Foldi Nancy S, Lobosco Jacqueline J, Schaefer Lynn A
Department of Psychology, Queens College-City University of New York, Flushing, USA.
Semin Speech Lang. 2002 May;23(2):139-50. doi: 10.1055/s-2002-24990.
Attention may be one of the earliest cognitive abilities to change in Alzheimer's disease (AD), although its role has received belated recognition. This article discusses different aspects of attention and how these are differentially affected in AD. Of the various attention functions, divided and selective attention are particularly vulnerable. The etiology of attentional deficits in AD arises from damage to areas of frontal and parietal association cortex, disconnection between the anterior and posterior attentional networks, and decreased cholinergic function. Severity of illness is associated with attentional deterioration. Complexity or increased load of a task may further disrupt attentional function. Knowledge of attentional changes in AD is important to the understanding of disease-related changes in other cognitive domains such as memory, visuospatial functions, and language.
注意力可能是阿尔茨海默病（AD）中最早发生变化的认知能力之一，尽管其作用最近才得到认可。本文讨论了注意力的不同方面以及它们在AD中如何受到不同影响。在各种注意力功能中，分散注意力和选择性注意力尤其容易受到影响。AD中注意力缺陷的病因源于额叶和顶叶联合皮质区域的损伤、前后注意力网络之间的断开连接以及胆碱能功能的下降。疾病的严重程度与注意力恶化有关。任务的复杂性或负荷增加可能会进一步扰乱注意力功能。了解AD中的注意力变化对于理解其他认知领域（如记忆、视觉空间功能和语言）中与疾病相关的变化很重要。
