The nature of psychotic symptoms in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.

The Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University's medical school has gathered a large sample of subjects with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) who are free of other potentially complicating medical, neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Using this homogeneous population, we have characterized psychotic symptoms associated with SDAT. Three groups of symptoms occur commonly: paranoid delusions, misidentification syndromes, and hallucinations. The nature and frequency of these syndromes are discussed.