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Dissociation between the detection and perception of motion in Alzheimer's disease
S E Silverman1, D B Tran, K M Zimmerman
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles.
Abstract:
To better understand the damage to the motion pathway that occurs in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT), we developed a system to assess separately the conscious perception and unconscious detection of motion in patients with SDAT. Motion perception thresholds were significantly elevated in SDAT (n = 9) compared with controls (n = 12), but motion detection thresholds were normal. This dissociation between the perception and detection of motion in early SDAT parallels histologic evidence of a disconnection between primary and association visual cortices. This disconnection may underlie the severe visual perception deficits seen in SDAT.