Cognition and discourse production in Alzheimer’s disease: Using informative prompts.

Abstract

This article reports an investigation on the cognitive and linguistic mechanisms involved in knowledge management during discourse production of individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD). Two discourse variables were examined, incomplete propositions and repeated propositions. Differences between controls and participants with AD were found concerning the presence of incomplete propositions in a non-informative prompted task. Findings obtained with the informative prompted task suggested that knowledge management was more preserved in the early stage than in the later stage of AD. The majority of the neuropsychological data obtained in this study correlated with the presence of incomplete propositions. The discussion debated on whether this discourse deficit can be attributed to an impaired ability to manage knowledge provided in the context of communication.

Word retrieval in picture descriptions produced by individuals with Alzheimer’s disease

“…Ash, Moore, Vesely, and Grossman (2007) asked 20 individuals with AD and 10 matched control participants to narrate wordless picture books, and reported a significant negative correlation between picture naming scores and word choice errors. Brandão, Castelló, van Dijk, de Mattos Pimenta Parente, and Peña-Casanova (2009) reported that picture naming scores were negatively correlated with the number of incomplete propositions in autobiographical narratives. Bschor, Kühl, and Reischies (2001) showed that scores on tasks of picture naming as well as verbal fluency correlated positively with retrieval of information units (e.g., target objects, actions, or locations) in picture descriptions.…”

Envelhecimento sadio, Comprometimento Cognitivo Leve e doença de Alzheimer: um estudo das estratégias comunicativas na narrativa oral

“…Cabe ressaltar que a repetição é uma característica do discurso oral, podendo exercer diferentes funções como, por exemplo, servir de recurso retórico, o qual produz efeitos semânticos de persuasão; ou ser utilizada como um recurso coesivo de referenciação, que marca passagens novas e retomadas (KOCH, 2008). É importante também que se identifique se as repetições estão no tópico ou não (BRANDÃO et al, 2009). Como EC a repetição exerce função de manutenção do turno e de ganho de tempo para o planejamento (KOCH, 2008).…”

Mental models in discourse production Atypical discourse and the role of event models in the narratives of depressed patients

“…As the above examples demonstrate, van Dijk's model theory has become popular for critical discourse analysts. Wodak (2006) (Brandao, Castello, van Dijk, de Mattos Pimenta Parente, & Pena-Casanova, 2009;Rogalski, Altmann, Plummer-D'Amato, Behrman, & Marsiske, 2010). The following section will review some of this research as it applies to the consideration of atypical discourse and cognition in the present study.…”

“…The thesis also addresses another gap in the literature. There has been a significant amount of research on atypical discourse patterns (Fine, 2006;Fine, Bartolucci, Szmatmari, & Ginsberg, 1994;Chaika, 1990) and the possible cognitive underpinnings of these patterns (Fine, 1985;Chaika & Lambe, 1989;Brandao, Castello, van Dijk, Parente, & Pena-Casanova, 2009;Rogalski, Altmann, Plummer D'Amato, Behrman, & Marsiske, 2010), including research that has used SFL to examine atypical discourse patterns (Rochester, Martin, & Thurston, 1977;Fine, 1985;Fine et al 1994).…”