Regional cerebral blood flow during memory recognition and neuropsychological performance in patients referred for investigation of dementia.

Regional cerebral blood flow was studied at rest and during a memory recognition activation task in a preliminary investigation carried out in patients with mild to moderate dementia of Alzheimer type and in 2 control groups of subjects. There were differences in the sites of activation-increased blood flows between the normal controls and the controls with major depression, while the Alzheimer's disease subjects showed more variable patterns of flow response, which differed overall from those present in the 2 control groups.