Download PDF
Semin Speech Lang 2008; 29(1): 060-070
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1061625
© Thieme Medical Publishers

Treatment for Anomia in Semantic Dementia

Maya L. Henry1 , Pélagie M. Beeson1 , 2 , Steven Z. Rapcsak2 , 3
  • 1Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
  • 2Department of Neurology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
  • 3Neurology Section, Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, Tucson, Arizona
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
28 April 2008 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

Anomia is a striking and consistent clinical feature of semantic dementia (SD), a progressive aphasia syndrome associated with focal cortical atrophy of the anterior temporal lobes. Word retrieval deficits in patients with SD have been attributed to the loss of conceptual knowledge, resulting in an impairment referred to as semantic anomia. Whereas an abundance of research has been dedicated to treatment for anomia in individuals with focal brain damage due to stroke, considerably less work has been done regarding treatment for patients with progressive language decline. The purpose of this article is to review the available literature concerning the nature and treatment of anomia in individuals with SD. Several studies have shown that new lexical learning remains possible in these patients. However, newly learned information is likely to be constrained by the learning context, and increased reliance on perceptual and autobiographical contextual information may be necessary to provide critical support for new vocabulary acquisition. There is also evidence suggesting that treatment may slow the progression of anomia over time, even affording some protective benefit to lexical items that are not yet lost. However, treatment efforts are likely to be most beneficial at early stages of the disease, when residual semantic knowledge as well as relatively spared episodic memory may support new learning.

KEYWORDS

Naming - rehabilitation - lexical retrieval - memory - primary progressive aphasia

REFERENCES

  • 1 Shelton J R, Caramazza A. Deficits in lexical and semantic processing: implications for models of normal language.  Psychon Bull Rev. 1999;  6 5-27
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Raymer A M, Rothi L JG. Cognitive approaches to impairments of word comprehension and production. In: Chapey R Language Intervention Strategies in Aphasia and Related Neurogenic Communication Disorders. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2001: 524-550
    Google Scholar
  • 3 Benson D F. Anomia in aphasia.  Aphasiology. 1988;  2 229-235
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Martin R C. Language processing: functional organization and neuroanatomical basis.  Annu Rev Psychol. 2003;  54 55-89
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Vandenberghe R, Price C, Wise R, Josephs O, Frackowiak R S. Functional anatomy of a common semantic system for words and pictures.  Nature. 1996;  383 254-256
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Mummery C J, Patterson K, Wise R JS, Vandenbergh R, Price C J, Hodges J R. Disrupted temporal lobe connections in semantic dementia.  Brain. 1999;  122 61-73
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Jefferies E, Lambon Ralph M A. Semantic impairment in stroke aphasia versus semantic dementia: a case-series comparison.  Brain. 2006;  129 2132-2147
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Adlam A L, Patterson K, Rogers T T et al.. Semantic dementia and fluent primary progressive aphasia: two sides of the same coin?.  Brain. 2006;  129 3066-3080
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Rogers T T, Lambon Ralph M A, Garrard P et al.. Structure and deterioration of semantic memory: a neuropsychological and computational investigation.  Psychol Rev. 2004;  111 205-235
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Caviness V S, Makris N, Montinaro E et al.. Anatomy of stroke, part I: an MRI-based topographic and volumetric system of analysis.  Stroke. 2002;  33 2549-2556
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Hodges J R, Patterson K, Oxbury S, Funnell E. Semantic dementia. progressive fluent aphasia with temporal lobe atrophy.  Brain. 1992;  115 1783-1806
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Grossman M, McMillan C, Moore P et al.. What's in a name: voxel-based morphometric analyses of MRI and naming difficulty in Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia and corticobasal degeneration.  Brain. 2004;  127 628-649
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Rogers T T, Ivanoiu A, Patterson K, Hodges J R. Semantic memory in Alzheimer's disease and the frontotemporal dementias: a longitudinal study of 236 patients.  Neuropsychology. 2006;  20 319-335
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Hodges J R, Graham N, Patterson K. Charting the progression of semantic dementia: implications for the organisation of semantic memory.  Memory. 1995;  3 463-495
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Neary D, Snowden J S, Gustafson L et al.. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration: a consensus on clinical diagnostic criteria.  Neurology. 1998;  51 1546-1554
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 Bird H, Lambon Ralph M A, Patterson K, Hodges J R. The rise and fall of frequency and imageability: noun and verb production in semantic dementia.  Brain Lang. 2000;  73 17-49
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Howard D, Patterson K E. The Pyramids and Palm Trees Test. Bury St. Edmunds, UK; Thames Valley Test Co 1992 16
    Google Scholar
  • 18 Hodges J R, Patterson K, Tyler L K. Loss of semantic memory: implications for the modularity of mind.  Cogn Neuropsychol. 1994;  11 505-542
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Tulving E. Episodic memory: from mind to brain.  Annu Rev Psychol. 2002;  53 1-25
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Gorno-Tempini M L, Dronkers N F, Rankin K P et al.. Cognition and anatomy in three variants of primary progressive aphasia.  Ann Neurol. 2004;  55 335-346
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Rosen H J, Gorno-Tempini M L, Goldman W P et al.. Patterns of brain atrophy in frontotemporal dementia and semantic dementia.  Neurology. 2002;  58 198-208
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Mummery C J, Patterson K, Price C J, Ashburner J, Frackowiak R S, Hodges J R. A voxel-based morphometry study of semantic dementia: relationship between temporal lobe atrophy and semantic memory.  Ann Neurol. 2000;  47 36-45
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Galton C J, Patterson K, Graham K et al.. Differing patterns of temporal atrophy in Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia.  Neurology. 2001;  57 216-225
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Lambon Ralph M A, McClelland J, Patterson K, Galton C, Hodges J. No right to speak? The relationship between object naming and semantic impairment: neuropsychological evidence and a computational model.  J Cogn Neurosci. 2001;  13 341-356
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Grossman M, Ash S. Primary progressive aphasia: a review.  Neurocase. 2004;  10 3-18
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Williams G B, Nestor P J, Hodges J R. Neural correlates of semantic and behavioural deficits in frontotemporal dementia.  Neuroimage. 2005;  24 1042-1051
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 27 Chan D, Fox N C, Scahill R I et al.. Patterns of temporal lobe atrophy in semantic dementia and Alzheimer's disease.  Ann Neurol. 2001;  49 433-442
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 Scahill V L, Hodges J R, Graham K S. Can episodic memory tasks differentiate semantic dementia from Alzheimer's disease?.  Neurocase. 2005;  11 441-451
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 29 Nestor P J, Fryer T D, Hodges J R. Declarative memory impairments in Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia.  Neuroimage. 2006;  30 1010-1020
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Murre J MJ, Graham K S, Hodges J R. Semantic dementia: relevance to connectionist models of long-term memory.  Brain. 2001;  124 647-675
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 31 Snowden J S, Griffiths H L, Neary D. Semantic-episodic memory interactions in semantic dementia: implications for retrograde memory function.  Cogn Neuropsychol. 1996;  13 1101-1137
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 32 Graham K S, Simons J S, Pratt K H, Patterson K, Hodges J R. Insights from semantic dementia on the relationship between episodic and semantic memory.  Neuropsychologia. 2000;  38 313-324
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 33 Kitchener E G, Hodges J R, McCarthy R. Acquisition of post-morbid vocabulary and semantic facts in the absence of episodic memory.  Brain. 1998;  121 1313-1327
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 McClelland J L, McNaughton B L, O'Reilly R C. Why there are complementary learning systems in the hippocampus and neocortex: insights from the successes and failures of connectionist models of learning and memory.  Psychol Rev. 1995;  102 419-457
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Schacter D L. Multiple Forms of Memory in Humans and Animals. Memory Systems of the Brain: Animal and Human Cognitive Processes. New York, NY; Guilford Press 1985
    Google Scholar
  • 36 Graham K S, Patterson K, Pratt K H, Hodges J R. Relearning and subsequent forgetting of semantic category exemplars in a case of semantic dementia.  Neuropsychology. 1999;  13 359-380
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 Graham K S, Patterson K, Pratt K H, Hodges J R. Can repeated exposure to “forgotten” vocabulary help alleviate word-finding difficulties in semantic dementia? An illustrative case study.  Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2001;  11 429-454
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 38 Howard D, Patterson K, Franklin S, Orchard-Lisle V, Morton J. Treatment of word retrieval deficits in aphasia. A comparison of two therapy methods.  Brain. 1985;  108 817-829
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 39 Drew R L, Thompson C K. Model-based semantic treatment for naming deficits in aphasia.  J Speech Lang Hear Res. 1999;  42 972-989
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 LeDorze G, Boulay N, Gadreau J, Brassard C. The contrasting effects of a semantic versus a formal-semantic technique for the facilitation of naming in a case of anomia.  Aphasiology. 1994;  8 127-141
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 41 Howard D, Patterson K, Franklin S, Orchard-lisle V, Morton J. The facilitation of picture naming in aphasia.  Cogn Neuropsychol. 1985;  2 49-80
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 42 Snowden J S, Neary D. Relearning of verbal labels in semantic dementia.  Neuropsychologia. 2002;  40 1715-1728
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 43 Jokel R, Rochon E, Leonard C. Therapy for anomia in semantic dementia.  Brain Cogn. 2002;  49 241-244
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 44 Jokel R, Rochon E, Leonard C. Treating anomia in semantic dementia: improvement, maintenance, or both?.  Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2006;  16 241-256
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 45 Frattali C. An errorless learning approach to treating dysnomia in frontotemporal dementia.  J Med Speech-Lang Pathol. 2004;  12 11-24
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 46 Jokel R, Cupit J, Rochon E A, Graham N L. Errorless re-training in semantic dementia using MossTalk words.  Brain Lang. 2007;  103 205-206
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 47 Fink R B, Brecher A, Montgomery M, Schwartz M F. Moss Talk Words [computer software manual]. Philadelphia, PA; Albert Einstein Healthcare Network 2001
    Google Scholar
  • 48 Henry M L, Beeson P M, Rapcsak S Z. Treatment for lexical retrieval in progressive aphasia.  Aphasiology. 2008;  , In press
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 49 Reilly J, Cross K, Troiani V, Grossman M. Single-word semantic judgements in semantic dementia: do phonology and grammatical class count?.  Aphasiology. 2007;  21 558-569
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 50 Reilly J, Martin N, Grossman M. Verbal learning in semantic dementia: is repetition priming a useful strategy?.  Aphasiology. 2005;  19 329-339
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 51 Murray L L. Longitudinal treatment of primary progressive aphasia: a case study.  Aphasiology. 1998;  12 651-672
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 52 Rogers M A, Alarcon N B. Characteristics and management of primary progressive aphasia.  Neurophysiol Neurogenic Speech Language Disord Newsletter. 1999;  9 12-26
    PubMedGoogle Scholar

Maya L Henry

Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson

P.O. Box 210071, 1131 E. 2nd Street, Tucson, AZ 85721-0071

Email: maya@email.arizona.edu