Primary presenile dementia: the use of the visual evoked potential as a diagnostic indicator

The use of the flash and pattern reversal visual evoked potential (VEP) in the diagnosis of primary presenile dementia was investigated. The results from 20 patients with primary presenile dementia were compared with those from a control group of normals of equivalent age and from a control group of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBritish journal of psychiatry Vol. 147; p. 532
Main Authors Harding, G F, Wright, C E, Orwin, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.11.1985
Subjects
Aged
Brain - physiopathology
Dementia - diagnosis
Dementia - physiopathology
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials, Visual
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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Summary:The use of the flash and pattern reversal visual evoked potential (VEP) in the diagnosis of primary presenile dementia was investigated. The results from 20 patients with primary presenile dementia were compared with those from a control group of normals of equivalent age and from a control group of 20 patients with cortical atrophy but no dementia. Presenile dementia caused a slowing of the major positive (P2) component of the VEP to flash stimulation. However, the VEP to pattern reversal stimulation (P100) was of normal latency. The difference between these two latencies characterises this unusual combination of results and is found to be a more specific diagnostic indicator of primary presenile dementia than the EEG or CT scan.
ISSN:0007-1250
DOI:10.1192/bjp.147.5.532