Phonological blocking during picture naming in dementia of the Alzheimer type.
Individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT; n = 53, ages 55-91), healthy older adults (n = 75, ages 59-91), and younger adults (n = 24, ages 18-24) performed a word-primed picture-naming task. Word primes were neutral (ready), semantically or phonologically related, or unrelated to the correct picture name. AH groups produced equivalent unrelated-word interference and semantic priming effects in response latencies. However, analysis of errors revealed a DAT-related increase of phonological blocking. The results suggest that picture-naming errors in DAT are due, at least in part, to a breakdown in access to phonological representations of object names as a consequence of reduced inhibitory control over other highly active alternatives.
Department of Psychology, University of South Alabama, AL, USA. mefaust@uncc.edu
Mark E
ME
Faust
David A
DA
Balota
Kristi S
KS
Multhaup
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D000849:Anomia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001245:Association Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010700:Phonetics; D011594:Psychometrics; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values; D012660:Semantics