Journal article
How well does the discrepancy between semantic and letter verbal fluency performance distinguish Alzheimer's dementia from typical aging?
Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition, Vol.ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp.1-30
05/25/2022
DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2022.2079602
PMID: 35612362
Abstract
In Alzheimer's dementia (AD), greater declines in semantic fluency (SF) relative to letter fluency (LF) have been assumed to reflect semantic disintegration. However, the same pattern is observed in typical aging and neurodegenerative disorders besides AD. We examined this assumption by comparing different aspects of SF and LF performance in older adults with and without dementia, and identifying which verbal fluency measures most clearly distinguish AD from typical aging. Verbal fluency data were compared from 109 individuals with AD and 66 typically aging adults. Correct items, clusters, and errors were analyzed using both raw counts and proportions. Regression analyses examined Task-by-Group interactions and the impact of demographic variables on verbal fluency measures. ROC analyses examined the sensitivity and specificity of the different outcome measures. In regressions, interactions were found for raw but not proportional data, indicating that different group patterns were driven largely by the number of correct items produced. Similarly, in ROC analyses, raw SF totals showed stronger discriminability between groups than either raw discrepancy scores (SF-LF) or discrepancy ratios (SF/LF). Age and cognitive status (MMSE) were the strongest individual predictors of performance. Findings suggest that AD entails quantitative declines in verbal fluency, but qualitatively similar patterns of performance relative to typically aging adults. Thus, SF declines in AD seem to be at least partially attributable to an exaggeration of the underlying mechanisms common to typical aging, and do not necessarily implicate semantic disintegration.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- How well does the discrepancy between semantic and letter verbal fluency performance distinguish Alzheimer's dementia from typical aging?
- Creators
- Jean K Gordon - University of IowaHaoxuan Chen - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition, Vol.ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp.1-30
- DOI
- 10.1080/13825585.2022.2079602
- PMID
- 35612362
- ISSN
- 1382-5585
- eISSN
- 1744-4128
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000925, name: John Templeton Foundation
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 05/25/2022
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Record Identifier
- 9984267852002771
Metrics
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