A computerized test for the assessment of mild cognitive impairment subtypes in sentence processing

Abstract

This study examines thesentence processing ability of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes. In addition to standard MCI neuropsychological tests, an experimental approach was applied to assess language. 133 people (93 MCI/40 controls) participated in novel computerized sentence processing tasks. Results presented statistically significant differences between MCI/controls andMCI subtypes (ANOVA):(a) duration F(2,92) = 19.259,p < .001) in sentence construction; (b) correct answers (F(2, 89) = 8.560,p < .001) and duration (F2,89) = 15.525,p < .001)in text comprehension; (c) correct answers (F(2, 92) = 8.975,p < .001) andduration (F(2, 92) = 4.360,p = .016) in metaphoric sentences comprehension; (d) correct answers (F(2, 92) = 12.836,p < .001) andduration (F(2, 92) = 10.974,p < .001) in verb form generation. Subtle changes in MCIsubtypes could affect sentence processing and provide useful information for cognitive decline risk estimation and screening purposes.

The scope of using pragmatic language tests for early detection of dementia: A systematic review of investigations using figurative language

“…Thus sensitive tests for assessing pragmatic dysfunction might help in the early detection of dementia. In line with the above studies, Segkouli et al 60 found that sentence-building and verb-form generation tasks that assessed syntax production and comprehension ability were inadequate to discriminate between MCI and control groups. On the other hand, the text comprehension task and the metaphoric sentence comprehension task helped discriminate patients with amnestic MCI (multiple-domains), amnestic MCI (single-domain), and healthy controls.…”

“…In their seminal work, Winner and Gardner 59 found that AD patients were impaired in the metaphor comprehension task. Since then, several studies 20,42,43,45,47,54,[60][61][62][63][64] have investigated metaphorcomprehension deficits in patients with dementia. Most of these studies, except some recent ones 44,45,47,60,63 focused only on people with AD.…”

“…Since then, several studies 20,42,43,45,47,54,[60][61][62][63][64] have investigated metaphorcomprehension deficits in patients with dementia. Most of these studies, except some recent ones 44,45,47,60,63 focused only on people with AD. However, despite using different testing tools with different types of metaphors (conventional and novel) and different techniques for response elicitation (verbal explanation and multiple choice), these studies report a metaphor-comprehension deficit in patients with dementia.…”

“…Some of these studies indicated that semantic-pragmatic dysfunction might precede literal language dysfunction in patients with dementia. 42,43,60 Fujimoto et al 42 found patients with very mild AD to be impaired in the simile comprehension task compared to the token test. Standardized tests for executive functions often fail to detect the higher-order executive dysfunctions that lead to pragmatic deficits.…”

Η Αξιοποίηση Της Γλώσσας Με Τη Συμβολή Της Τεχνολογίας Στην Ανίχνευση Και Εκπαίδευση Ηλικιωμένων Με Ήπια Νοητική Δυσλειτουργία

“…Σε αυτό το κλινικό πλαίσιο χρησιμοποιούνται διάφορες διαγνωστικές μέθοδοι που βασίζονται σε εργαλεία νευροψυχολογικής αξιολόγησης όπως το Boston Naming Test (ΒΝΤ)(Kaplan, 1983) σε βιοδείκτες ΝΑ(Vos et al, 2013) είτε σε αποκρίσεις από προκλητά δυναμικά(Laskaris et al, 2013). Ουσιαστικά πρόκειται για ηλεκτροφυσιολογική απόκριση σε ένα συγκεκριμένο γεγονός (νοητικού, αισθητικού ή κινησιακού περιεχομένου) και συνήθως, μετράται στη δερματική επιφάνεια του κεφαλιού(Ahmed et al, 2012).Το ΗΕΓ αποκαλύπτει 5 βασικά κύματα: τα κύματα α (8-13 Hz), τα κύματα β (13-30 Hz), τα κύματα δ(1)(2)(3)(4), και τα κύματα θ (4-8 Hz) αλλά και τα κύματα γ (περίπου 30-70 Hz).Μόλις το 1791 ο Galvani δημοσίευσε την ιδέα ότι τα «νεύρα» περιέχουν μία εγγενή μορφή ηλεκτρισμού. Το 1848 στον Du Bois -Reymond ανήκει η ανακάλυψη ότι η δραστηριότητα των περιφερειακών νεύρων συνοδευόταν από μετρήσιμες μεταβολές του ηλεκτρικού δυναμικού.…”