Background: Semantic and Phonological fluency (SF and PF) are routinely evaluated in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There are disagreements in the literature regarding which fluency task is more affected while developing AD. Most studies focus on SF assessment, given its connection with the temporoparietal amnesic system. PF is less reported, it is related to working memory, which is also impaired in probable and diagnosed AD. Differentiating between performance on these tasks might be informative in early AD diagnosis, providing an accurate linguistic profile. Objective: Compare SF and PF performance in healthy volunteers, volunteers with probable AD, and patients with AD diagnosis, considering the heterogeneity of age, gender, and educational level variables. Methods: A total of 8 studies were included for meta-analysis, reaching a sample size of 1,270 individuals (568 patients diagnosed with AD, 340 with probable AD diagnosis, and 362 healthy volunteers). Results: The three groups consistently performed better on SF than PF. When progressing to a diagnosis of AD, we observed a significant difference in SF and PF performance across our 3 groups of interest ( p = 0.04). The age variable explained a proportion of this difference in task performance across the groups, and as age increases, both tasks equally worsen. Conclusion: The performance of SF and PF might play a differential role in early AD diagnosis. These tasks rely on partially different neural bases of language processing. They are thus worth exploring independently in diagnosing normal aging and its transition to pathological stages, including probable and diagnosed AD.

En los últimos 45 años Chile ha experimentado un crecimiento considerable de adultos mayores, y se estima que la sociedad crecerá en una tasa superior a 4% anual en los próximos 6 años. Así, los adultos mayores pasarán a constituir de 10% total de habitantes en 2010 a 20% en 2038 ⁶ .

There is a discrepancy about the characteristics and effects of exercise-based programs in older cancer survivors (OCS). Therefore, this scoping review aimed to identify the characteristics and effects of physical activity programs in OCS health. This scoping review followed the PRISMA guidelines and included randomized clinical trials and clinical trials from MEDLINE by PubMed, Scopus, Scielo, and PEDro, published between 2010 and 2020. Results suggest that physical programs were carried out in health centers (54.2%) and were based on physical exercise (74.4%). The length of the exercise interventions was between 3–6 months (87.5%) was performed 2–3 times per week (73.1%) with a duration between 20–60 minutes (78.2%) and was run by health professionals (94.4%). The health outcomes with the most positive effects were physical activity, depression, and quality of life. In conclusion, physical programs for OCS based on aerobic exercises are safe and could be a therapeutic strategy to improve different health markers in OCS. Resumen. En la literatura existe discrepancia sobre las características y los efectos de los programas basados en el ejercicio físico en sobrevivientes de cáncer (SC) de edad avanzada. Por lo tanto, esta revisión de alcance tuvo como objetivo identificar las características y los efectos de los programas de actividad física en la salud de personas SC de edad avanzada. Esta revisión de ensayos clínicos aleatorizados y ensayos clínicos, se realizó considerando las siguientes bases de datos: MEDLINE (de Pubmed), Scopus, Scielo y PEDro, entre los años 2010 y 2020. Los resultados indican que los programas de ejercicio se realizaron en centros de salud (54.2%), y se basaron en ejercicio físico principalmente (74.4%). La extensión de las intervenciones físicas fue entre 3–6 meses (87.5%), se realizaron 2–3 veces por semana (73.1%) con una duración entre 20–60 minutos, y fueron dirigidas por profesionales de salud (94.4%). El impacto sobre la salud con mayores efectos positivos fueron la actividad física, la depresión y la calidad de vida. En conclusión, los programas de ejercitación física para personas SC en edad avanzada, basados en ejercicios aeróbicos son seguros y podrían ser una estrategia terapéutica para mejorar diferentes variables de salud en este grupo de personas.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) reports heterogeneity of neuropsychological symptoms misleading the differential diagnosis with other forms of dementia, such as dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). About 50% of DLB patients are misdiagnosed as AD cases. Likewise, the diagnosis of both diseases is mainly based on clinical characteristics. However, differentiating AD of those with DLB based on neuropsychological symptoms and anatomical and functional brain changes remains challenging. To establish the main neuropsychological, anatomical, and functional similarities and differences in patients with AD and DLB. The present study followed the PRISMA guidelines and included studies from the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Sciences databases, published between January 2000 and July 2022. 41 articles were included in this systematic review for critical analysis. Our results suggest that the cognitive key domains to consider in the differential diagnosis are memory, executive function, attention, visuospatial/visuoconstructive skills, and verbal fluency (both semantic and phonological). The stage and severity of both diseases would be essential for differential diagnosis. On the other hand, the anatomical and functional changes suggest a similar atrophy pattern between AD and DLB in the frontal, parietal, temporal, hippocampal, and precuneus regions. The differential diagnosis between AD and DLB is challenging in clinical practice. Therefore, our results suggest exploring cognitive linguistic markers along with correlating these markers with anatomical and functional brain changes.