Inhibitory control and affective valence processing in dementia of the alzheimer type

Emotional and traditional Stroop effects were contrasted in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and age-equated, non-demented individuals to examine (a) differences in the speed of processing emotional versus neutral words; and (b) the extent to which the emotional valence influences interference effects. Individuals with moderate AD experienced larger traditional Stroop interference effects than did healthy elderly or individuals with mild AD. Emotional Stroop effects were evident among individuals with moderate AD and significantly greater than elderly and individuals with mild AD who exhibited minimal effects. For negative words, significant differences were only observed between individuals with moderate AD and healthy elderly. Emotional Stroop effects among individuals with AD were not statistically different for positive and negative words. The impact of stimulus intensity level and AD-associated changes to the prefrontal cortex and amygdala on emotional Stroop effects requires further investigation.