Abstract
Recognition memory was tested in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a language based dementia with relative preservation of memory for at least the first 2 years. The goal of the study was two-fold: (1) to compare true and false recognition rates for words versus pictures in patients with PPA and cognitively intact controls and (2) to determine if the semantic relatedness of distracters-to-targets influences recognition memory performance. Overall, performance of PPA patients was worse for words than pictures. PPA patients and healthy elderly controls showed similar recognition rates for studied items. However, the patients had significantly more false alarms than controls, particularly to semantically related items. This suggests that the aphasia in PPA patients contributes to their difficulty in selecting among items within a semantic class.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 368-377 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Neuropsychologia |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2007 |
Funding
Sources of support: Alzheimer's Disease Center Grant AG13854 NIA, The Cellular and Behavioral Aspects of Aging and Dementia Training Grant AG20506 Northwestern University, Chicago, 2004 AAN Medical Student Summer Research Scholarship. Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award #F31NS055557, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Keywords
- Dementia
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Language
- Recognition memory
- Semantic processing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience