Skip to main content

Semantic Dementia

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

Synonyms

Primary progressive aphasia semantic; Semantic variant primary progress aphasia (svPPA); Temporal variant frontotemporal dementia

Definition

Semantic dementia (SD) is a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by a gradual decline in semantic processing and related language abilities. SD patients typically show difficulty with the comprehension and expression of words and a deterioration of semantic knowledge about places, people, objects, and general information (Murre et al. 2001). While the ability to produce speech remains unchanged, individuals with SD often struggle finding the correct word during conversation, first for less commonly used words and then for more rudimentary ones. These symptoms progress until the ability to understand the basic components of language and semantic relationships is lost, resulting in impaired ability to read, write, and partake in conversation (Kertesz et al. 2010).

What Is Semantic Dementia

Semantic dementia is one of several...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,699.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 1,799.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bang, J., Spina, S., & Miller, B. L. (2015). Frontotemporal dementia. Lancet, 386(10004), 1672–1682.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bessi, V., et al. (2010). Semantic dementia associated with mutation V363I in the tau gene. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 296(1–2), 112–114.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bott, N. T., Radke, A., Stephens, M. L., & Kramer, J. H. (2014). Frontotemporal dementia: Diagnosis, deficits and management. Neurodegenerative Disease Management, 4(6), 439–454.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeat, S., Lambon Ralph, M. A., Patterson, K., Garrard, P., & Hodges, J. R. (2000). Non-verbal semantic impairment in semantic dementia. Neuropsychologia, 38(9), 1207–1215.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, R. R., et al. (2005). The pathological basis of semantic dementia. Brain, 128(Pt 9), 1984–1995.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards-Lee, T., et al. (1997). The temporal variant of frontotemporal dementia. Brain, 120(Pt 6), 1027–1040.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, J. S., et al. (2005). Comparison of family histories in FTLD subtypes and related tauopathies. Neurology, 65(11), 1817–1819.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gorno-Tempini, M. L., et al. (2011). Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology, 76(11), 1006–1014.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, J. R., & Graham, K. S. (1998). A reversal of the temporal gradient for famous person knowledge in semantic dementia: Implications for the neural organisation of long-term memory. Neuropsychologia, 36(8), 803–825.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, J. R., Patterson, K., Oxbury, S., & Funnell, E. (1992). Semantic dementia. Progressive fluent aphasia with temporal lobe atrophy. Brain, 115(Pt 6), 1783–1806.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, J. R., Davies, R., Xuereb, J., Kril, J., & Halliday, G. (2003). Survival in frontotemporal dementia. Neurology, 61(3), 349–354.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, J. R., et al. (2010). Semantic dementia: Demography, familial factors and survival in a consecutive series of 100 cases. Brain, 133(Pt 1), 300–306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kertesz, A., Jesso, S., Harciarek, M., Blair, M., & McMonagle, P. (2010). What is semantic dementia?: A cohort study of diagnostic features and clinical boundaries. Archives of Neurology, 67(4), 483–489.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lambon Ralph, M. A., Graham, K. S., Ellis, A. W., & Hodges, J. R. (1998). Naming in semantic dementia–what matters? Neuropsychologia, 36(8), 775–784.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, R. A., & Warrington, E. K. (2015). Past, present, and prospects: Reflections 40 years on from the selective impairment of semantic memory (Warrington, 1975). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6, 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mummery, C. J., et al. (1999). Disrupted temporal lobe connections in semantic dementia. Brain, 122(Pt 1), 61–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murre, J. M., Graham, K. S., & Hodges, J. R. (2001). Semantic dementia: Relevance to connectionist models of long-term memory. Brain, 124(4), 647–675.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neary, D., et al. (1998). Frontotemporal lobar degeneration: A consensus on clinical diagnostic criteria. Neurology, 51(6), 1546–1554.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rossi, G., & Tagliavini, F. (2015). Frontotemporal lobar degeneration: Old knowledge and new insight into the pathogenetic mechanisms of tau mutations. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 7, 192.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rossor, M. N., Revesz, T., Lantos, P. L., & Warrington, E. K. (2000). Semantic dementia with ubiquitin-positive tau-negative inclusion bodies. Brain, 123(Pt 2), 267–276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shimizu, H., et al. (2011). Clinical profiles of late-onset semantic dementia, compared with early-onset semantic dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Psychogeriatrics, 11(1), 46–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snowden, J. S., Goulding, P. J., & Neary, D. (1989). Semantic dementia: A form of circumscribed cerebral atrophy. Behavioral Neurology, 2, 167–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, S. A., Patterson, K., & Hodges, J. R. (2003). Left/right asymmetry of atrophy in semantic dementia: Behavioral-cognitive implications. Neurology, 61(9), 1196–1203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Warrington, E. K. (1975). The selective impairment of semantic memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 27(4), 635–657.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathan Hantke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore (outside the USA)

About this entry

Cite this entry

Hantke, N., Bott, N.T., Samarina, V. (2017). Semantic Dementia. In: Pachana, N.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-082-7_357

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics