scholarly journals Sentence comprehension in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer’s type

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e8181
Author(s):  
Xinmiao Liu ◽  
Wenbin Wang ◽  
Haiyan Wang ◽  
Yu Sun
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Comprehension Difficulty ◽  
Processing Resource ◽  
Dementia Severity ◽  
Resource Deficit ◽  
Degrees Of Severity

Sentence comprehension is diminished in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT). However, the underlying reason for such deficits is still not entirely clear. The Syntactic Deficit Hypothesis attributes sentence comprehension deficits in DAT patients to the impairment in syntactic ability, whereas the Processing Resource Deficit Hypothesis proposes that sentence comprehension deficits are the result of working memory deficiency. This study investigated the deficits in sentence comprehension in Chinese-speaking DAT patients with different degrees of severity using sentence-picture matching tasks. The study revealed a significant effect of syntactic complexity in patients and healthy controls, but the effect was stronger in patients than in healthy controls. When working memory demand was minimized, the effect of syntactic complexity was only significant in patients with moderate DAT, but not in healthy controls or those with mild DAT. The findings suggest that in patients with mild DAT, working memory decline was the major source of sentence comprehension difficulty and in patients with moderate DAT, working memory decline and syntactic impairment jointly contributed to the impairments in sentence comprehension. The source of sentence comprehension deficits varied with degree of dementia severity.

The Relationship Between Measures of Working Memory and Sentence Comprehension in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Rochon ◽  
Gloria S. Waters ◽  
David Caplan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Memory Tests ◽  
Memory Impairments ◽  
Older Volunteers ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship

Patients with dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT) and age- and education-matched older volunteers were tested on a battery of working memory tests, as well as on two tests of sentence comprehension. Patients had reduced spans and impaired central executive processes in working memory but showed normal effects of phonological and articulatory variables on span. On the sentence comprehension tasks, DAT patients showed effects of the number of propositions in a sentence but not of syntactic complexity. Impairment in the central executive processes of working memory in DAT patients was correlated with the effect of the number of propositions in a sentence on the sentence comprehension tasks. The results suggest that patients with DAT have working memory impairments that are related to their ability to map the meanings of sentences onto depictions of events in the world.

Working Memory Capacity and Language Processes in Children With Specific Language Impairment

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1138-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klara Marton ◽  
Richard G. Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Specific Language

This study examined the interaction between working memory and language comprehension in children with specific language impairment (SLI), focusing on the function of the central executive component and its interaction with the phonological loop (A. D. Baddeley, 1986) in complex working memory tasks. Thirteen children with SLI and 13 age-matched (age range=7;0 [years;months] to 10;0) children with typical language development participated. The tasks combined traditional nonword repetition tests and sentence comprehension by using sentences that differed in length and syntactic complexity. The children with SLI exhibited larger processing and attentional capacity limitations than their age-matched peers. Increased word length and syntactic complexity resulted in a large performance decrease in nonword repetition in both groups. There were some variations in the error pattern, which may indicate qualitative differences between the 2 groups. The performance of the children with SLI in nonword repetition, across the different tasks, indicated a limitation in simultaneous processing rather than difficulty in encoding and analyzing the phonological structure of the nonwords. Furthermore, syntactic complexity had a greater effect on performance accuracy than did sentence length.

scholarly journals Effects of neuroactive metabolites of the tryptophan pathway on working memory and cortical thickness in schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junchao Huang ◽  
Jinghui Tong ◽  
Ping Zhang ◽  
Yanfang Zhou ◽  
Yimin Cui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Tryptophan Pathway ◽  
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass ◽  
Therapeutic Development ◽  
Tryptophan Metabolites ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractA number of tryptophan metabolites known to be neuroactive have been examined for their potential associations with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Among these metabolites, kynurenic acid (KYNA), 5-hydroxyindole (5-HI), and quinolinic acid (QUIN) are documented in their diverse effects on α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) and/or N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), two of the receptor types thought to contribute to cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. In this study, serum levels of KYNA, 5-HI, and QUIN were measured in 195 patients with schizophrenia and in 70 healthy controls using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; cognitive performance in MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and cortical thickness measured by magnetic resonance imaging were obtained. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower serum KYNA (p < 0.001) and QUIN (p = 0.02) levels, and increased 5-HI/KYNA (p < 0.001) and QUIN/KYNA ratios (p < 0.001) compared with healthy controls. Multiple linear regression showed that working memory was positively correlated with serum 5-HI levels (t = 2.10, p = 0.04), but inversely correlated with KYNA concentrations (t = −2.01, p = 0.05) in patients. Patients with high 5-HI and low KYNA had better working memory than other subgroups (p = 0.01). Higher 5-HI levels were associated with thicker left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (t = 3.71, p = 2.94 × 10−4) in patients. The different effects of 5-HI and KYNA on working memory may appear consistent with their opposite receptor level mechanisms. Our findings appear to provide a new insight into the dynamic roles of tryptophan pathway metabolites on cognition, which may benefit novel therapeutic development that targets cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

Familiarity of Speaker Accent on Irish Children’s Performance on a Sentence Comprehension Task

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Claire O’Connor ◽  
Fiona E. Gibbon
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Older Children ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Computer Based

Objective: This study sought to determine whether children’s performance on a sentence comprehension task is affected when sentences are spoken in an unfamiliar native accent. Method: Fifty typically developing school-aged children living in Southern Ireland (Cork) participated; 25 in a younger group (mean 7;08 years) and 25 in an older group (mean 9;09 years). The children completed a computer-based comprehension task during which 20 sentences were spoken in a Cork accent (familiar) and 20 in a Tyrone accent (unfamiliar). The sentences were matched for syllable length and syntactic complexity. Main results: The younger children made significantly more errors when sentences were spoken in an unfamiliar accent. The older children made a similar number of incorrect responses to both familiar and unfamiliar accents. Conclusion: Younger children’s performance on comprehension tasks may be reduced when sentences are spoken in an unfamiliar accent. Possible explanations and the clinical implications are discussed.

Neural correlates of visuospatial working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and healthy controls

2015 ◽  
Vol 233 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanneke van Ewijk ◽  
Wouter D. Weeda ◽  
Dirk J. Heslenfeld ◽  
Marjolein Luman ◽  
Catharina A. Hartman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder

scholarly journals Who Did What and When? Using Word- and Clause-Level ERPs to Monitor Working Memory Usage in Reading

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. King ◽  
Marta Kutas
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Type ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Memory Usage ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Poor Comprehenders ◽  
Anterior Negativity ◽  
Object Relative

ERPs were recorded from 24 undergraduates as they read sentences known to differ in syntactic complexity and working memory requirements, namely Object and Subject Relative sentences. Both the single-word and multiword analyses revealed significant differences due to sentence type, while multiword ERPs also showed that sentence type effects differed for Good and Poor comprehenders. At the single-word level, ERPs to both verbs in Object Relative sentences showed a left anterior negativity between 300 and 500 msec postword-onset relative to those to Subject Relative verbs. At the multiword level, a slow frontal positivity characterized Subject Relative sentences, but was absent for Object Relatives. This slow positivity appears to index ease of processing or integration. and was more robust in Good than in Poor comprehenders.

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