Department of Psychobiology, University of Salamanca, Spain and Neuroscience Institute of Castilla-León, Salamanca, Spain.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;30(1):121-9. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2012-111856.
This paper studies the procedural learning of semantic categorization in 20 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated if the AD group was able to develop semantic skill using a cognitive procedural task, developed in our laboratory, by applying a manual and serial reaction time paradigm to semantic categorization. The AD group had markedly lower scores than the normal group on semantic categorization and had longer reaction times than the control subjects. Nevertheless, we observed an improvement of semantic categorization reaction times over time with practice, even with new verbal material to categorize, in both the AD and control groups. These results support the notion that AD patients are able to acquire semantic skill without awareness simply by repeated exposure, although their semantic accuracy will not reach normal levels.
本研究旨在探讨 20 例轻度阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者的语义分类程序学习。我们通过应用我们实验室开发的认知程序任务，使用手动和连续反应时间范式进行语义分类，来研究 AD 组是否能够通过这种方法发展语义技能。AD 组在语义分类方面的得分明显低于正常组，且反应时间也长于对照组。然而，我们观察到，在练习过程中，即使使用新的分类词汇材料，AD 组和对照组的语义分类反应时间都随着时间的推移而有所改善。这些结果表明，AD 患者即使在没有意识的情况下，也能够通过反复接触来获得语义技能，尽管他们的语义准确性无法达到正常水平。
