Features of Semantic Language Impairment in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Hyunjoo Choi; Jee Hyun Kim; Chang Min Lee; Jae Il Kim

doi:10.12779/dnd.2013.12.2.33

Journal List > Dement Neurocogn Disord > v.12(2) > 1120815

Go to TopGo to Top Go to BottomGo to Bottom

TOOLS

Choi, Kim, Lee, and Kim: Features of Semantic Language Impairment in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Original Article

Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders 2013; 12(2): 33-40.

Published online: 30 June 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12779/dnd.2013.12.2.33

Features of Semantic Language Impairment in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Hyunjoo Choi, Ph.D.^*, Jee Hyun Kim, M.D.^†, Chang Min Lee, M.D.^†, Jae Il Kim, M.D.^†

^*Department of Communication Disorders, Korea Nazarene University, Cheonan, Korea.

^†Department of Neurology, Dankook University Hospital, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.

Address for correspondence: Hyunjoo Choi, Ph.D. Department of Communication Disorders, Korea Nazarene University, 48 Wolbong-ro, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan 330-718, Korea. Tel: +82-41-570-1677, Fax: +82-41-570-7846, hjchoi@kornu.ac.kr

Received 30 January 2013 Revised 15 June 2013 Accepted 15 June 2013

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background

To elucidate the earliest changes of language function in patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT), performance on the various semantic language tasks were compared between patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) (n=20), mild DAT (n=20) and normal cognition elderly individuals (NC, n=20).

Methods

Language tasks included levels of word, sentence and discourse. In the word level, confrontation naming test (Korean version-Boston Naming Test, K-BNT) and the verbal fluency (semantic and phonemic fluency) tasks were used. In the sentence level, the verbal definition tasks including 24 nouns four categories were used. In the discourse level, the Boston Cookie-Theft picture description task was used. The picture description task was analyzed for both productive aspect (total number of sentences, total number of phrases and phrases per sentence) and semantic aspect (ratio of CIU: Correct Information Unit).

Results

The results from this study are as follow: 1) In the confrontation naming test, mild DAT group showing worse performances than the NC and aMCI group. However, no differences were observed between the NC and aMCI group. 2) The performances of verbal fluency task showed significantly differences between the all groups. 3) In the verbal definition task, performances of NC group showing better performances than aMCI and mild DAT group. However, no differences were observed between the aMCI and mild DAT group. 4) In the picture description task, performances of the aMCI and mild DAT group were non-informative and inefficient in semantic aspect compared to the NC group. However, no differences were observed between the three groups on productive aspect.

Conclusions

These results demonstrated that the deficit of semantic language is readily identified in the aMCI stage, and it can be revealed by tasks of sentence and discourse level.

Keywords: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment, Dementia of Alzheimer's type, Confrontation naming, Verbal fluency, Verbal definition, Discourse

Figures and Tables

Table 1

The characteristics of the subjects

^*p<0.001.

Table 2

Results of the performances of K-BNT and verbal fluency task

^*p<0.001.

Table 3

Result of the performances of verbal definition task

^*p<0.001.

Table 4

Result of the performances of picture description task

^*p<0.001.

Notes

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2001-332-B00454).

References

1. Kim J, Jung H, Kwon Y, Shim S. The characteristics of cognitive function in mild cognitive impairment. J Soonchunhyang Med Coll. 2006; 12:287–292.

2. Lee E, An SK, Oh BH, Kim KH, Lee YH, Ohrr HC, Kim SM. A neurocognitive assessment: mild dementia of the Alzheimer type, questionable dementia, and non-demented elderly women. J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc. 2000; 39:167–182.

3. Petersen RC. Mild cognitive impairment as a diagnostic entity. J Intern Med. 2004; 256:183–194.

4. Ribeiro F, de Mendonça A, Guerreiro M. Mild cognitive impairment: Deficits in cognitive domains other than memory. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2006; 21:284–290.

5. Portet F, Ousset PJ, Visser PJ, Frisoni GB, Nobili F, Scheltens P, Vellas B, Touchon J. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in medical practice: a critical review of the concept and new diagnostic procedure. Report of the MCI Working Group of the European Consortium on Alzheimer's Disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006; 77:714–718.

6. Choi H. A comparison of the performances of confrontation naming test and verbal fluency task in patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease and mild Alzheimer's disease. J Korean Soc Speech Sci. 2008; 15:111–118.

7. Taler V, Phillips NA. Language performance in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: a comparative review. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2008; 30:501–556.

8. Choi H. Performances in a picture description task in Japanese patients with Alzheimer' disease and with mild cognitive impairment. Korean J Commun Disord. 2009; 14:326–337.

9. Duong A, Whitehead V, Hanratty K, Chertkow H. The nature of lexico-semantic processing deficits in mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia. 2006; 44:1928–1935.

10. Daum I, Riesch G, Sartori G, Birbaumer N. Semantic memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 1996; 18:648–665.

11. Fromm D, Holland AL. Functional communication in Alzheimer's disease. J Speech Hear Disord. 1989; 54:535–540.

12. Cooper DB, Lacritz LH, Weiner MF, Rogenberg RN, Cullum C. Category fluency in mild cognitive impairment: reduced effect of practice in test-retest conditions. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2004; 18:120–122.

13. Forbes-McKay KE, Venneri A. Detecting subtle spontaneous language decline in early Alzheimer's disease with picture description task. Neurol Sci. 2005; 26:243–254.

14. Albert MS, Moss MB, Tanzi R, Jones K. Preclinical prediction of AD using neuropsychological tests. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2001; 7:631–639.

15. Chen P, Ratcliff G, Belle SH, Cauley JA, DeKosky ST, Ganguli M. Patterns of cognitive decline in pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's disease: a prospective community study. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001; 58:853–858.

16. Perry RJ, Watson P, Hodges JR. The nature and staging of attention dys function in early (minimal and mild) Alzheimer's disease: relationship to episodic and semantic memory impairment. Neuropsychologia. 2000; 38:252–271.

17. Adlam A, Bozeat S, Arnold R, Watson P, Hodges JR. Semantic knowledge in mild cognitive impairment. Cortex. 2006; 42:675–684.

18. Salmon DP, Heindel WC, Lange KL. Differential decline in word generation from phonemic and semantic categories during the course of Alzheimer's disease: implications for the integrity of semantic memory. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 1999; 5:692–703.

19. Bayles KA. Effect of working memory deficits on the communicative functioning of Alzheimer's dementia patient. J Commun Disord. 2003; 36:209–219.

20. Abeysinghe SC, Bayles KA, Trosset MW. Semantic memory deterioration in Alzheimer's subject: evidence from word association, definition, and associate ranking tasks. J Speech Hear Res. 1990; 33:574–582.

21. Lim SH. Changes in word definition ability depending on severity in patients with Alzheimer's disease. . Ewha Womans University;Unpublished master's thesis. 2010.

22. Bschor T, Kuhl KP, Reischies FM. Spontaneous speech of patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type and mild cognitive impairment. Int Psychogeriatr. 2001; 13:289–298.

23. Garrard P, Maloney LM, Hodges JR, Patterson K. The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by renowned author. Brain. 2005; 128:250–260.

24. Venneri A, Forbes-McKay KE, Shanks MF. Impoverishment of spontaneous language and the prediction of Alzheimer's disease. Brain. 2005; 128:E27.

25. Kang Y, Na D, Han S. A validity study on the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (KMMSE) in dementia patients. J Korean Neurol Assoc. 1997; 15:300–308.

26. Kang Y. A normative study of the Korean-Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) in the elderly. Korean J Psychol Gen. 2006; 25:1–12.

27. Morris JC. The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): current version and scoring rules. Neurology. 1993; 43:2412–2414.

28. Dubois B, Albert ML. Amnestic MCI or prodromal Alzheimer's disease? Lancet Neurol. 2004; 3:246–248.

29. Kang Y, Na D. Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery: SNSB. Incheon: Human Brain Research & Consulting;2003.

30. Kim H, Na D. Korean version-Boston Naming Test (K-BNT). Seoul: Hakji Press;1997.

31. Choi H. Category-specific impairment of patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type in category fluency tasks. Korean J Commun Disord. 2010; 15:572–580.

32. Kim S, Choi H. Characteristics of verbal definition in normal elderly Koreans. Korean J Commun Disord. 2012; 17:107–117.

33. Hillis AE, Caramazza A. Category-specific naming and comprehension impairment: a double dissociation. Brain. 1991; 114:2081–2094.

34. Kang B, Kim H. Frequency of Korean. Seoul: Hankookmunhwasa;2009.

35. Johnson CJ, Anglin JM. Qualitative development in the content and form of children's definitions. J Speech Hear Res. 1995; 38:612–629.

36. Norlin PF. The development of relational arcs in the lexical semantic memory structures of young children. J Child Lang. 1981; 8:385–402.

37. Doosan Dong-A Editorial. Dong-A Korean language dictionary. Seoul: Doosan Dong-A;2010.

38. Goodglass H, Kaplan E. The assessment aphasia and related disorders. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Febiger;1983.

39. Choi H. Detecting language deficits in patients with mild cognitive impairment through verbal fluency and picture description tasks. Korean J Commun Disord. 2011; 16:171–184.

40. Groves-Wright K, Neils-Strunjas J, Burenett R, O'Neill MJ. A comparison of verbal and written language in Alzheimer's disease. J Commun Disord. 2004; 37:109–130.

41. Hier DB, Hagenlocker K, Shindler AG. Language disintegration in dementia: effects of etiology and severity. Brain Lang. 1985; 25:117–133.

42. Kwon M, Kim H, Choi S, Na DL, Lee K. A study for analyzing speech of Korean adults with CIU scoring system. Korean J Commun Disord. 1998; 3:35–49.

43. Im E, Kown M, Sim H. The in formativeness and efficiency of the connected speech samples in Korean fluent aphasics. Korean J Commun Disord. 2001; 6:374–391.

44. Jung Y. A study for the informativeness and efficiency of spontaneous speech depending on task type in patients with Alzheimer's diseas. Ewha Womans University;2008. Unpublished masters thesis.

45. Choi Y. Comparison between conversations and picture description utterances of healthy Korean elderly. Yonsei University;2007. Unpublished master's thesis.

46. Nicholas LE, Brookshire RH. A system for quantifying the informativeness and efficiency of the connected speech of adults with aphasia. J Speech Hear Res. 1993; 36:338–350.

47. Lee GJ. Naming deficits in patients with dementia of Alzheimer type. Ewha Womans University;2002. Unpublished master's thesis.

48. Oh HG, Choi H, Kim S. Differences of language impairment related to semantic memory in patients with Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. J Speech Hear Disord. 2010; 19:73–84.

49. Bowles NL, Obler K, Albert ML. Naming errors in healthy aging and dementia of Alzheimer type. Cortex. 1987; 23:519–534.

50. Chereney H, Murdoch B, Ingram J. An investigation of confrontation naming performance in Alzheimer's dementia as a function of disease severity. Aphasiology. 1996; 5:423–441.

51. Hodges JR, Salmon DP, Butters N. Semantic memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease: failure of access or degraded knowledge. Neuropsychologia. 1992; 30:301–314.

52. Martin A, Fedio P. Word production and comprehension in Alzheimer's disease: the breakdown of semantic knowledge. Brain Lang. 1983; 19:124–141.

53. Chertkow H, Bub D. Semantic memory loss in dementia of Alzheimer's type. Brain. 1990; 113:397–417.

54. Diesfeldt HFA. Verbal fluency in senile dementia: an analysis of search and knowledge. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 1985; 4:231–239.

55. Carlomagno S, Santoro A, Menditti A, Pandolfi M, Marini A. Referential communication in Alzheimer's type dementia. Cortex. 2005; 41:520–534.

56. Giles E, Patterson K, Hodges JR. Performance on the Boston Cookie Theft picture description task in patients with early dementia of the Alzheimer's type: Missing information. Aphasiology. 1996; 10:395–408.

57. Funnell E, Hodges JR. Progressive loss of access to spoken word forms in a case of Alzheimer's disease. Proc Biol Sci. 1991; 243:173–179.

58. Clifford R, Jack JR. Magnetic resonance imaging. In : Petersen RC, editor. Mild cognitive impairment. New York, NY: Oxford University Press;2003.

59. Choi KG. Neuropathology of MCI: View from relationship with aging and Alzheimer's disease. Dement Neurocognitive Disord. 2003; 2:101–107.

60. Fonseca LC, Tedrus GM, Prandi LR, Almeida AM, Furlanetto DS. Alzheimer's disease: relationship between cognitive aspects and power and coherence EEG measures. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2011; 69:875–881.

61. Tabert MH, Manly JJ, Liu X, Pelton GH, Rosenblum S, Jacobs M, et al. Neuropsychological prediction of conversion to Alzheimer disease in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006; 63:916–924.

TOOLS

Similar articles