Katrina Forbes-McKay1, Mike Shanks2, Annalena Venneri2. 1. 1School of Applied Social Studies,The Robert Gordon University,Aberdeen,UK. 2. 2Department of Neuroscience,University of Sheffield,UK.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to document the nature and progression of the spontaneous writing impairment observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a 12-month period using both a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal design. METHODS: Thirty-one minimal-moderate AD patients and 30 controls matched for age and socio-cultural background completed a simple and complex written description task at baseline. The AD patients then had follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: Cross-sectional comparisons indicated that minimal-moderate AD patients produced more semantic paraphasias, phonological paraphasias, and empty and indefinite phrases, whilst producing fewer pictorial themes, repairing fewer errors, and producing shorter and less complex sentences than controls. The two groups could not be distinguished on visual paraphasias. Longitudinal follow-up, however, suggested that visual processing deteriorates over time, where the prevalence of visual errors increased over 12 months. Discussion The findings suggest that the deterioration of writing skills observed in the spontaneous writings of AD patients shows a pattern of impairment dominated by semantic errors with a secondary impairment in phonological processing, which is later joined by a disruption of visuospatial and graphomotor processing.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to document the nature and progression of the spontaneous writing impairment observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a 12-month period using both a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal design. METHODS: Thirty-one minimal-moderate ADpatients and 30 controls matched for age and socio-cultural background completed a simple and complex written description task at baseline. The ADpatients then had follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: Cross-sectional comparisons indicated that minimal-moderate ADpatients produced more semantic paraphasias, phonological paraphasias, and empty and indefinite phrases, whilst producing fewer pictorial themes, repairing fewer errors, and producing shorter and less complex sentences than controls. The two groups could not be distinguished on visual paraphasias. Longitudinal follow-up, however, suggested that visual processing deteriorates over time, where the prevalence of visual errors increased over 12 months. Discussion The findings suggest that the deterioration of writing skills observed in the spontaneous writings of ADpatients shows a pattern of impairment dominated by semantic errors with a secondary impairment in phonological processing, which is later joined by a disruption of visuospatial and graphomotor processing.
Authors: Stephan Müller; Oliver Preische; Petra Heymann; Ulrich Elbing; Christoph Laske Journal: Front Aging Neurosci Date: 2017-04-11 Impact factor: 5.750
Authors: Stephan Müller; Laura Herde; Oliver Preische; Anja Zeller; Petra Heymann; Sibylle Robens; Ulrich Elbing; Christoph Laske Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2019-03-05 Impact factor: 4.379