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. 2021 Nov;33(11):3039-3045.
doi: 10.1007/s40520-021-01837-8. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and cognitive stimulation, combined and alone, in treating individuals with mild Alzheimer's disease

Maria Devita  1 , Fabio Masina  2 , Daniela Mapelli  3 , Pasquale Anselmi  4 , Giuseppe Sergi  5 , Alessandra Coin  5
Affiliations

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and cognitive stimulation, combined and alone, in treating individuals with mild Alzheimer's disease

Maria Devita et al. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Backgrounds: Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI) and cognitive stimulation (CS) are the standard pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of these treatments, alone or combined, on the neuropsychological profiles of patients with AD.

Methods: Forty participants were assigned to three groups receiving either only AChEI (n = 14), AChEI + CS (n = 15), or only CS (n = 11). Cognition was evaluated at baseline and after three months. Linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate differences among the treatments in terms of changes in the patients' neuropsychological profiles.

Results: Results, although preliminary because of the small sample size, suggest that a general improvement was found in patients who received AChEI + CS and those who received only CS compared with those who received only AChEI. Interestingly, individuals who received only CS showed a significant improvement in immediate memory recall than those who received only AChEI. Furthermore, the group receiving AChEI + CS showed an improvement in delayed recall than the other two groups.

Discussion: The combination of AChEI and CS seems to have the greatest benefit for patients with mild AD. More interestingly, CS alone is more effective than AChEI alone, even in improving memory, considered to be the "lost" cognitive domain in AD.

Keywords: AChEI treatment; Cognitive stimulation; Combined pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment; Mild Alzheimer’s disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Shows the design of our study and details the activities carried out as part of the cognitive trainings
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
At the top, participant’s performances in the mini mental state examination (MMSE) before (T1) and after treatment (T2). At the bottom, participant’s performance in the brief neuropsychological examination-2 (ENB-2) before and after treatment
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
At the top, participant’s performances in the ENB-2 immediate recall prose memory subtest before (T1) and after treatment (T2). At the bottom, participant’s performances in the delayed recall prose memory subtest before and after the intervention. In both the graphs, the asterisk indicates the time × group interaction (p < 0.05)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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