Memory failure in binswanger's disease and alzheimer's disease

The heterogeneity within vascular dementia has made neuropsychological research in this area difficult to interpret. We studied a subtype of vascular dementia, Binswanger's disease (BD), diagnosed according to recently specified clinical and radiological criteria. Measures of episodic and semantic memory were administered to BD patients, patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) comparable to the BD sample in dementia severity, age, and education, and normal controls. Episodic memory was more defective in AD than in BD; these patient groups were equally impaired on measures of semantic memory. The findings suggest that assessment of episodic memory may be useful in differentiating AD from BD.