The concreteness effect (CE), namely a better performance with concrete compared to abstract concepts, is a constant feature in healthy people, and it usually increases in persons with aphasia (PWA). However, a reversal of the CE has been reported in patients affected by the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by anterior temporal lobe (ATL) atrophy. The present scoping review aims at identifying the extent of evidence regarding the abstract/concrete contrast in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and svPPA and associated brain atrophy. Five online databases were searched up to January 2023 to identify papers where both concrete and abstract concepts were investigated. Thirty-one papers were selected and showed that while in patients with AD, concrete words were better processes than abstract ones, in most svPPA patients, there was a reversal of the CE, with five studies correlating the size of this effect with ATL atrophy. Furthermore, the reversal of CE was associated with category-specific impairments (living things) and with a selective deficit of social words. Future work is needed to disentangle the role of specific portions of the ATL in concept representation.

Concrete and Abstract Concepts in Primary Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Scoping Review / Mancano, Martina; Papagno, Costanza. - In: BRAIN SCIENCES. - ISSN 2076-3425. - 13:5(2023), pp. 76501-76519. [10.3390/brainsci13050765]

Concrete and Abstract Concepts in Primary Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Scoping Review

Mancano, Martina;Papagno, Costanza
2023-01-01

Abstract

The concreteness effect (CE), namely a better performance with concrete compared to abstract concepts, is a constant feature in healthy people, and it usually increases in persons with aphasia (PWA). However, a reversal of the CE has been reported in patients affected by the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by anterior temporal lobe (ATL) atrophy. The present scoping review aims at identifying the extent of evidence regarding the abstract/concrete contrast in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and svPPA and associated brain atrophy. Five online databases were searched up to January 2023 to identify papers where both concrete and abstract concepts were investigated. Thirty-one papers were selected and showed that while in patients with AD, concrete words were better processes than abstract ones, in most svPPA patients, there was a reversal of the CE, with five studies correlating the size of this effect with ATL atrophy. Furthermore, the reversal of CE was associated with category-specific impairments (living things) and with a selective deficit of social words. Future work is needed to disentangle the role of specific portions of the ATL in concept representation.
2023
5
Mancano, Martina; Papagno, Costanza
Concrete and Abstract Concepts in Primary Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Scoping Review / Mancano, Martina; Papagno, Costanza. - In: BRAIN SCIENCES. - ISSN 2076-3425. - 13:5(2023), pp. 76501-76519. [10.3390/brainsci13050765]
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
brainsci-13-00765-v2.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione editoriale (Publisher’s layout)
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 697.57 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
697.57 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11572/377428
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact