A novel approach to testing the executive and automatic aspects of language in Alzheimer’s Disease

The lack of treatment available for Alzheimer’s disease and the large number of people living with the disease advocate the need to develop tools for early and accurate diagnosis. An early symptom experienced in Alzheimer’s disease is a decline in semantic memory, the part of memory that provides facts and knowledge about all objects and aspects one encounters in everyday life. The assessment of semantic memory can be done through clinical language tests that require semantic processing. In a healthy brain, semantic memory relies on two components, semantic representation and semantic control. The nature of impairment in Alzheimer’s disease is still unknown and requires further investigation.The main aim of this research is to modify tests and devise new instruments to assess the different aspects of semantic memory. It aims to establish the nature of impairment present in the early stages of the disease and how this differs from that in healthy ageing. The results from this study will further help in the understanding of early symptoms present in Alzheimer’s disease and hence, contributes to earlier diagnosis.