■语言障碍的评估在神经退行性疾病的早期临床诊断中可能很有价值。包括阿尔茨海默病(AD)。
■本研究旨在探索宏观结构水平的语言标记是否可以利用结构化叙述的生产数据帮助个体在痴呆症连续体中放置。
■我们对170名希腊语使用者进行了图片序列叙事话语任务:年轻的健康对照(yHC),认知完整的健康老年人(eHC),患有主观认知障碍(SCI)的老年参与者,轻度认知障碍(MCI),和轻度/中度AD痴呆。结构核磁共振成像,病史,神经系统检查,和神经心理学/认知筛查确定每个说话者的状态,以适当地分组他们。
■数据分析显示,宏观结构指数,无关信息,和叙述密度标记可以追踪认知衰退和AD(p<0.001;宏观结构指数:eHC与AD敏感性93.8%,特异性74.4%,MCI与AD的敏感性为93.8%,特异性66.7%;叙述密度:eHC与AD灵敏度90.6%,特异性71.8%,MCI与AD的敏感性为93.8%,特异性66.7%)。此外,AD患者的叙事复杂性受到显著影响,在MCI和AD的说话者的叙述中,无关的信息增加了,而叙述长度似乎没有明显区分认知完整组和临床组。
■叙事宏观结构指数提供了有价值的信息,这些信息揭示了(完全)完整的认知能力下降和AD的微妙早期迹象,表明包含基于语言的评估工具将促进临床过程。
UNASSIGNED: The assessment of language deficits can be valuable in the early clinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer\'s disease (AD).
UNASSIGNED: The present study aims to explore whether language markers at the macrostructural level could assist with the placement of an individual across the dementia continuum employing production data from structured narratives.
UNASSIGNED: We administered a Picture Sequence Narrative Discourse Task to 170 speakers of Greek: young healthy controls (yHC), cognitively intact healthy elders (eHC), elder participants with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and with AD dementia at the mild/moderate stages. Structural MRIs, medical history, neurological examination, and neuropsychological/cognitive screening determined the status of each speaker to appropriately groupthem.
UNASSIGNED: The data analysis revealed that the Macrostructure Index, Irrelevant Info, and Narration Density markers can track cognitive decline and AD (p < 0.001; Macrostructural Index: eHC versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 74.4%, MCI versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 66.7%; Narration Density: eHC versus AD Sensitivity 90.6%, Specificity 71.8%, MCI versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 66.7%). Moreover, Narrative Complexity was significantly affected for subjects with AD, Irrelevant Info increased in the narrations of speakers with MCI and AD, while Narration Length did not appear to indubitably differentiate between the cognitively intact groups and the clinical ones.
UNASSIGNED: Narrative Macrostructure Indices provide valuable information on the language profile of speakers with(out) intact cognition revealing subtle early signs of cognitive decline and AD suggesting that the inclusion of language-based assessment tools would facilitate the clinical process.