OBJECT AND ACTION NAMING IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA

To assess noun and verb processing in different dementia types, we tes ted object and action naming in three groups of subjects: probable Alz heimer's disease (AD) with mild to moderate dementia; age-and educatio n-matched normal subjects; and a group of frontotemporal dementia (FTD ) patients. AD and FTD patients were impaired in naming compared with control subjects; action naming was more severely impaired. However, t he discrepancy between object and action naming was significantly grea ter in FTD than in AD patients, independent of the severity of dementi a or of overall language impairment. The latter finding is compatible with the hypothesis that the frontal lobe plays a crucial role in acti on naming. A relatively selective impairment in action naming might be a characteristic neuropsychological feature of FTD.