METABOLIC AND CNS CORRELATES OF COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION WITH RENAL FAILURE

Experimental uremia in primates has been demonstrated to produce severe decrements in psychological functions which are related to the accumulation of toxic metabolites in blood. More recent neurophysiological research has referred uremic encephalopathy to disrupted sodium-potassium exchange in uremic brain. The present clinical investigations have found decrements in cognitive functioning with repeated testing in patients maintained on intermittent hemodialysis, which were correlated with plasma concentrations of potassium and creatinine. Power Spectral Density analyses of EEG indicated a shift to lower frequencies in these patients as compared to control subjects. No significant departure from normal functioning has been determined in patients receiving renal transplant tested within 60 days post-surgically.