Cognitive Disorders

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Cognitive Disorders

• Madiha Anas
• Institute of Psychology
• Beaconhouse National University

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Cognitive DisordersAreas affected

• Thoughts
• The capacity of memory
• Perception
• The ability to be attentive

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Nature of Cognitive Disorders

• Perspectives on Cognitive Disorders
• Affect cognitive processes such as learning,
  memory, and consciousness
• Most develop later in life
• Three Classes of Cognitive Disorders
• Delirium often temporary confusion and
  disorientation
• Dementia degenerative condition marked by broad
  cognitive deterioration
• Amnestic disorders memory dysfunctions caused
  by disease, drugs, or toxins

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Delirium

• clouding of consciousness
• unawareness of whats happening around
• unable to focus or pay attention
• memory is foggy

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Delirium An Overview

• Nature of Delirium
• Central features
• impaired consciousness and cognition
• Impairments develop rapidly over several hours or
  days
• Examples include confusion, disorientation,
  attention, memory, and language deficits
• Facts and Statistics
• Affects 10 to 30 of persons in acute care
  facilities
• Most prevalent in older adults, AIDS patients,
  and medical patients
• Full recovery often occurs within several weeks

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Symptoms of delirium

• Perceptual Disturbances
• Speech Problems
• Motor Problems
• Hyperactive
• Hypoactive

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Medical Conditions Related to Delirium

• Medical Conditions
• Drug intoxication or withdrawal from drugs
• Infections, head injury, and several different
  forms of brain trauma
• Sleep deprivation, immobility, and excessive
  stress
• DSM-IV and DSM-IV Subtypes of Delirium
• Delirium due to a general medical condition
• Substance-induced delirium
• Delirium due to multiple etiologies
• Delirium not otherwise specified

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Dementia

• progressive deficits in a persons memory and
  learning of new information, ability to
  communicate, judgment, and motor co-ordination.
  It impacts on a persons ability to work and
  interact normally with other people.

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Dementia

• Nature of Dementia
• Gradual deterioration of brain functioning
• Affects judgment, memory, language, and other
  cognitive processes
• Dementia has many causes and may be reversible or
  irreversible
• Progression of Dementia Initial Stages
• Memory impairment, visuospatial skills deficits
• Agnosia inability to recognize and name objects
  (most common symptom)
• Facial agnosia inability to recognize familiar
  faces
• Other symptoms delusions, depression,
  agitation, aggression, and apathy

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Dementia An Overview

• Progression of Dementia Later Stages
• Cognitive functioning continues to deteriorate
• Person requires almost total support to carry out
  day-to-day activities
• Death results from inactivity combined with onset
  of other illnesses

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Dementia Facts and Statistics

• Onset and Prevalence
• most common in the elderly
• Affects 1 of those between 65-74 years of age
• Affects over 10 of persons 85 years and older
• 47 of adults over the age of 85 have dementia of
  the Alzheimers type
• Gender and Sociocultural Factors
• Dementia occurs equally in men and women
• Dementia occurs equally across educational level
  and social class

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DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR Classes of Dementia

• Dementia of the Alzheimers type
• Vascular Dementia
• Dementia due to other general medical conditions
• Substance-induced persisting Dementia
• Dementia due to multiple etiologies
• Dementia not otherwise specified

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Dementia of the Alzheimers Type An Overview

• DSM-IV-TR Criteria and Clinical Features
• Multiple cognitive deficits that develop
  gradually and steadily
• Predominant impairment in memory, orientation,
  judgment, and reasoning
• Can include agitation, confusion, depression,
  anxiety, or combativeness
• Symptoms are usually more pronounced at the end
  of the day

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Dementia of the Alzheimers Type

• Range of Cognitive Deficits
• Aphasia difficulty with language
• Apraxia impaired motor functioning
• Agnosia failure to recognize objects
• Difficulties with planning, organizing,
  sequencing, or abstracting information
• Impairments have a marked negative impact on
  social and occupational functioning

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Alzheimers Disease Nature and Progression of
the Disease

• Deterioration is slow during the early and later
  stages, but rapid during middle stages
• Average survival time is about 8 years
• Onset usually occurs in the 60s or 70s, but may
  occur earlier

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Vascular Dementia

• Nature of Vascular Dementia
• Progressive brain disorder caused by blockage or
  damage to blood vessels
• Second leading cause of dementia next to
  Alzheimers
• Onset is often sudden (e.g., stroke)
• Patterns of impairment are variable, and most
  require formal care in later stages

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Other Causes of DementiaHead Trauma and
Parkinsons Disease

• Head Trauma
• Accidents are leading causes of such cognitive
  impairments
• Memory loss is the most common symptom
• Parkinsons Disease
• Degenerative brain disorder
• Affects about 1 out of 1,000 people worldwide
• Motor problems are characteristic of this disorder

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Other Dementias Substance-Induced Dementia

• Substance-Induced Persisting Dementia
• Results from drug use in combination with poor
  diet
• Examples include alcohol, inhalants, sedative,
  hypnotic drugs
• Resulting brain damage may be permanent
• Dementia is similar to that of Alzheimers
• Deficits may include aphasia, apraxia or agnosia

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Amnestic Disorders

• People with Amnestic disorders are unable to
  recall previously learned information or to
  register new memories.

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Amnestic Disorder

• Nature of Amnestic Disorder
• loss of memory
• Inability to transfer information into long-term
  memory
• Often results from medical conditions, head
  trauma, or long-term drug use
• DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR Criteria for Amnestic
  Disorder
• Cover the inability to learn new information
• Inability to recall previously learned
  information
• Memory disturbance causes significant impairment
  in functioning

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Types of Amnestic Disorders

• Retrograde Amnesia
• Characterized by inability to recall past
  information/memory.
• Anterograde Amnesia
• Characterized by inability to learn and recall
  new information.
• In severe forms of anterograde amnesia, people
  newly met are, immediately forgotten.

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Types according to DSM-IV TR

• The DSM-IV TR includes two major categories of
  amnestic disorders
• Amnesia due to general medical condition
• It may be chronic (lasting a month or more) or
  transient.
• That can result from a wide variety of medical
  problems, such as head trauma or lack of oxygen
• Substance induced persisting amnestic disorder
• This condition may be caused by an array of
  substances including medications, illicit drugs
  or environmental toxins such as lead, mercury,
  and industrial solvents.

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Causes of Cognitive Disorders

• 1.Biological Perspective
• Cognitive disorders caused by the less blood flow
  to the brain areas or when there is some clot in
  the brain can cause cognitive impairment.
• A variety of other factors like substance
  intoxication or withdrawal, high fever, vitamin
  deficiency can also cause cognitive impairment.
• 2.Genetic Perspective
• Cognitive disorders can be genetic if a person
  has a family history of dementia and other
  cognitive disorders.
• 3.Other Factors
• Other factors such as head injury, trauma,
  surgery, substance intoxication can also lead to
  cognitive impairment.