Naming in patients with Alzheimer's disease: influence of age of acquisition and categorical effects.

Full Abstract

The role of age of acquisition (AoA) and other variables classically supposed to influence lexical semantic tasks is explored in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. A naming test that included living and nonliving items was given to patients and controls. Measures of AoA of the test items were obtained from normal subjects. Living items were acquired earlier than nonliving items. Semipartial correlation analyses were performed to determine the independent contribution of each variable to naming. The "category" (living vs. nonliving items) was included as an independent factor. It emerged that AoA, name agreement and category (with living category predicting lower scores) were the main predictors of naming in AD patients. Only factor agreement reached significance in control groups. The hypothesis is discussed that the category dissociation may be produced by the different nature of the semantic correlation network that makes the categories differentially demanding of processing resources.

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Author information

Author/s: Silveri, Maria Caterina (MC); Cappa, Antonella (A); Mariotti, Paolo (P); Puopolo, Maria (M);

Affiliation: Neuropsychology Service, Ce.M.I., Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. silveri(-atsign-)rm.unicatt.it

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology (J Clin Exp Neuropsychol), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Sep; vol 24 (issue 6) : pp 755-64

Dates: Created 2002/11/08; Completed 2002/12/31; Revised 2008/04/14;

PMID: 12424650, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Case-Control Studies

Case-Control Studies
Humans
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Task Performance and Analysis
Verbal Behavior

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