Advances in Aging Research, 2014, 3, 95-101
Published Online May 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/aar
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/aar.2014.32015
How to cite this paper: Amer, M.S., et al. (2014) Relationship between Cerebral Imaging and Executive Functions in Egyp-
tian Elderly. Advances in Aging Research, 3, 95-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/aar.2014.32015
Relationship between Cerebral Imaging and
Executive Functions in Egyptian Elderly
Motassem S. Amer
1
, Nagia A. Fahmy
2
, Sarah A. Hamza
1
, Eman F. Tash
1
,
Mohammmad A. A. Allaboudy
1
1
Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
2
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Email: hasarah_2000@yahoo.com
Received 13 February 2014; revised 7 April 2014; accepted 23 April 2014
Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Abstract
This study aimed at assessing the relationship between executive functions and left sided hemip-
legia due to non hemorrhagic supratentorial infarction in elderly Egyptians. It is considered a case
control study which was conducted among 90 elderly participants, who were divided into two
groups: a case group, 45 cases with cerebral infarctions of 6 months duration or more, and a con-
trol group who did not have previous cerebral infarctions. Both groups were selected from Ain
shams University Hospital. Each participant was subjected to comprehensive geriatric assessment,
executive functions assessment using, block design test, digit span, letter verbal fluency test, ani-
mal verbal fluency test and clock drawing test, and then a Computed Tomography (CT) brain was
performed. It was found that cases were suffering from more functional impairment than controls,
and have had significant lower scores in Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) (P < 0.01). Sig-
nificant difference was found between both groups as regards performance of executive function
tests (P < 0.05). Significant effect of Parietal lobe infarctions was found on Block Design Test, Digit
Span Test, Animal Verbal Fluency and Clock Drawing Test (P value < 0.05). Conclusion: There was
a significant difference between cases and controls as regards their performance in cognitive and
executive function tests.
Keywords
Executive Functions, Cerebral Infarctions, Elderly
1. Introduction
The prevalence of executive impairment is high and it is common among medical inpatients [1]. The failure to