Verbal and nonverbal memory in primary progressive aphasia: The
Three Words-Three Shapes Test
Issue title: Primary Progressive Aphasia and Post-Stroke
Aphasia: Some Complementary Insights into Brain-Behavior
Relationships/Hemispatial Neglect and Related Disorders
Affiliations: Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center,
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA | Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA | Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern
University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA | Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology ,
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Sandra Weintraub, PhD, Northwestern
Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Center, 320 E. Superior, Searle 11-467,
Chicago, IL 60611, USA. Tel.: +1 312 908 9013; Fax: +1 312 908 8789; E-mail:
sweintraub@northwestern.edu
Abstract: Objectives: To investigate cognitive components and mechanisms of
learning and memory in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) using a simple
clinical measure, the Three Words Three Shapes Test (3W3S). Background: PPA patients can complain of memory loss and may perform
poorly in standard tests of memory. The extent to which these signs and
symptoms reflect dysfunction of the left hemisphere language versus limbic
memory network remains unknown. Methods: 3W3S data from 26 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PPA
were compared with previously published data from patients with typical
dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and cognitively healthy elders. Results: PPA patients showed two bottlenecks in new learning. First,
they were impaired in the effortless (but not effortful) on-line encoding of
verbal (but not non-verbal) items. Second, they were impaired in the retrieval
(but not retention) of verbal (but not non-verbal) items. In contrast, DAT
patients had impairments also in effortful on-line encoding and retention of
verbal and nonverbal items. Conclusions: PPA selectively interferes with spontaneous on-line
encoding and subsequent retrieval of verbal information. This combination may
underlie poor memory test performance and is likely to reflect the dysfunction
of the left hemisphere language rather than medial temporal memory network.
