An unusual presentation of probable dementia: rhyming, associations, and verbal disinhibition

Gail Robinson; Amelia Ceslis

doi:10.1111/jnp.12041

An unusual presentation of probable dementia: rhyming, associations, and verbal disinhibition

J Neuropsychol. 2014 Sep;8(2):289-94. doi: 10.1111/jnp.12041. Epub 2014 Feb 28.

Authors

Gail Robinson¹, Amelia Ceslis

Affiliation

¹ School of Psychology, The University of Queensland Neuropsychology Research Unit, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Department of Neuropsychology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.

PMID: 24581283
DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12041

Abstract

We report a case of probable Alzheimer's disease who presented with the unusual feature of disinhibited rhyming. Core language skills were largely intact but generative language was characterized by semantic-based associations, evident in tangential and associative content, and phonology-based associations, evident in rhyming, in the context of prominent executive dysfunction. We suggest this pattern is underpinned by a failure to terminate or inhibit verbal associations resulting in a 'loosening' of associations at the level of conceptual preparation for spoken language.

Keywords: conceptual preparation; dementia; disinhibition; rhyming; spoken output; verbal generation.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Association*
Cognition Disorders / etiology*
Dementia / complications*
Dementia / psychology*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Periodicity*
Phonetics*
Semantics
Verbal Behavior / physiology*