Patterns of cognitive and motor decline in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and ageing in healthy populations

Background Various patterns may apply to an individual's health-span, with quality of life deriving from a balance between physical conditions, motor and cognitive abilities (i.e. psychomotor capabilities). Methods In this study, the Italian version of the & Eacute;xamen Geronto-Psychomoteur was administered to a sample of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients (n = 94) and a group of healthy older adults (n = 333) to compare the patterns of psychomotor decline in pathological and physiological ageing. Three domains were considered to integrate bodily and cognitive dimensions: cognitive functions, motor abilities, and muscular tone alterations (physical constraints). Potential correlations with general cognitive functioning, autonomy in daily life, mood and nutritional status were also investigated. Results A correlation between cognitive, motor and physical dimensions is confirmed, and the results show that the patterns relating to healthy and pathological ageing are not only quantitatively but also qualitatively different. Besides the cognitive functions, the deterioration in AD also affects the physical components, precociously. Specifically, hypertonia may be present since the initial phases of illness. In healthy subjects, body representations decline early, while verbal memory, temporal and space representation resist over time. Malnutrition correlates with hypertonia in AD and with a reduction in daily life abilities in healthy people. Conclusions The results highlight the importance of adopting an integrated psychomotor approach in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of ageing and AD to investigate early motor and bodily indicators, which are often not fully considered in clinical practice.