Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Speech-Language Pathology

Committee Chair

Lynda Feenaughty

Committee Member

Gavin Bidelman

Committee Member

Eun Jin Paek

Abstract

Studies investigating cognition relative to language outcomes and language elicitation methods are lacking within persons with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study investigated: 1) group effects (mild AD, controls) on language measures obtained from picture description, 2) the relationship between cognition and language measures, and 3) task effects (picture description, story retell) on language measures for speakers with mild AD. Results showed that speakers with mild AD had language deficits compared to controls, that MMSE scores correlated with language measures, and that elicitation method influenced language outcomes for speakers with mild AD. Overall, findings suggest that clinical assessments of language measures obtained using elicitation methods that vary in cognitive demand may aid in the early detection of those who have mild AD compared to controls. Findings also suggest that future studies are warranted to better understand the causal relationships between global cognition measured by MMSE scores and language outcomes.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open access

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