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Luotonen I, Karrasch M, Korpilahti P, Renvall K. Factor structure and clinical applicability of new semantic tasks in Alzheimer's disease and aphasia. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY. ADULT 2024; 31:27-38. [PMID: 34658274 DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2021.1986511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Semantic tasks are frequently used when examining language functions in patients with acquired disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and aphasia. Little is known about the possible covariation between different types of tasks or their factor structure in healthy adults. Additionally, few studies have examined semantic task performances in different patient groups. The aims of this data-driven study were to examine the factor structure in a wide range of semantic tasks in healthy older adults, the possible differences in factor variables between healthy controls, patients with AD and patients with stroke aphasia, as well as the clinical applicability of tasks in differentiating the two patient groups from controls. Participants included 59 healthy older adults, 13 patients with AD and 14 patients with aphasia. The results indicated a four-factor solution for the semantic task variables: (1) the Semantic association factor, (2) the Time factor, (3) the Verbal factor and (4) the Synonym factor. The Verbal factor was the only distinguishing factor between the two patient groups. Three factors reliably discriminated between the controls and the AD patients, and the Verbal factor reliably discriminated between the controls and the aphasia patients. In addition, a few single task variables showed outstanding discrimination for both patient groups. This study supports the notions of semantic tasks tapping into more than one cognitive subcomponent and a more general semantic impairment in AD than in aphasia. In clinical assessment, choosing appropriate semantic tasks is crucial in order to reliably detect the characteristics of the impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ida Luotonen
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Mira Karrasch
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Pirjo Korpilahti
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Kati Renvall
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
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2
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Jebahi F, Abou Jaoude R, Daaboul H, El Achkar R, Jacobs MM. Preliminary normative data for 12 categories using semantic verbal fluency: The role of animacy. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY. ADULT 2023; 30:680-685. [PMID: 34470556 DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2021.1971981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Verbal fluency tasks are a common part of neuropsychological batteries and are frequently used in clinical and research practices to support the diagnosis of neurological impairments. Semantic verbal fluency is most frequently examined using only the category of animals. Little is known about the differences other semantic categories may present on semantic verbal fluency performance. The purpose of this study was to establish preliminary categorical normative data across twelve categories comprising of different animate and inanimate categories using semantic verbal fluency in neurotypical Lebanese-speaking adults and to determine the impact of category affiliation (animacy) on semantic verbal fluency performance. The task was administered to seventy female and male adults aged between 19 and 79 years having different educational levels. Participants generated the greatest number of exemplars for the category of body parts. Participants then produced exemplars in the following decreasing order: animals, vegetables, fruits, clothes, kitchen utensils, naturals, electronics, furniture, means of transportation, tools, and accessories. The animate categories were associated with the greatest number of exemplars compared to the inanimate. Clustering strategy might have been reinforced by the shared properties of animates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatima Jebahi
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
- Department of Speech Therapy, Lebanese University, Fanar, Lebanon
- Fulbright Association, Washington, USA
| | | | - Hadi Daaboul
- Department of Speech Therapy, Lebanese University, Fanar, Lebanon
- Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Rhea El Achkar
- Department of Speech Therapy, Lebanese University, Fanar, Lebanon
| | - Molly M Jacobs
- Department of Health Services and Information Management, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
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3
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Cardona JF, Grisales-Cardenas JS, Trujillo-Llano C, Diazgranados JA, Urquina HF, Cardona S, Torres A, Torres LA, Gonzalez LM, Jaramillo T, Cediel J, Oñate-Cadena N, Mateus-Ferro G, Marmolejo-Ramos F. Semantic Memory and Lexical Availability in Parkinson's Disease: A Statistical Learning Study. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 13:697065. [PMID: 34393760 PMCID: PMC8361833 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.697065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes a progressive impairment in motor and cognitive functions. Although semantic fluency deficits have been described in PD, more specific semantic memory (SM) and lexical availability (LA) domains have not been previously addressed. Here, we aimed to characterize the cognitive performance of PD patients in a set of SM and LA measures and determine the smallest set of neuropsychological (lexical, semantic, or executive) variables that most accurately classify groups. Thirty early-stage non-demented PD patients (age 35–75, 10 females) and thirty healthy controls (age 36–76, 12 females) were assessed via general cognitive, SM [three subtests of the CaGi battery including living (i.e., elephant) and non-living things (i.e., fork)], and LA (eliciting words from 10 semantic categories related to everyday life) measures. Results showed that PD patients performed lower than controls in two SM global scores (picture naming and naming in response to an oral description). This impairment was particularly pronounced in the non-living things subscale. Also, the number of words in the LA measure was inferior in PD patients than controls, in both larger and smaller semantic fields, showing a more inadequate recall strategy. Notably, the classification algorithms indicated that the SM task had high classification accuracy. In particular, the denomination of non-living things had a classification accuracy of ∼80%. These results suggest that frontostriatal deterioration in PD leads to search strategy deficits in SF and the potential disruption in semantic categorization. These findings are consistent with the embodied view of cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan F Cardona
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Johan S Grisales-Cardenas
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Catalina Trujillo-Llano
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Jesús A Diazgranados
- Centro Médico de Atención Neurológica "Neurólogos de Occidente", Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Hugo F Urquina
- Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Sebastián Cardona
- Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Alejandra Torres
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Liliana A Torres
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Lina M Gonzalez
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Tania Jaramillo
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | - Judith Cediel
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.,Centro de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica y Comportamental (CINCCO), Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
| | | | - Geral Mateus-Ferro
- Departamento de Lenguas, Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos
- Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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Dávila G, Moyano MP, Edelkraut L, Moreno-Campos L, Berthier ML, Torres-Prioris MJ, López-Barroso D. Pharmacotherapy of Traumatic Childhood Aphasia: Beneficial Effects of Donepezil Alone and Combined With Intensive Naming Therapy. Front Pharmacol 2020; 11:1144. [PMID: 32848757 PMCID: PMC7411310 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.01144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
At present, language therapy is the only available treatment for childhood aphasia (CA). Studying new interventions to augment and hasten the benefits provided by language therapy in children is strongly needed. CA frequently emerges as a consequence of traumatic brain injury and, as in the case of adults, it may be associated with dysfunctional activity of neurotransmitter systems. The use of cognitive-enhancing drugs, alone or combined with aphasia therapy, promotes improvement of language deficits in aphasic adults. In this study we report the case of a 9-year-old right-handed girl, subject P, who had chronic anomic aphasia associated with traumatic lesions in the left temporal-parietal cortex. We performed a single-subject, open-label study encompassing administration of the cholinergic agent donepezil (DP) alone during 12 weeks, followed by a combination of DP and intensive naming therapy (INT) for 2 weeks and thereafter by a continued treatment of DP alone during 12 weeks, a 4-week washout period, and another 2 weeks of INT. Four comprehensive language and neuropsychological evaluations were performed at different timepoints along the study, and multiple naming evaluations were performed after each INT in order to assess performance in treated and untreated words. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed at baseline. MRI revealed two focal lesions in the left hemisphere, one large involving the posterior inferior and middle temporal gyri and another comprising the angular gyrus. Overall, baseline evaluation disclosed marked impairment in naming with mild-to-moderate compromise of spontaneous speech, repetition, and auditory comprehension. Executive and attention functions were also affected, but memory, visuoconstructive, and visuoperceptive functions were preserved. Treatment with DP alone significantly improved spontaneous speech, auditory comprehension, repetition, and picture naming, in addition to processing speed, selective, and sustained attention. Combined DP-INT further improved naming. After washout of both interventions, most of these beneficial changes remained. Importantly, DP produced no side effects and subject P attained the necessary level of language competence to return to regular schooling. In conclusion, the use of DP alone and in combination with INT improved language function and related cognitive posttraumatic deficits in a child with acquired aphasia. Further studies in larger samples are warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guadalupe Dávila
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga - IBIMA, Málaga, Spain.,Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Language Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - María Pilar Moyano
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Lisa Edelkraut
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga - IBIMA, Málaga, Spain.,Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Language Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Lorena Moreno-Campos
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Marcelo L Berthier
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga - IBIMA, Málaga, Spain.,Language Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - María José Torres-Prioris
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga - IBIMA, Málaga, Spain.,Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Language Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Diana López-Barroso
- Cognitive Neurology and Aphasia Unit, Centro de Investigaciones Médico-Sanitarias, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga - IBIMA, Málaga, Spain.,Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.,Language Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
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Ohman A, Sheppard C, Monetta L, Taler V. Assessment of semantic memory in mild cognitive impairment: The psychometric properties of a novel semantic battery. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY-ADULT 2020; 29:492-498. [PMID: 32546014 DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2020.1774885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Semantic memory is stable in healthy older adults but shows decline in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Current measures of semantic function do not assess multiple aspects of semantic function and/or are time-consuming to administer. Here we report the psychometric properties of a battery to detect semantic impairment that we recently developed and published. Study 1 determined the face validity of the battery; interviews were conducted with five professionals with expertise in MCI and language. Face validity interviews suggested the battery appropriately assesses semantic impairments. Study 2 assessed convergent validity and reliability (inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency). Participants included 102 healthy older adults and 60 people with MCI who completed a four-task semantic battery. Results demonstrate that performance on the semantic battery correlates with traditional measures of semantic function, inter-rater reliability and internal consistency was high, and there was no significant change in mean scores between participants' first and second testing sessions. The present findings suggest that the semantic battery is a reliable and valid assessment of semantic function. It is currently recommended for research use only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avery Ohman
- Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.,Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
| | | | - Laura Monetta
- Département de Réadaptation, Université Laval, Québec City, Canada.,Centre de Recherche CERVO, Québec City, Canada
| | - Vanessa Taler
- Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.,School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
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Moreno-Martínez FJ, Quaranta D, Gainotti G. What a pooled data study tells us about the relationships between gender and knowledge of semantic categories. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2019; 41:634-643. [PMID: 30995891 DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2019.1602111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Both the neuropsychological study of patients with category-specific semantic disorders (CSSD) and the experimental research on categorical processing in healthy subjects (HSs) have shown that men are mainly impaired with fruits and vegetables and women with animals and artifacts. Since this difference is more striking in patients with CSSD than in HSs, we hypothesized that the lack of power of some investigations conducted with HSs and the different methods used in studies conducted with HSs and patients with CSSD could explain some of these inconsistencies and that a study conducted with a very large number of HSs using visual naming tasks should strongly confirm the role of gender in categorical tasks. Methods: Picture naming data gathered during the last ten years with our category-specificity paradigm from a large number (702) of HSs were reanalyzed. Results: As predicted, men named significantly more animals and artifacts, while women named more plant life items. Discussion: These data confirm that, if different domains of knowledge are studied in a very large sample of HSs using a picture naming task equivalent to the naming tasks used in most anatomo-clinical studies on CSSD, then the gender effects are highly significant.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Davide Quaranta
- b Institute of Neurology , IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli & UCSC Catholic University , Rome , Italy
| | - Guido Gainotti
- b Institute of Neurology , IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli & UCSC Catholic University , Rome , Italy.,c Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology , IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia , Rome , Italy
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Moreno-Martínez FJ, Ruiz M, Montoro PR. Why Almost Always Animals? Ranking Fluency Tasks for the Detection of Dementia Based on Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and Quality ROC Analyses. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2018; 43:59-70. [PMID: 28013307 DOI: 10.1159/000454916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS Category fluency tasks have been widely used to assess cognitive functioning in both clinical and experimental environments as an index of cognitive and psycholinguistic dysfunctions in dementia. Typically, a reduced group of semantic categories has been selected for neuropsychological assessment (e.g., animals, fruits or vegetables), although empirical support for the prevalence of one category among others is absent in the literature. METHODS We provide an empirical evaluation of the ability of 14 category fluency tasks to discriminate between subjects with dementia of the Alzheimer type and healthy elderly participants. As a novelty, we used both receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and quality ROC calibrated analyses to characterize the interplay of sensitivity and specificity of every category fluency task performance as a screening tool. The use of calibrated measures provided us with a useful tool for comparing the diagnostic ability of the different categories, as well as making rankings of categories based on the quality indices of efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS The habitually used category of animals is far from being the most efficient one in terms of its diagnostic power to evaluate dementia. CONCLUSION Our study might guide the selection of suitable category fluency tasks according to the diagnostic purposes in dementia.
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Bertola L, Malloy-Diniz LF. Assessing knowledge: psychometric properties of the BAMS semantic memory battery. ARCH CLIN PSYCHIAT 2018. [DOI: 10.1590/0101-60830000000152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
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On Colour, Category Effects, and Alzheimer's Disease: A Critical Review of Studies and Further Longitudinal Evidence. Behav Neurol 2015; 2015:960725. [PMID: 26074675 PMCID: PMC4449910 DOI: 10.1155/2015/960725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2015] [Revised: 04/17/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of colour in object recognition is controversial; in this study, a critical review of previous studies, as well as a longitudinal study, was conducted. We examined whether colour benefits the ability of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and normal controls (NC) when naming items differing in colour diagnosticity: living things (LT) versus nonliving things (NLT). Eleven AD patients were evaluated twice with a temporal interval of 3 years; 26 NC were tested once. The participants performed a naming task (colour and greyscale photographs); the impact of nuisance variables (NVs) and potential ceiling effects were also controlled. Our results showed that (i) colour slightly favoured processing of items with higher colour diagnosticity (i.e., LT) in both groups; (ii) AD patients used colour information similarly to NC, retaining this ability over time; (iii) NVs played a significant role as naming predictors in all the participants, relegating domain to a minor plane; and (iv) category effects (better processing of NLT) were present in both groups. Finally, although patients underwent semantic longitudinal impairment, this was independent of colour deterioration. This finding provides better support to the view that colour is effective at the visual rather than at the semantic level of object processing.
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