Maze learning in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and normal elderly controls performed a block of 10 trials on a finger maze, followed by a 45-min period during which verbal learning measures were administered. Subjects then performed an additional 10 trials on the original maze, followed by 10 trials on a new maze. The AD patients and a subset of control subjects decreased mean completion time across Blocks 1 and 2, suggesting skill acquisition. Mean time on Block 3 was significantly less than mean time on Block 1, suggesting skill generalization. A subset of controls did not show the above pattern. The results of this study suggest that AD patients are able to acquire and generalize a cognitively mediated perceptual-motor skill.