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Self-reported awareness of performance in dementia
David P Graham1, Mark E Kunik, Rachelle Doody
1Health Services Research and Development, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. david.graham@med.va.gov
Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research
|May 28, 2005
Summary
Individuals with dementia struggle to adjust their self-perceptions to match their actual cognitive performance. This study highlights impaired self-awareness in dementia, with many also overestimating their abilities.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Cognitive Science
- Gerontology
Background:
- Self-perception and awareness of cognitive function are crucial in aging and neurodegenerative diseases.
- Dementia is associated with significant cognitive decline, potentially impacting self-assessment abilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether individuals with dementia update their self-perceptions based on actual cognitive task performance.
- To compare self-perceptions of performance with objective performance measures in individuals with and without dementia.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 35 participants (12 with dementia, 23 controls) from various clinical settings.
- Seven cognitive tasks from the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale were administered.
- Perceived performance was assessed using standardized interview questions post-task.
Main Results:
- Participants with dementia performed significantly worse on all cognitive tasks compared to controls.
- Despite worse performance, individuals with dementia reported similar self-perceptions to controls.
- Overestimation of performance was significantly higher in those with mild-moderate (64%) and moderate-severe (93%) dementia compared to normal controls (31%).
Conclusions:
- The findings support the theory that dementia impairs the ability to update self-perceptions according to actual performance.
- While impaired self-awareness is pronounced in dementia, normal controls also demonstrated inaccuracies in self-performance evaluation.
- Post-task self-perception measures offer insights into self-awareness mechanisms but may not be definitive for identifying clinically significant awareness deficits.