title: Effects of lexical-semantic treatment on memory in early Alzheimer disease: an observer-blinded randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Episodic memory and semantic abilities deteriorate early in Alzheimer disease (AD). Since the cognitive system includes interconnected and reciprocally influenced neuronal networks, the authors hypothesized that stimulation of lexical-semantic abilities may benefit semantically structured episodic memory.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of lexical-semantic stimulation (LSS) on verbal communication and episodic memory in early AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty AD participants were randomized to LSS or unstructured cognitive stimulation (UCS) as control condition. Treatments lasted 3 months, 2 sections a week. The primary outcome measures were the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Boston Naming Test (BNT), Verbal Naming Test (VNT), Phonemic and Semantic Fluency, Story Recall, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning (RAVL). Secondary outcome measures were neuropsychological tests assessing cognitive functions not stimulated by the intervention, such as attention, executive functions, and visual-spatial abilities, and the instrumental activities of daily living scale. A 6-month follow-up assessment was administered to the LSS group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  LSS treatment yielded significant improvements of the MMSE, BNT, VNT, Brief Story Recall, and RAVL delayed recall mean scores. Among secondary outcome measures, only working memory and the speed of a task assessing executive functions (Stroop test) improved after LSS. Unstructured cognitive stimulation intervention did not improve any cognitive domain. Six months after LSS discontinuation, the MMSE mean score remains significantly higher than the baseline value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LSS treatment may improve episodic memory in AD patients and may be regarded as a clinical option to counteract the cognitive decline typical of the disease.
authors.affiliation: University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Nela
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jelcic
authors.forename: Annachiara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cagnin
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meneghello
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turolla
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ermani
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dam
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D019370:Observation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012660:Semantics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology