Finger agnosia in Alzheimer disease.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to learn if a deficit of finger naming (finger agnosia or anomia) is a sensitive test for Alzheimer disease (AD) and the best means of testing for finger agnosia.

METHODS

The subjects were 38 patients with AD and 10 matched normal controls. All subjects were asked to name the thumb, index, and pinky fingers.

RESULTS

No control subject had trouble naming any of these fingers, but 37% of the AD subjects did. When AD patients had difficulty with finger naming, they always had trouble naming the index finger.

CONCLUSIONS

In the absence of stroke, the inability to name the index finger seems as an indicator of dementia. Although brief, this test is not extremely sensitive test for AD.