A – 22 Differences in Expressive Language Functions between Mild Alzheimer's Dementia and Mild Vascular Dementia

Abstract Objective This retrospective study of dementia patients aimed to investigate differences in expressive language functions between those with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and those with vascular dementia (VaD). Prior studies show that brain atrophy in AD and VaD may differentially impact areas tied to fluency and naming ability. Confirmation of these patterns through neuropsychological testing may aid diagnostic differentiation in early stages of dementia. In the current study, we hypothesized that patients with AD would show greater impairment in semantic fluency and confrontation naming than VaD on standardized neuropsychological tests. Method The sample included data from 180 adults (M = 79 years, range = 50-95 years) who had received a mild stage diagnosis of AD (n = 141) or VaD (n = 39) after neuropsychological evaluation for memory decline. The Controlled Oral Word Association Test (FAS) assessed phonemic fluency, the Animal Naming Test (Animals) assessed semantic fluency, and the Boston Naming Test assessed confrontation naming. Comparisons between AD and VaD of standardized scores for each assessment were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests. Results Patients with AD had similar phonemic fluency but lower semantic fluency (p< 0.010) and confrontational naming (p=0.035) than patients with VaD. Conclusion Patients with mild stage of AD exhibited greater impairment in semantic fluency and confrontation naming than patients with mild stage VaD. These results could reflect differences in functional decline in frontal (phonemic) versus temporal (semantic) language areas. Early recognition of this pattern could potentially aid in improving diagnostic differentiation and treatment planning for patients with mild stage dementia.