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Charting the decline in spontaneous writing in Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2014

Katrina Forbes-McKay ,
Mike Shanks  and
Annalena Venneri
Katrina Forbes-McKay*
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social Studies, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK
Mike Shanks
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University of Sheffield, UK
Annalena Venneri
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University of Sheffield, UK IRCCS, Fondazione Ospedale S. Camillo, Venice, Italy
*
Dr. Katrina Forbes-McKay, School of Applied Social Studies, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Robert Gordon University, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen AB10 7GQ, UK. Tel: +44-1224-263211; Fax: +44-1224-263222; E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

This study aims to document the nature and progression of the spontaneous writing impairment observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a 12-month period using both a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal design.

Methods

Thirty-one minimal–moderate AD patients and 30 controls matched for age and socio-cultural background completed a simple and complex written description task at baseline. The AD patients then had follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months.

Results

Cross-sectional comparisons indicated that minimal–moderate AD patients produced more semantic paraphasias, phonological paraphasias, and empty and indefinite phrases, whilst producing fewer pictorial themes, repairing fewer errors, and producing shorter and less complex sentences than controls. The two groups could not be distinguished on visual paraphasias. Longitudinal follow-up, however, suggested that visual processing deteriorates over time, where the prevalence of visual errors increased over 12 months.

Discussion

The findings suggest that the deterioration of writing skills observed in the spontaneous writings of AD patients shows a pattern of impairment dominated by semantic errors with a secondary impairment in phonological processing, which is later joined by a disruption of visuospatial and graphomotor processing.

Keywords

Alzheimer's diseasedementiadisease progressionlongitudinalsemanticwriting
Type
Original Articles
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 246 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2014 

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