Lexical and syntactic aspects of narrative discourse in individuals with dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease Cover Image

Leksykalne i syntaktyczne aspekty dyskursu narracyjnego u osób z otępieniem z ciałami Lewy’ego i z chorobą Alzheimera
Lexical and syntactic aspects of narrative discourse in individuals with dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease

Author(s): Klaudia Kluj-Kozłowska, Aneta Domagała, Emilia J. Sitek, Stanisław Milewski, Bogna Brockhuis, Dariusz Wieczorek, Piotr Lass, Jarosław Sławek
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Syntax, Lexis
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: discourse; aphasia; fluent speech; non-fluent speech; autosemantic words; type to token ratio (TTR)

Summary/Abstract: Changes in speech and communication are seen in both dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study aimed at delineating differences between two groups in terms of lexical and syntactic aspects of connected speech. 12 patients with DLB and 13 patients with AD participated in the study. Transcriptions of patients’ recordings documenting the performance of the picture description task were analysed, with emphasis on the first minute of the recording. DLB patients used fewer words and definite pronouns than AD patients. Individuals with AD produced longer utterances and used more words per minute. The results are interpreted in the context of cognitive profile typical for DLB and AD. Discourse inefficiency in AD seems to be related to lexical and semantic deficits leading to lower idea density.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 9
  • Page Range: 1-34
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: English, Polish