BACKGROUND: The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) was used to explore which tests and their measures are able to detect cognitive change after a single dose of donepezil in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients. The aim of this study was to establish the ability of CANTAB tests and their measures to detect cognitive change after a single 5-mg dose of donepezil in treatment-naïve AD patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We enrolled 62 treatment-naïve AD patients and 30 healthy controls in this prospective, randomized, rater-blinded study. AD patients were randomized to 2 groups: the AD+ group received donepezil after the first CANTAB testing and the AD– group remained treatment-naïve at second testing. The time period between repeated testing was 4 hours. Parallel versions of CRT, SOC, PAL, SWM, and PRM tests were used.

RESULTS: All groups did not differ according to age, education, gender, or depression (p>0.05). AD+ and AD– groups did not differ according to MMSE. SOC, PAL, PRM, and SWM tests distinguished AD from controls. Eight measures of PAL and PRM had a strong correlation with MMSE (r>0.7). Repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc test showed the difference of change in AD+ and AD– groups between first and second CANTAB testing in 7 PAL measures. AD+ and AD– groups differed in the second testing by 7 PAL measures. Four PAL measures differed in first and second testing within the AD+ group.

CONCLUSIONS: The CANTAB PAL test measures, able to detect cognitive change after a single dose of donepezil in AD patients, are: PAL mean trials to success, total errors (adjusted), total errors (6 shapes, adjusted), and total trials (adjusted).

Keywords: Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology, Aged, 80 and over, Case-Control Studies, Cognition, Cognition Disorders - diagnosis, Indans - therapeutic use, Learning, Memory, Neuropsychological Tests, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Piperidines - therapeutic use, Prospective Studies, Psychometrics, Severity of Illness Index, Time Factors