title: Syntactic comprehension deficits are associated with MRI white matter alterations in dementia.
abstract: Comprehension difficulties associated with periventricular and deep white matter alterations (WMA) in mild dementia were investigated using portions of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) Complex Ideation subtest and Syntax subtests. Mild dementia participants were grouped according to the extent of their WMA as observed on magnetic resonance imaging (mild WMA n = 45 vs. moderate to severe WMA n = 52). Correlation and regression analyses also were performed to examine the link between WMA and comprehension abilities, as well as the link between comprehension abilities and neuropsychological measures of executive functioning, language, episodic memory, and overall dementia severity. Results showed that the WMA groups differed on the BDAE-Syntax subtests, with the severe WMA group demonstrating more impairment. Correlation and regression analyses including the entire sample also demonstrated that the extent of WMA was significantly linked to Syntax test scores but not Complex Ideation scores. Regression analyses including neuropsychological measures showed that the BDAE-Complex Ideation score was marginally predicted by only overall dementia severity, whereas the BDAE-Syntax scores were significantly predicted by independent measures of working memory/executive functioning. In conclusion, greater subcortical WMA and executive deficits are associated with greater difficulties in syntactic comprehension in individuals with mild dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA. tgio@temple.edu
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Giovannetti
authors.forename: Mary W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.forename: Jaclyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: Brianne Magouirk
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bettcher
authors.forename: Kara S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Libon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology