# NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTUAL DISORDERS IN DEMENTIA

> **NIH NIH R01** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 1992 · $116,327

## Abstract

In a subset of patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), perceptual
disturbances dominate the clinical picture from the outset.  These
disturbances, which are often profound and disabling, are of interest from
a theoretical as well as a clinical perspective.  The primary purpose of
the proposed research is to further our understanding of these disorders
in terms of the disruption of specific visual processing components.  The
perceptual deficits will be characterized using neuropsychological tests,
and the integrity of processing components will be assessed by means of
experimental paradigms derived from perceptual studies of normals.
Specific processing stages to be investigated include "pre-attentive" and
"attention-requiring" processes in early visual processing; deployment of
the "spotlight" of selective attention; the "visual analog representation";
and the "visual buffer" or short-term visual memory system.  Data from
these experiments are expected not only to help characterize the visual
processing impairment associated with AD but also to provide evidence
bearing on the adequacy of current information processing models of human
vision.  In addition, by correlating the site(s) of brain dysfunction as
determined by Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) with data
assessing the integrity of visual processing components, these studies will
contribute to the understanding of the anatomic substrates of human visual
perception.  A series of psychophysical investigations will be performed
to determine the extent to which the processing deficits exhibited by
patients with AD reflect impairments in magnocellular and parvocellular
visual systems.  The data from these studies are also expected to have
significant clinical implications.  By clarifying the nature of these
visual disturbances it should be possible to provide better guidance for
caretakers and others involved in the management of these patients.  The
data will also contribute to the on-going effort to generate a behaviorally
meaningful typology of patients with AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3120661
- **Project number:** 5R01AG008870-02
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **SAM.gov UEI:** QD4MGHFDJKU1
- **Principal Investigator:** H BRANCH COSLETT
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $116,327
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1991-03-15 → 1994-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3120661

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3120661, NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTUAL DISORDERS IN DEMENTIA (5R01AG008870-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3120661. Licensed CC0.

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