Elsevier

Brain and Language

Volume 75, Issue 2, November 2000, Pages 232-258
Brain and Language

Regular Article
Sentence Repetition and Processing Resources in Alzheimer's Disease

https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.2000.2355Get rights and content

Abstract

Sentence processing in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been found to be influenced by several grammatical and extragrammatical factors, including phrase structure and verb–argument relations, number of propositions/verbs, and processing resource capacity. This study examines the effects of these variables on sentence production in AD. Normal control and AD subjects were asked to repeat six types of sentences varying along the above dimensions of complexity. Subjects' processing resource capacity was measured using several verbal working memory tests. AD subjects' sentence-repetition performance was impaired compared to the normal control group. Significant effects were observed for branching direction of phrase struc- ture, canonicity of verb–argument relations, and serial position of errors. Sentence-repetition performance significantly correlated with working memory scores. The findings are interpreted within a resource capacity theory of sentence processing.

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    This research was supported by Grant T32 AG00226 from the National Institute on Aging. We thank the Alzheimer's Disease Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center for referring Alzheimer's patients for this research. We are also grateful to the families who graciously contributed their time and energy to the study.

    Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jeff A. Small, School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, University of British Columbia, 5804 Fairview Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z3.

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