Lexical, semantic, and action verbal fluency in Parkinson's disease with and without dementia

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Previous research suggests that lexical and semantic verbal fluency are differentially sensitive to the effects of cortical and subcortical dementias, but little is known about action fluency performance in dementias. The present study compared lexical, semantic, and action fluency in groups of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with and without dementia and an elderly control group. Findings revealed an interaction between fluency type and subject group. Although the demented PD (PDD) group performed significantly more poorly than their non-demented counterparts and normal controls on all three fluency tasks, a disproportionate disparity in scores was noted on the action fluency task. The findings suggest that action fluency may be particularly sensitive to PD-associated dementia and may be an early indicator of the conversion from PD to PDD. As reported elsewhere, PD without dementia was not associated with significant impairment on any of the fluency tasks.

Publication Date

1-1-1999

Publication Title

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

ISSN

13803395

Volume

21

Issue

4

First Page

435

Last Page

443

PubMed ID

10550804

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1076/jcen.21.4.435.885

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