The semantic dimensions of the visual naming test in Alzheimer's disease

ABSTRACTBackground: In Asia, where illiteracy rates are high, determining the degree to which neuropsychological measures can be used to identify cognitive impairment in illiterate elders is important. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using formal neuropsychological assessments to distinguish healthy illiterate elders from dementia patients.Methods: We compared the cognitive performance of healthy elders who were illiterate (illiterate NC, n = 25) with those who were literate (literate NC, n = 25), literate patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (literate AD, n = 25), and illiterate patients with mild AD (illiterate AD, n = 25). Neuropsychological measures included the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the verbal fluency test, the Boston naming test, the Rosen drawing test, and the verbal learning test.Results: In the between-group analyses, the scores on all tests, except verbal fluency and recognition memory, were lower for illiterate NC compared to the literate NC. The scores on the MMSE, Boston naming test, Rosen drawing test, and immediate free recall could not distinguish the illiterate NC from literate AD. However, the scores on all tests, except the Rosen drawing test, could distinguish illiterate NC from illiterate AD. ROC analyses showed the same pattern of results. In addition, age-, sex-, and education-matched cut-off scores of all tests, except immediate recall and delayed recall trials of the verbal learning test, showed good specificities in participants who were illiterate compared to those in participants who were literate.Conclusion: These findings suggest that the impact of literacy on neuropsychological test performance is an important aspect of cognitive evaluations for elders who are illiterate.

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Contribution of Perceptual and Lexical-Semantic Errors to the Naming Impairments in Alzheimer's Disease

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1991.73.1.175 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. 175-183 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Pierre Cormier ◽

Judith A. Margison ◽

John D. Fisk

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Test Performance ◽

Semantic Processing ◽

Semantic Category ◽

Line Drawings ◽

Test Items ◽

Semantic Errors ◽

Naming Deficits ◽

Naming Test

The contribution of perceptual and semantic processing deficits to naming-test performance by Alzheimer's Disease subjects was examined. Groups of 34 Alzheimer subjects and 25 elderly controls completed tests of naming standard line drawings and naming perceptually degraded figures, and a test of verbal fluency for a specific semantic category. Alzheimer subjects were impaired on all measures and, when their naming-test errors were analyzed, they showed higher proportions of perceptual errors and failures to respond. Further, considerable variability in the proportions of different types of error was found both among subjects and among test items. These findings indicate that poor naming-test performance cannot necessarily be attributed to a specific deficit in semantic processing. Also, the discrepancies between previous reports of the naming deficits in Alzheimer's Disease may reflect differences in task difficulty and item selection that were apparent in this study.

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The utility of naming tests in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0790966700005139 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 43-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Robert F Coen ◽

Nicholas Kidd ◽

Aisling Denihan ◽

Conal Cunningham ◽

Irene Bruce ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Memory Deficits ◽

Word Recall ◽

Semantic Fluency ◽

Hippocampal Region ◽

Boston Naming Test ◽

Naming Test ◽

Temporal Neocortex

AbstractObjectives: To evaluate the sensitivity of the CAMCOG naming subscale to anomia in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients identified as anomic on the Boston Naming Test (BNT); and to compare the sensitivities of BNT, category (semantic) fluency (CF), and episodic memory (Delayed Word Recall, DWR) in detecting AD.Method: Data from 140 probable AD patients (NINCDS/ADRDA) were analysed. Anomic AD patients were identified (BNT) and the sensitivity to anomia of the CAMCOG naming subscale was calculated. Sensitivity (to AD) and specificity of the BNT, CF and DWR were compared in a subgroup of 60 patients age-matched to controls.Results: On BNT 81% of ADs were classified as anomic (87% specificity). Of these anomic ADs, 23 scored 6/6 on CAMCOG naming (sensitivity = 80%), and sensitivity fell to 30% using a 5/6 cut-off. Correlation between BNT and CAMCOG naming yielded Kendall's tau = 0.48 (p<0.0001). Compared to age-matched controls BNT correctly classified 70% of ADs and 87% of controls (overall accuracy = 77%). On CF 68% of ADs and 83% of controls were correctly classified (overall accuracy = 72%). BNT and CF were moderately correlated (r = 0.49, p<0.0001). DWR correctly classified 93% ADs and 98% controls (overall accuracy = 95%).Conclusions: Given its brevity, we recommend the inclusion of a split-half form of the BNT in screening test batteries for the detection of AD. The observed pattern of cognitive impairment is consistent with current models in which semantic memory deficits occur in AD only when the neuropathology extends beyond the entorhinal/hippocampal region to the temporal neocortex.

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The semantic dimensions of the visual naming test in Alzheimer's disease

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/13.1.43 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 43-43

Author(s):

J. McMillan ◽

J. Andrikopoulos

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Naming Test

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C-13 Sex Differences in Cognitive and Neurobiological Markers of Alzheimer's Disease

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/acz034.175 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (6) ◽

pp. 1041-1042

Author(s):

J O'Hara ◽

D Norton ◽

R Koscik ◽

N Lambrou ◽

M Wyman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Group Performance ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Hippocampal Volume ◽

Individual Performance ◽

Preclinical Ad ◽

Z Scores ◽

Naming Test

Abstract Objective Previous work has demonstrated that intra-individual cognitive variability (IICV) has predictive power similar to traditional Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers, such as CSF or hippocampal volume (HV) loss. Genetic factors, such as sex, have been identified as predictors of cognitive decline. Analysis of sex differences in IICV and other biomarkers may elucidate additional dimensions of this metric. Method Baseline neurocognitive test and neuroimaging data from 335 participants with ≥2 visits enrolled in the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Clinical Core were included. Z-scores were calculated comparing individual performance to group performance by test (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (Learning and Delayed Recall), Trail Making Test (A and B), and either Boston Naming Test (BNT) or Multilingual Naming Test (MINT)). MINT scores were converted to BNT scores using the NACC Crosswalk Study. The standard deviation of z-scores across tests was calculated to determine IICV. Characteristics by sex were compared using Mann-Whitney and Fisher’s Exact tests. Spearman’s Rho was calculated to compare IICV and HV (relative to intercranial volume). Results At baseline (Table 1): (1) Males had more education than females; (2) females had both higher relative HV and IICV; and (3) in females, relative HV demonstrated a weak positive correlation with baseline IICV (Figure 1). Conclusions IICV has previously demonstrated potential as a cost-effective non-invasive marker of preclinical AD. In females, larger relative HV and its correlation with IICV may be due to differences in metabolic brain age or concurrent progression of HV and IICV through the AD process. Analyses of other biopsychosocial factors are needed.

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