Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940

Cortical and subcortical diseases: Do true neuropsychological

differences exist?
Juan Carlos Arango-Lasprilla a,b,c, , Heather Rogers d , Jean Lengenfelder a,b ,
John DeLuca a,b , Sonia Moreno c , Francisco Lopera c
aNeuropsychology and Neuroscience Laboratory, Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation,
300 Execute Drive, Suite 010 West Orange, NJ 07052, USA
b Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
c Neuroscience Group, University of Antioquia, Medelln, Colombia
d Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

Accepted 18 July 2005

Abstract
Previous work examining the cortical-subcortical distinction as it relates to cognitive patterns has not typically used genetic
confirmation to identify these groups, controlled for age, or used a comprehensive battery to assess specific cognitive abilities. The
present study is the first to include only genetically confirmed Familial Alzheimers disease (FAD) and Huntingtons disease (HD)
patients to evaluate this distinction. Ten patients with FAD, 11 patients with HD, and 17 matched healthy individuals were compared
on a comprehensive neuropsychological battery that included tasks of language, memory, attention, visual-spatial, and executive
function. The only neuropsychological measures to differentiate the two clinical groups were Animal Fluency and Letter Fluency;
performance on all other measures did not differ. Although the neuropsychological battery adequately distinguished between clinical
and healthy individuals, it was not useful to further differentiate the cortical or subcortical nature of the disease. FAD and HD appear
to have similar neuropsychological profiles; therefore the cortical versus subcortical cognitive distinction may not be clinically
meaningful.
2005 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Alzheimers disease; Huntingtons disease; Cortical dementia; Subcortical disease

1. Introduction

In the last few decades, researchers have studied the clinical, neuropsychological, neuropathological, neurochemi-
cal, and genetic characteristics of degenerating neurological diseases such as Alzheimers disease (AD), Picks disease,
Creutzfeldt-Jacobs disease, Huntingtons disease (HD) and Parkinsons disease (PD). In clinical practice, the demen-
tias that result from these diseases are often classified as either cortical or subcortical depending on the brain structures
that have been found to be primarily involved in each of the specific disorders. For instance, AD, Picks disease, and

The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as being official or as reflecting the
views of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of Defense.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 973 530 3650; fax: +1 973 736 7880.

E-mail address: jcarango@kmrrec.org (J.C. Arango-Lasprilla).

0887-6177/$ see front matter 2005 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.acn.2005.07.004
30 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940

Creutzfeldt-Jacobs disease are associated with abnormalities primarily in the hippocampus, cortex association areas,
and medial temporal lobes (Herzog & Kemper, 1980; Hyman, Van Hoesen, Damasio, & Barnes, 1984). Researchers
observed that people with these diseases develop a similar pattern of cognitive decline that mainly included deficits in
language, learning, perception, calculation, and praxis (Arango-Lasprilla, Fernandez, & Ardila, 2003; Tolosa & Alvarez,
1992). This grouping of neuropsychological characteristics became known as a cortical-type dementia. Extra-pyramidal
disorders (such as HD, PD, and Supranuclear Palsy [PSP]), on the other hand, are associated with abnormalities
in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and brainstem structures (Albert, Feldman, & Willis, 1974). It has been argued
that persons with these disorders tend to have disturbances in motivation, mood, attention/concentration, cogni-
tive processing speed, and executive function (Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, & Lopera 2003a, 2003b; Cummings
& Benson, 1984; Cummings, 1986). This pattern of dysfunction became known as subcortical-type dementia
(Cummings, 1993).
To determine if this cortical-subcortical distinction is valid for cognitive patterns and useful in a clinical setting,
some researchers have administered neuropsychological tests to patients with a prototypic cortical disease (i.e., AD) or
a prototypic subcortical disease (i.e., HD). In one study, using a neuropsychological battery comprised of semantic and
language measures (Boston Naming Test, Vocabulary, Similarities, Number Information Tests, Verbal Fluency) and
episodic memory measures (Buschke-Fuld Selective Reminding Test, modified Visual Reproduction Test), differences
in cognitive performance between the two groups emerged (Hodges, Salmon, & Butters, 1990). All subjects were
tested initially and then 12 months later. Initially, AD patients displayed poorer performance for visual and verbal
delayed recall while HD patients displayed poorer performance on category fluency, copying figures and vocabulary.
When examined a year later, the AD patients demonstrated a more rapid decline on measures requiring semantic
processing including naming, category fluency, number information, and similarities. In comparison, the HD patients
demonstrated a more rapid decline on Letter Fluency.
Memory performance was examined in AD, HD, as well as PD patients using the California Verbal Learning Test
(Pillon, Deweer, Agid, & Dubois, 1993). While there was no difference in learning between the groups, AD patients
demonstrated a greater number of intrusion errors. Additionally, the HD and PD groups had better cued recall and
recognition compared to the AD group. A correlation between memory performance and executive functioning was
reported for the HD and PD groups, but such a relationship was not evidenced for the AD patients.
Patients with HD have also been found to demonstrate greater impairments on measures sensitive to frontal and
executive functioning when compared to AD patients (Lange, Sahakian, Quinn, Marsden, & Robbins, 1995). When
matched for severity of dementia, HD patients performed poorer on three measures sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction:
Tower of London, spatial working memory, and visual discrimination/attentional set shifting.
AD and HD patients have also been compared using the Dementia Rating Scale (Mattis, 1988). Despite matching
both groups with respect to their overall total dementia score, the AD patients demonstrated greater impairments on
the memory subtest, whereas the HD patients demonstrated greater impairments on the initiation subtest (Salmon,
Kwo-on-Yuen, Heindel, Butters, & Thal, 1989). Patterns of cognitive impairment have also been examined using
the Mini-mental State Examination (Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975). Irrespective of degree of dementia, AD
patients were more impaired on items assessing memory compared to the HD patients who had greater impairments
in calculation (Brandt, Folstein, & Folstein, 1988).
Other work has examined category and Letter Fluency in both AD and HD. AD patients were found to have
differentially greater impairment on category fluency compared to letter impairment in contrast to the HD patients who
demonstrated similar degree of impairment for both category and Letter Fluency (Monsch et al., 1994). The authors
suggested that the difference in performance between the two groups was due to HD patients problems in initiation
while the AD patients demonstrate breakdown in semantic processing. Problems in semantic processing have also been
noted in the differential performance between AD and HD patients in naming (Hodges, Salmon, & Butters, 1991).
When the two groups were compared on the Boston Naming Test, it was found that HD impairments in naming were
primarily due to deficits in perceptual analysis of the items whereas AD patients were due to problems in semantic
processing, particularly superordinate and semantic-associative errors.
Some researchers have not found significant neuropsychological differences between groups (e.g., Brandt, Corwin,
& Krafft, 1992; Barr & Brandt, 1996; Butters, Goldstein, Allen, & Shemansky, 1998; Claus & Mohr, 1996; Granholm &
Butters, 1988; Mayeux, Stern, Rosen, & Benson, 1983; Rouleau, Salmon, Butters, Kennedy, & McGuire 1992). Brandt
et al. (1992) compared HD and AD subjects on recall and recognition of a word list. The two groups were similar in
their free recall performances and overall accuracy on the immediate recognition trial. Rouleau et al. (1992) compared
 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940 31

performances of HD and AD subjects on the Clock Drawing Test and found that both groups were similarly impaired.
Using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery (HalsteadReitan Neuropsychological battery and the Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale), Butters et al. (1998) investigated the validity and utility of the cortical and subcortical
distinction in three groups of patients (AD, HD, and multiple sclerosis). The AD and HD groups did not differ in their
performance on the two batteries.
Given the mixed results of previous studies evaluating the cortical-subcortical distinction for cognitive patterns,
four specific methodological limitations of the prior works will be addressed in the present study.
First, many of the previous studies with HD may have included a heterogeneous sample of patients not restricted
to HD. Because many of the subcorticalcortical studies were conducted before the genetic mutation for HD was
discovered in 1993 (e.g., Granholm & Butters, 1988; Pillon, Dubois, Ploska, & Agid, 1991; Massman, Delis, Butters,
Dupont, & Gillin, 1992; Troster, Jacobs, Butters, Cullum, & Salmon, 1989), patients with prototypical subcortical
disease were diagnosed with HD based on their clinical characteristic, not a genetic confirmation. Consequently, other
individuals with movement disorders but not HD may have been included in this subcortical disease group. The potential
heterogeneous nature of this HD group may potentially explain the conflicting findings of earlier studies. It is now
possible to extract and analyze the DNA of the subjects recruited for a study on this distinction. In the present study, we
compared a subcortical disease group of individuals diagnosed with HD who also possessed the genetic confirmation
of the disease with a cortical disease group so that any true differences between groups can emerge.
Secondly, previous studies have not included AD patients with genetic confirmation. Traditionally, researchers have
studied subjects with prototypical cortical dementia who had dementia of the Alzheimers type due to sporadic AD.
Because AD can only be definitively diagnosed through autopsy, there is no guarantee that all subjects have AD.
In fact, they could possibly have had a different type of dementia altogether. In the last 10 years, advancements in
molecular genetics have made it possible to identify genetic markers of AD. It is now known that people with specific
autosomal dominant genetic mutations will develop a familial form of AD. Although Familial Alzheimers disease
(FAD) accounts for less than 5% of total cases of AD and has an earlier age of onset compared to sporadic AD
(usually between 40 and 60 years of age), research has shown that the neuropsychological profiles of both types of AD
are the same (Arango-Lasprilla, Fernandaz, & Ardila, et al., 2003; Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, et al., 2003a, 2003b;
Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, Moreno, & Lopera, 2003; Lopera, Pineda, Morena, Durango, Garca, et al., 1997; Roselli
et al., 2000), thus FAD patients can be studied to shed light on the cortical-subcortical cognitive distinction. In the
present study, our cortical disease group also possessed the genetic confirmation of their disease (Familial Alzheimers
disease), thus permitting a direct comparison between two different genetically-verified diseased groups.
Third, most of the previous studies have not controlled for age differences in the different dementia groups. Because
sporadic AD symptom onset generally occurs after age 65 and individuals with subcortical diseases have decreased
longevity, the groups have tended to differ in age by 1520 years (e.g., Troster et al., 1989a, 1989b). None of the
published studies identified in the literature controlled for age methodologically, and very few have controlled for age
in the statistical analysis. In the present study, we sampled from a population of individuals with early-onset FAD.
These individuals young ages allowed us to compare a subcortical disease group of subjects of similar ages, unlike
the previous studies.
Lastly, some of the previous studies that have examined the cortical-subcortical distinction of cognitive patterns have
used neuropsychological tests that evaluate only one area of cognitive functioning (language, memory, or attention,
etc.). These studies have confirmed the cortical-subcortical group differences. However, Butters et al. (1998) did
use a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and did not find such differences. To address the limitation of not
assessing multiple domains of cognitive functioning, in the present study a comprehensive neuropsychological battery
that included tasks of language, memory, attention, visual-spatial, and executive function was administered.
Given the significant inconsistencies in the literature surrounding this corticalsubcortical distinction of cognitive
patterns, the present study attempts to address some of the limitations of previous research. We hope to shed light on
this distinction by comparing a cortical pattern of cognitive deficits of a group of individuals with a genetic mutation
for Familial Alzheimers disease (Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, et al., 2003a, 2003b; Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, et al.,
2003) and a subcortical pattern of deficits of a group of individuals with genetically-confirmed HD (Arango-Lasprilla,
Iglesias, et al., 2003).
Therefore, the present work has two objectives: (a) to compare two groups with different types of familial genetic
disease (either FAD or HD) versus healthy controls using a neuropsychological battery that includes tasks of language,
memory, attention, visual-spatial, and executive function, and (b) to compare the pattern cognitive abilities of subjects
32 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940

with FAD versus those with HD using the same battery in order to evaluate the validity and utility of a corticalsubcortical
distinction of quantitative neuropsychological deficits.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants

All individuals were Spanish speakers of Hispanic origin from Antioquia, Colombia, South America. Three groups
of individuals from three different populations were studied: 10 patients with FAD, 11 patients with HD, and 17 matched
healthy individuals. The FAD and HD groups were comprised of individuals from different families reported by Lopera
and colleagues whose genetic, clinical and neuropsychological characteristics have been described elsewhere (see
Arango-Lasprilla, Fernandes, et al. 2003; Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, et al., 2003a, 2003b; Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias,
et al., 2003; Lopera et al., 1997; Lopera, Pineda, Moreno, Durango, Garca, Carvajal, et al., 1999). The diagnosis of FAD
was made by one neurologist using DSM-IV (APA, 1994) criteria for AD dementia, a neurological examination,and
an interview with each individuals family member. All individuals in the FAD group were carriers of mutation E280A
in the preseniline 1 gene. All individuals in the HD group had a medical and genetic diagnosis of HD, a documented
positive family history, and presence of choreiform movements.
The third group was comprised of healthy individuals who: (a) did not meet the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for
dementia, (b) did not have specific cognitive problems that affected work, social or family life, (c) did not have a
history of neurological or psychiatric disorders, and (d) were non-affected family members, and therefore had similar
socio-cultural backgrounds as the clinical groups.
All the FAD and HD individuals were right-handed, as were 15 of the 17 healthy controls. The mean age at
the time of the evaluation was 53.60 7.62 years for the FAD group, 52.45 11.79 years for the HD group, and
49.06 2.63 for the healthy control (HC) group. There was no significant difference in age among the three groups
(H = 3.18, p = 0.203). Educational level, as measured by number of years of formal schooling, was low in each of
the three groups (FAD = 3.80 3.15, HD = 4.82 1.72, and HC = 4.12 2.03) and there was no significant difference
(H = 1.98, p = 0.371).

2.2. Instruments

Each individual was administered a battery of neuropsychological tests. The Consortium to Establish a Registry
for Alzheimers Disease (CERAD) evaluation battery (Morris et al., 1989) was administered in its entirety, along with
additional neuropsychological tests. The version of the CERAD used in this study was a Spanish version that was
adapted for the cultural and linguistic characteristics specific to this population. The CERAD battery includes the
following measures:

1. Semantic Fluency (Animal Naming): Individuals are requested to name as many animals as they can in 1 min. The
dependent variable is the number of unique animals named.
2. Modified Boston Naming Test: This test consists in asking individuals to identify 15 line drawings of increasing
complexity (high, medium and low frequency), with a maximum of 10 s for each drawing. One point is awarded
for each correct response, giving a total possible score of 15 points. The dependent variable is the total number of
correct namings.
3. Mini-mental State: A modified version of the Folsteins Minimental State Test (Folstein et al., 1975) was used. We
excluded the spelling backward subtest because one ability involved in this task (spelling) is not a common skill
for Spanish-speaking people. Instead, we replaced it with subtraction by threes, which is more appropriate for this
population. The total score of this test was 30 points. The dependent variable was the total number of correct points.
4. Word List Memory: This test assesses the ability to recall newly learned information. Individuals are presented 10
printed words on a card at the rate of one every 2 s. They are immediately asked to recall as many words as possible
from the list. This procedure is repeated in three consecutive trials. Maximum number of correct words is 30 for
the three trials. The number of correct words identified serves as the dependent variable.
5. Constructional Praxis: Individuals are presented with four line drawings of figures of increasing complexity, one
a time, and asked to copy them. Maximum time allowed for copying each figure (circle, rhombus, pentagon and
 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940 33

cube) is 2 min. Reproductions are scored according to predetermined criteria and the dependent measure is the total
score for the four drawings.
6. Word List Recall: This test assesses delayed memory by requesting that the individual recall the list of ten words
presented in the Word List Memory task. Maximum time allowed for this recall is 90 s, and 1 point is awarded for
each word recalled correctly, with a maximum of 10 points if all the words are recalled.
7. Word List Recognition: This test consists of recognition of the 10 words from the Word List Memory task, presented
in a list of 20 words (including 10 additional distractor words). A forced-choice paradigm is used, so that subjects
must respond with YES to the words they consider correct (i.e., in the list of words previously read), and NO to the
words that were not on that list. One point is awarded for each word correctly recognized. To adjust for chance, the
subjects score is calculated as the total number of correct answers minus 10; if the result is less than 0, a score of
0 is given.
8. Line-Drawing Recall: Individuals are asked to recall the drawings they copied previously and draw them from free
recall on a blank sheet of paper. This tests serves to assess visual memory.

In addition to the CERAD battery evaluation, the following neuropsychological tests were also administered:

1. Visual A Cancellation Test: Individuals are asked to mark, as quickly as possible, all the letter As in a series of
random letters on a piece of paper. The dependent variables are the number of As found and the number of As
omitted (Ardila, Roselli, & Puente, 1994).
2. The ReyOsterrieth Complex Figure: Individuals are presented with the complex design card showing a figure that
containing 18 elements and asked to copy the figure on blank sheet of white paper. When they finish, the examiner
takes away the figure and asks them to reproduce it from memory. It measures memory as well as visual-motor
organization (Rey, 1987).

Table 1
Overall comparison of neuropsychological variables for FAD, HD, and HC
Measure FAD (mean S.D.) HD (mean S.D.) HC (mean S.D.) KruskalWallis Test

H P

MMSE 19.80 1.32 21.18 2.96 28.59 1.97 26.98 0.000

Animal Fluency 10.40 3.63 6.64 2.84 15.59 3.12 20.90 0.000
Letter Fluency 6.10 4.56 2.40 2.41 7.76 2.93 15.96 0.000
Naming 9.60 2.99 8.09 2.12 12.53 1.66 17.10 0.000
Memory
Recall 7.90 2.51 7.73 4.29 15.71 3.02 22.29 0.000
Intrusions 2.70 3.40 2.45 4.01 1.18 1.29 1.60 0.448
Delay recall 1.80 1.23 2.64 1.63 5.88 1.22 26.96 0.000
Delay intrusions 0.80 0.15 0.45 0.70 0.47 0.72 0.000 1.00
Recognition 5.20 2.93 4.00 3.52 9.70 0.58 24.44 0.000
Praxias
Copy 6.50 2.68 4.4.5 4.06 9.18 1.29 12.60 0.002
Recall 2.40 2.37 1.64 2.66 7.06 3.07 18.00 0.000
TMT A
Correct 14.33 10.48 20.43 8.16 23.31 2.75 8.98 0.011
Errors 7. 56 8.99 3.57 8.16 0.69 2.75 9.83 0.007
Time 104.85 61.05 215.57 43.73 58.00 23.49 15.27 0.000
Cancellation A
Correct 10.71 4.27 7.90 4.93 14.44 1.71 12.51 0.002
Omissions 5.29 4.27 8.10 4.93 1.56 1.71 12.51 0.002
Rey Figure
Copy 7.44 7.85 4.95 5.50 22.85 7.20 22.50 0.000
Recall 2.94 7.26 1.18 1.45 9.44 5.20 16.64 0.000
Reading of words 10.00 0. 00 9.09 3.02 10.00 0.00 2.45 0.293
34 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940

3. Letter Fluency: This tests asks individuals to generate as many words as possible beginning with the letter F,
excluding proper names or derivatives (diminutives, etc.), in 1 min. The dependent variable is the total number of
correct words in one minute (Ardila et al., 1994).
4. Trail Making Test (Part A): Individuals have to connect circles in ascending order (1 trough 25) as quickly as
possible. The dependent variables are the number of correct connections, the number of errors, and the total time
needed to complete the test.

2.3. Procedure

All participants provided consent for participation, in accordance with the protocol of informed consent approved
by the ethics committee of the University of Antioquias Medical School (in Medelln, Colombia). For those indi-
viduals diagnosed with dementia, a close family member (spouse or adult) also gave informed consent. Each
participant was then administered the CERAD battery (Morris et al., 1989) followed by the additional neu-
ropsychological tests. Each entire evaluation was administered by the same neuropsychologist in one 90-min
session.

2.4. Data analyses

The neuropsychological data were analyzed using the statistical package SPSS version 10.0. All three
groups were compared using the KruskalWallis Test in order to determine the variables yielding overall dif-
ferences among groups. Non-parametric statistics were chosen because of the small sample sizes and large
variances within groups. All dependent measures significant at the p < 0.05 level were further analyzed using the
MannWhitney U for independent samples (FAD versus HC, HD versus HC, and FAD versus HD) with alpha set at
0.05.

Table 2
Comparison of neuropsychological variables for FAD and HD vs. HC
Measure MannWhitney U-Test FAD vs. HC MannWhitney U-Test HD vs. HC

U P U P

Minimental State 0.000 0.000 4.500 0.000

Fluency (Animals) 23.00 0.002 3.500 0.000
Letter Fluency 47.50 0.058 12.00 0.000
Naming 36.50 0.014 7.000 0.000
Memory
Recall 2.500 0.000 15.50 0.001
Delay recall 0.000 0.000 6.000 0.000
Recognition 13.00 0.000 3.500 0.000
Praxias
Copy 35.00 0.011 27.50 0.002
Recall 20.50 0.001 17.00 0.000
TMT A
Correct 18.00 0.003 36.00 0.043
Errors 28.50 0.002 36.00 0.043
Time 19.00 0.004 2.500 0.000
Cancellation A
Correct 22.00 0.021 19.50 0.001
Omissions 22.00 0.21 19.50 0.001
Rey Figure
Copy 11.50 0.000 4.500 0.000
Recall 24.50 0.005 14.00 0.000
 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940 35

3. Results

3.1. Neuropsychological measures

The results of the neuropsychological test comparisons among the three groups are provided in Table 1. The three
groups (FAD, HD, and HC) differed with respect to most of the neuropsychological variables, except intrusions
(H = 1.60, p = 0.448), delay intrusions (H = .000, p = 1.00), and reading of words (H = 2.45, p = 0.29). Each of the
two clinical groups (FAD and HD) were then individually compared to the healthy individuals (HC) using the
MannWhitney U-Test (see Table 2). The FAD group had significantly poorer performance than the HC on all
of the neuropsychological variables except Letter Fluency, which, although not statistically significant, indicated
a trend towards significance (U = 47.50, p = 0.06). The HD group demonstrated significantly poorer performance
than the HC on all of the neuropsychological variables. Finally, the FAD and HD groups were directly compared
using the MannWhitney U-Test (see Table 3). These two groups performed similarly on all neuropsychological
measures except for significant differences in Animal Fluency (U = 22.50, p = 0.021) and Letter Fluency (U = 16.50,
p = 0.010).
One key neuropsychological variable in determining the cortical and subcortical distinction is retrieval failure.
Specifically, retrieval failure has been found to be a defining cognitive deficit in subcortical diseases (Cummings &
Benson, 1984). To examine this concept in the present data set, a post-hoc comparison between the FAD and HD
groups was conducted to specifically examine whether retrieval failure could be observed in the HD group relative
to the FAD group. Retrieval was assessed using a savings score on the CERAD Word List Memory Test. The
savings score was defined per subject as delayed recall divided by immediate recall 100. This analysis resulted
in no significant difference in savings between the FAD group and the HD group (19.8% versus 35.2%, U = 35.0,
p = 0.16).

Table 3
Comparison of neuropsychological variables for FAD vs. HD
Measure MannWhitney U-Test FAD vs. HD

U P

MMSE 38.00 0.227

Fluency (Animals) 22.50 0.021
Letter Fluency 16.50 0.010
Naming 44.00 0.428
Memory
Recall 49.50 0.687
Delay recall 36.00 0.169
Recognition 43.00 0.393
Praxias
Copy 38.00 0.227
Recall 40.50 0.279
TMT A
Correct 14.50 0.328
Errors 21.50 0.268
Time 29.50 0.831
Cancellation A
Correct 23.50 0.258
Omissions 23.50 0.258
Rey Figure
Copy 42.00 0.400
Recall 22.50 0.532
36 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940

4. Discussion

There are inconsistent findings in the literature regarding the validity of the corticalsubcortical cognitive distinc-
tion. Methodological issues, in part, may be responsible for some of these inconsistencies. Many of the previous
studies examining this distinction have not used genetic confirmation to identify these groups, have not controlled for
differences in age, or used a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to assess cognitive abilities. The present study
has addressed some of the methodological limitations of past work by (a) using a comprehensive neuropsychological
evaluation battery that covers a wide range of cognitive abilities (including memory, language, attention, praxis, and
executive functions), (b) including individuals with genetically-confirmed HD, (c) including individuals with Familial
Alzheimers disease instead of the sporadic form of the disease, thus obtaining a younger sample more similar to the
HD groups ages, (d) selecting samples of similar educational levels, and (e) comparing groups whose genetic, clinical,
and neuropsychological characteristics have been previously identified and published.
Because the FAD and HD groups had similar results in almost all areas of cognitive functioning, the results of the
present study do not support the existence of a typical cortical or subcortical neuropsychological profile as has been
purported by the literature. In fact, the data shown in Table 3 comparing the FAD and HD groups suggest a number
of similarities in cognitive performance on this comprehensive battery of tests. In addition, the present results do not
provide support for retrieval failure in the subcortical group as a key distinctive feature between cortical and subcortical
diseases. Other studies have failed to demonstrate quantitative differences in cognitive functioning between individuals
with cortical and subcortical diseases. For example, many studies have examined general cognitive abilities (Mayeux et
al., 1983), verbal fluency (Epker Lacritz & Cullum, 1999), memory of words (Granholm & Butters, 1988), intelligence
(Butters et al., 1998), visuo-constructive capacity (Rouleau et al., 1992), and attention (Claus & Mohr, 1996) and
reported no significant differences between groups. Taken together, the data from the present study as well as several
published reports seriously question the construct validity of the cortical and subcortical cognitive distinction.
A closer look at the results reveals that only the two measures of verbal fluency were able to successfully differentiate
the FAD group and the HD group. Specifically, the HD group scored lower than the FAD group on both the letter and
categorical fluency tasks. The finding of poorer performance on Letter Fluency by the HD groups concurs with results
from others studying these populations (e.g., Hodges et al., 1990; Monsch et al., 1994) and may be explained by the
neuropathological differences that underlie each disease. Fluency tasks are commonly used to differentiate cognitive
patterns of cortical and subcortical deficits in dementia patients. In particular, the phonological (letter) verbal fluency
test is typically administered as a measure of executive functioning, as it is implicated in initiation/retrieval processes
and has been found to be sensitive to left prefrontal cortex dysfunction (Pendleton, Heaton, Lehman, & Hulihan, 1982).
The prefrontal cortex has reciprocal connections with subcortical structures. It is thought that those with HD may score
low on this test because the fronto-subcortical nature of their disease decreases their ability to initiate/retrieve words
(Cummings, 1993). The frontal lobes of AD patients, on the other hand, remain intact until the moderate and severe
stages of the illness, thus they are able to retrieve words and therefore perform better than those with HD on this task
(Braak & Braak, 1996).
The semantic (categorical) fluency task is often used by neuropsychologists to index the integrity of the structure of
semantic knowledge. The temporal neocortex has been postulated to be the anatomical substrate of semantic knowledge
(Martin & Fedio, 1983; Randolph, Braun, Goldberg & Chase, 1993) and AD is characterized by neuropathologcal
alterations of the temporal lobe. This hypothesis predicts that those with AD would show a corresponding deficit in
semantic fluency and perform worse than those with HD on this task. Previous studies with these populations have
confirmed this prediction (e.g. Monsch et al., 1994). However, the results of this study show exactly the opposite: the
AD group scored better than the HD group on both types of fluency tests. The neuropsychological battery used in the
present study does not permit a clear conclusion as to why the HD group performed significantly worse than the AD
group on the semantic fluency tasks. It is possible that the AD patients had initation and retrieval difficulties in addition
to deficits in semantic knowledge and that the HD patients had deficits in sematic knowledge beyond their initiation
and retrieval difficulties. Another possiblity is that level of education influenced the results. Future studies of these two
groups examining semantic knoweldge and executive function are warrented in order to understand the nature of the
deficits observed in this study and clarify the pattern of cognitive differences between these diseases.
Some researchers (i.e., Rouleau et al., 1992) suggest that although quantitative difference may not exist, there may
be qualitative variations in task completion that differ between AD and HD groups that do not become apparent by
simply analyzing their reported scores and group means. Although the Alzheimers and Huntingtons groups showed
 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940 37

impairment, the neuropsychological processes affected at a qualitative level in each group of subjects are likely to be
different (Hodges et al., 1991). Future research should address such qualitative issues and underlying deficits because
this may be the only way to provide the neuropsychological evidence to support a corticalsubcortical cognitive
distinction.
From a neuroanatomical/neuropathological perspective, the distinction between cortical and subcortical disease
is not always clear either. In some cases, a person with cortical dementia (i.e., AD) may also have abnormalities
in their subcortical structures and vice versa (Boller, Mizutani, Roessmann, & Gambetti, 1980; Braak, Del Tredici,
Rud, & de Vos, 2003; Bruyn, Bots, & Dom, 1979; Hakim, & Mathieson, 1979; Kassubek et al., 2004; Macdonald &
Halliday, 2002; Mazurek, Garside, & Beal, 1997). Studies of individuals with AD have found additional subcortical
structure abnormalities in the thalamus, the amygdala, nucleus basalis of Meynert (Herzog, & Kemper, 1980; McDuff &
Sumi, 1985; Whitehouse, Price, Clark, Coyle, & DeLong, 1981; Whitehouse et al., 1982) and especially the substantia
innominata, the locus ceruleus and raphe nuclei (Bondareff, Mountjoy, & Roth, 1982). Meanwhile, studies of individuals
with HD have found additional cortical structure abnormalities, including changes to the hippocampus and loss of
pyramidal neurons in the angular gyrus and frontal lobe (Aylward et al., 1998; Macdonald Halliday, Trent, & McCusker,
1997; Spargo, Everall, & Lantos, 1993). PD, like HD, is also classified as a subcortical disease. Between 18 and 25%
of people with AD manifest pathological changes and clinical characteristics typically associated with PD (Adams &
Victor, 1989). Other studies have found that individuals with HD and PD have neuropathological and neurochemical
alterations typically associated with AD, e.g., senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, tau pathology changes (Bruyn &
Roos, 1990; Jackson et al., 1995; Jellinger, 1998; McIntosh Jameson, & Markesbery, 1978; Whitehouse et al., 1986).
Taken together, these disparate results suggest a controversy regarding the existence of true cortical and subcortical
disorders from a neuroanatomical/neuropathological perspective.
The FAD, HD, and HC group all had similar ages and educational levels, yet, there were significant differences
among them on all of the neuropsychological test variables in the comprehensive battery except intrusions, delay
intrusions, and reading of words. It is not surprising that reading of words performance was similar for these particular
groups of individuals. Those with FAD have been reported to conserve their capacity to read aloud (Pena, 1999), even
when their understanding of language maybe compromised (Chui, 1989; Cummings Houlihan, & Hill, 1986; Huppert
& Tym, 1986; Gonzalez, Del Ser Quijano, & Bermejo, 1990). Those with HD do not normally manifest reading
problems either, and any difficulties in this area are typically secondary to other deficits such as dysarthria or disruption
of perceptual analysis, which are common in advanced stages of the disease (Podoll, Caspary, Lange, & Noth, 1988).
However, the findings of similar performance among groups on the intrusions and delay intrusions measures of the
memory test contradict Jacobs, Salmon, Troster, and Butters (1990) findings after evaluating the memory capacities
of these same groups. The type of test used to evaluate this cognitive domain may be one possible explanation for this
discrepancy. In the present study, a verbal memory test was used, while Jacobs and colleagues (1990) administered
a figural memory test. This inconsistent performance may depend on the type of stimulus, and, although intrusion
errors do not seem to represent a general characteristic of these individuals memories, further research to replicate
and explain these differences (if they exist) is warranted.
When FAD and HD groups were individually compared to the healthy individuals, the results verify that the FAD and
HD groups in the present study did indeed have neuropsychological alterations in language, memory, attention, praxis,
information processing speed, and executive function consistent with those shown in previous literature (Brandt &
Butters, 1986; Brantjes & Bouma, 1991; Daum, Riesch, Sartori, & Birbaumer, 1996; Rosser & Hodges, 1994; Zakzanis,
1998).
The present study also has a number of limitations that should be addressed in future research. For example, larger
sample sizes would have increased the robustness of the findings, qualitative evaluation of the individuals cognitive
performances would have shed light on potential differences between groups that escape quantitative analysis, and
additional tests that measure executive function would have provided more conclusive results as to the quantitative
differences between subjects with AD and HD in this specific area of cognitive function. Because individuals in this
study had a low educational level, the findings of this study might have limited generalizability to those who are more
educated. It should be recognized that the low educational levels of participants in this study is indeed representative
of the dementia population in Colombia. Finally, because FAD represents a small subset of AD, the results of the
current study may not be able to be generalized to the larger AD population. However, prior studies have found that
the cognitive profile in AD is the same that FAD (Arango-Lasprilla, Iglesias, et al., 2003a; Lopera et al., 1997; Roselli
et al., 2000), suggesting fairly strong external validity in this case.
38 J.C. Arango-Lasprilla et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 21 (2006) 2940

In conclusion, although the comprehensive neuropsychological battery adequately distinguished between those
individuals with a dementia/disease and those without (the healthy controls), it was not useful to further differentiate
the particular cortical or subcortical cognitive pattern of an individuals disease. The quantitative results of the present
study suggest that people with FAD and HD have similar neuropsychological profiles. The cortical versus subcortical
cognitive distinction may not be clinically meaningful in light of the current evidence. More research with these groups
is needed, especially in the area of executive functioning, in order to correctly identify the neuropsychological strengths
and weaknesses of each person (regardless of his/her disease) so that effective rehabilitation plans can be designed and
implemented.

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by CODI, 20052006 sustainability program to the Neuroscience Group, University
of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia.

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