The neuropsychological profile in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease

Objective To demonstrate the exact nature of the cognitive profile of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) on standardized neuropsychological tests including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale––Revised (WAIS‐R) and the Wechsler Memory Scale––Revised (WMS‐R). Design We examined the WAIS‐R and the WMS‐R of 26 patients with probable DLB (based on the Consensus Criteria for the clinical diagnosis of DLB) and of 78 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) (based on criteria of the National Institute for Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke‐Alzheimer's disease and Related Disorders Association) who were matched to the patients with DLB 3:1 by Mini‐Mental State Examination score. Results The DLB group scored significantly lower on the Block Design, Object Assembly and Digit Symbol of WAIS‐R and significantly higher on the Logical Memory I, Verbal Paired Associates I, Logical Memory II, Visual Paired Associates II, Verbal Paired Associates II and Visual Reproduction II of WMS‐R (p