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. 2021 Apr;15 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):1-7.
doi: 10.1111/jnp.12200. Epub 2020 Jan 10.

Differential cognitive substrates of verbal episodic memory performance in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer's disease

Saskia DeVaughn  1   2 , Kaitlin B Casaletto  1 , Adam M Staffaroni  1 , Amy A Wolf  1 , Gabe Marx  1 , Joel H Kramer  1
Affiliations

Differential cognitive substrates of verbal episodic memory performance in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer's disease

Saskia DeVaughn et al. J Neuropsychol. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Performance on neuropsychological measures of verbal memory requires cognitive abilities beyond memory. We examined the contribution of semantic knowledge in verbal episodic memory for semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) or Alzheimer's disease (AD). 415 AD and 68 svPPA participants completed measures of episodic memory (visual and verbal) and semantic knowledge. A double dissociation existed visual recall predicted verbal recognition in AD, whereas semantic knowledge contributed to verbal recognition in svPPA.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Level of Processing Theory; neurodegenerative disease; neuropsychological test validity; semantic dementia; verbal episodic memory; visual episodic memory.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

J. H. Kramer receives royalties from Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. for the California Verbal Learning Test.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Semantic knowledge significantly contributes to verbal recognition in svPPA but not in AD. Unique variance of verbal recognition explained by visual recall and semantic knowledge in each group controlling for age, sex, and Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE). Only visual recall uniquely predicted verbal recognition in AD, while in svPPA, semantic knowledge only predicted verbal recognition. *indicates p < .001 (AD Benson recall), p = .023 (svPPA PPVT-R). †PPVT-R = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Revised.
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