Conceptual apraxia in probable Alzheimer's disease as demonstrated by the Florida Action Recall Test

Patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) often have difficulties associated with semantic knowledge. Therefore, conceptual apraxia, a defect of action semantics and mechanical knowledge, may be an early sign of this disease. The Florida Action Recall Test (FLART), developed to assess con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 2000-03, Vol.6 (3), p.265-270
Main Authors: SCHWARTZ, RONALD L., ADAIR, JOHN C., RAYMER, ANASTASIA M., WILLIAMSON, DAVID J.G., CROSSON, BRUCE, ROTHI, LESLIE J.G., NADEAU, STEPHEN E., HEILMAN, KENNETH M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Alzheimer's disease
Apraxia
Apraxias - diagnosis
Apraxias - psychology
Concept Formation
Conceptual apraxia
Female
Humans
Ideational apraxia
Male
Mental Recall
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Psychomotor Performance
Semantic
Semantics
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Summary:Patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) often have difficulties associated with semantic knowledge. Therefore, conceptual apraxia, a defect of action semantics and mechanical knowledge, may be an early sign of this disease. The Florida Action Recall Test (FLART), developed to assess conceptual apraxia, consists of 45 line drawings of objects or scenes. The subject must imagine the proper tool to apply to each pictured object or scene and then pantomime its use. Twelve participants with Alzheimer's disease (NINCDS–ADRDA criteria) and 21 age- and education-matched controls were tested. Nine Alzheimer's disease participants scored below a 2-standarddeviation cutoff on conceptual accuracy, and the three who scored above the cutoff were beyond a 2-standard-deviation cutoff on completion time. The FLART appears to be a sensitive measure of conceptual apraxia in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. (JINS, 2000, 6, 265–270.)
ISSN:1355-6177
1469-7661
DOI:10.1017/S1355617700633015