Successful short-term re-learning and generalisation of concepts in semantic dementia.
Patients with semantic dementia (SD) can rapidly and successfully re-learn word labels during cognitive intervention. This new learning, however, usually remains rigid and context-dependent. Conceptual enrichment (COEN) training is a therapy approach aimed to produce more flexible and generalisable learning in SD. In this study we compare generalisation and maintenance of learning after COEN with performance achieved using a classical naming therapy (NT). The study recruited a 62-year-old woman with SD. An AB1ACAB2experimental design was implemented, with naming performance assessed at baseline, post- intervention, 3 and 6 weeks after the end of each treatment phase. Three generalisation tasks were also assessed pre- and post-intervention. Naming post-intervention improved significantly following both therapies, however, words trained using COEN therapy showed a significantly greater degree of generalisation than those trained under NT. In addition, only words trained with COEN continued to show significant improvements compared with baseline performance when assessed 6 weeks after practice ceased. It was concluded that therapies based on conceptual enrichment of the semantic network facilitate relearning of words and enhance generalisation in patients with SD.
a Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease , UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London , London , UK.|b Memory Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital Virgen del Rocío , Seville , Spain.
Aida
A
Suárez-González
c ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders , University of New South Wales , Sydney , Australia.|d Institute of Health Research , University of Exeter Medical School , Exeter , UK.
Sharon A
SA
Savage
e Department of Neuropsychology , National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery , London , UK.
Diana
D
Caine
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005793:Generalization, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009275:Names; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*
Semantic dementia; cognitive therapy; conceptual enrichment; generalisation of learning