The Dysexecutive Syndrome of Alzheimer's Disease: The GREFEX Study

Background: Dysexecutive disorders are common in early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) but have yet to be characterized in detail. Objective: The objectives of the present study based on validated diagnostic criteria were to determine the frequency and characterize the profile of behavioral and cognitive dysexecutive disorders in AD. Methods: 102 patients with AD (mild: n = 92; moderate: n = 10; mean MMSE score: 23.2) were examined with the GREFEX battery. Neuropsychological data were interpreted within a validated framework based on the performance levels of 780 control participants from the GREFEX study. Results: Dysexecutive syndrome was observed in 87.5% (95% CI: 79-96) of the AD patients (p = 0.0001). The dysexecutive disorder profile was characterized by prominent impairments of planning, inhibition flexibility and generation in the cognitive domain (p = 0.0001 as compared to controls for all) and global hypoactivity in the behavioral domain (p = 0.0001 as compared to controls). Conclusions: Dysexecutive syndrome is observed in over 80% of AD patients and has a distinct profile.