SENTENCE COMPREHENSION IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

We asked 22 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to respond to simpl e probes of sentences where we manipulated grammatical factors, semant ic factors, and cognitive resource demands associated with a sentence. The results demonstrated limitations in the cognitive resources neede d to appreciate atypical syntactic-thematic mapping relations and diff iculty processing selection restrictions associated with a verb. By co mparison, comprehension in AD was not influenced by the active or pass ive voice of a sentence. These findings are consistent with the hypoth esis that impaired sentence comprehension in AD is multifactorial in n ature, including difficulty processing cognitive resource and semantic aspects of sentences. (C) 1998 Academic Press.