Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T07:24:03.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Charting the decline in spontaneous writing in Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2014

Katrina Forbes-McKay ,
Mike Shanks  and
Annalena Venneri
Katrina Forbes-McKay*
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social Studies, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK
Mike Shanks
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University of Sheffield, UK
Annalena Venneri
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University of Sheffield, UK IRCCS, Fondazione Ospedale S. Camillo, Venice, Italy
*
Dr. Katrina Forbes-McKay, School of Applied Social Studies, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Robert Gordon University, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GQ, UK. Tel: +44-1224-263211; Fax: +44-1224-263222; E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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.

Keywords

Alzheimer's diseasedementiadisease progressionlongitudinalsemanticwriting
Type
Original Articles
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 246 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Henderson, VW, Buckwalter, JG, Sobel, E, Freed, DM, Diz, MM. The agraphia of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology 1992;42:776–783.Google Scholar
2. Lambert, J, Eustache, F, Viader, F, Dary, M, Rioux, P, Lechevalier, B. Agraphia in Alzheimer's disease: an independent lexical impairment. Brain Lang 1996;53:223–233.Google Scholar
3. Kemper, S, LaBarge, E, Ferraro, RF, Cheung, H, Cheung, H, Storandt, M. On the preservation of syntax in Alzheimer's disease. Arch Neurol 1993;51:81–86.Google Scholar
4. Neils-Strunjas, J, Shuren, J, Roeltgen, D, Brown, C. Perseverative writing errors in a patient with Alzheimer's disease. Brain Lang 1998;63:303–320.Google Scholar
5. Appell, J, Kertesz, A, Fisman, M. A study of language functioning in Alzheimer's patients. Brain Lang 1982;17:73–81.Google Scholar
6. Faber-Langendoen, K, Morris, JC, Knesevich, JW, Labarge, E, Begg, L. Aphasia in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Ann Neurol 1988;23:365–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Croisile, B, Ska, B, Brabant, M et al. Comparative study of oral and written picture description in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Brain Lang 1996;53:1–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Forbes, KE, Venneri, A, Shanks, MF. The evolution of dysgraphia in Alzheimer's disease. Brain ResBull 2004;63:19–24.Google ScholarPubMed
9. Horner, J, Heyman, A, Dawson, D, Rogers, H. The relationship of agraphia to the severity of dementia in Alzheimer's disease. Arch Neurol 1988;45:760–763.Google Scholar
10. Bertolucci, PH, Miranda, CS, de Luccia, GP, Ortiz, KZ. Written narrative in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Demen 2006;2(Suppl. 1):s256–s257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Groves-Wright, K, Neils-Strunjas, J, Burnett, R, O'Neill, MJ. A comparison of verbal and written language in Alzheimer's disease. J Commun Disord 2004;37:109–130.Google Scholar
12. Platel, H, Lambert, J, Eustache, F et al. Characteristics and evolution of writing impairment in Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychologia 1993;31(11):1147–1158.Google Scholar
13. Pestell, SJ, Shanks, MF, Warrington, J, Venneri, A. Quality of spelling breakdown in Alzheimer's disease is independent of disease progression. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2000;22:599–612.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Snowdon, DA, Greiner, LH, Markesbery, WR. Linguistic ability in early life and the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease. Findings from the nun study. Ann NY Acad Sci 2000;903:34–38.Google Scholar
15. Kemper, S, Marquis, J, Thompson, M. Longitudinal change in language production: effects of aging and dementia on grammatical complexity and propositional content. Psychol Aging 2001;16:600–614.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16. Papagno, C. Comprehension of metaphors and idioms in patients with Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study. Brain 2001;124:1450–1460.Google Scholar
17. Garrard, P, Maloney, LM, Hodges J, R, Patterson, K. The effects of very early Alzheimer's disease on the characteristics of writing by a renowned author. Brain 2005;128:250–260.Google Scholar
18. Le, X, Lancashire, I, Hirst, G, Jokel, R. Longitudinal detection of dementia through lexical and syntactic changes in writing: a case study of three British novelists. Lit Linguist Comput 2011:1–27.Google Scholar
19. McKahnn, G, Drachman, D, Folstein, M et al. Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology 1984;34:939–944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Wechsler, D. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Revised . San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation, 1981.Google Scholar
21. Folstein, MF, Folstein, SE, Mchugh, PR. Mini-mental state. J Psychiatr Res 1975;12:189–198.Google Scholar
22. Forbes-McKay, KE, Venneri, A, Shanks, MF. The age of acquisition of words produced in a semantic fluency task can reliably differentiate normal from pathological age related cognitive decline. Neuropsychologia 2005;43:1625–1632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. De Renzi, E, Vignolo, LA. The Token Test: a sensitive test to detect disturbances in aphasics. Brain 1962;85:665–678.Google Scholar
24. Spinnler, H, Tognoni, G. Standardizzazione e taratura italiana di test neuropsicologici. Ital J Neurol Sci 1987;6:47–50.Google Scholar
25. Raven, JC, Court, JH, Raven, J. Coloured Progressive Matrices. London: Oxford Psychologists Press, 1995.Google Scholar
26. Goodglass, H, Kaplan, E. The Assessment of Aphasia and Related Disorders, 2nd edn. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger, 1983.Google Scholar
27. Semenza, C, Cipolotti, L. Neuropsicologia con carta e matita. Padova: Cleup Editrice Padova, 1989.Google Scholar
28. Forbes-McKay, KE, Venneri, A. Detecting subtle spontaneous language decline in early Alzheimer's disease with a picture description task. Neurol Sci 2005;26:243–254.Google Scholar
29. Forbes, KE, Venneri, A, Shanks, MF. The evolution of dysgraphia in Alzheimer's disease. Brain Res Bull 2004;63:19–24.Google Scholar
30. Forbes, KE, Venneri, A, Shanks, MF. Distinct patterns of spontaneous speech deterioration: an early predictor of Alzheimer's disease. Brain Cogn 2002;48:356–361.Google Scholar
31. Heine, MK, Ober, BA, Shenaut, GK. Naturally occurring and experimentally induced tip-of-the-tongue experiences in three adult age groups. Psychol Aging 1999;14:445–457.Google Scholar
32. Hodges, JR, Salmon, DP, Butters, N. The nature of the naming deficit in Alzheimer's disease. Brain 1991;114:1547–1558.Google Scholar
33. Forbes-McKay, KE, Shanks, MF, Venneri, A. Profiling spontaneous speech decline in Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study. Acta Neuropsychiatrica 2013;25:320–327.Google Scholar
34. Ehrlich, JS, Obler, LK, Clark, L. Ideational and semantic contributions to narrative production in adults with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. J Commun Disord 1997;19:79–100.Google Scholar