NC) were assessed with the Five Digits Test (5D), a Mini-Verbal test version of the Stroop Test. Group comparisons were performed by t tests and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Results: comparisons indicates significant differences between NC and MCI in efficiency measures of controlled attentional processes, with moderate effect sizes, but not in automatic attentional processes or processing speed. Conclusion: the present work shows a selective pattern of impairment in MCI, indicating specific deficits in executive functioning with spared processing speed.

Keywords

Executive Functions; Selective Attention; Five Digit Test; MCI; Attentional Process

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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