Non-Alzheimer Dementias

Dementias, not attributable to Alzheimer’s disease, include a varied group of neurodegenerative disorders with myriad and diverse neuropathology and clinical features. Collectively, these disorders are often referred to as ‘non-Alzheimer’s dementias’ (non-AD dementias). Language impairments, at the single word and discourse levels, are becoming well documented in non-AD dementias and are recognized as having great impact on the use of language for social purposes. However, an emerging body of literature suggests that in addition to impairments in language form and content, social cognition deficits may manifest downstream as pragmatic language impairments. Moreover, socially inappropriate and disinhibited behaviours that are core to several subtypes of non-AD dementias may contribute significantly to pragmatic communication impairments. Given the importance of social communication and language use to quality of life for persons with non-AD dementias, their families, and carers, increasing our understanding of how discrete impairments in cognition, language, and behaviour affect pragmatic communication abilities is of paramount importance for both clinicians and researchers in fields of communication and dementia. This chapter undertakes a wide-ranging examination of the pragmatic communication abilities of persons with non-AD dementias, which is informed by research evidence and clinical experience.