Semantic Dementia:A Study for a Chinese Patient with Severe Left Temporal Lobe Atrophy / 中国临床心理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze neuropsychological characteristics of a Chinese patient with semantic dementia (SD)。Methods:A patient with SD was selected to finish 11 neuropsychological tests and MRI and XeCT。Results:(1)Selective impairment of semantic memory caused severe anomia, impaired spoken and written single-word comprehension, reduced generation of exemplars on category fluency tests and an impoverished fund of general knowledge; (2)relative sparing of other components of language output and comprehension; normal perceptual skill and non-verbal problem-solving abilities; relatively preserved episodic memory; (3)a reading disorder with pattern of surface dyslexia;(4) radiological investigations (MRI and XeCT) have shown severe left temporal neocortex atrophy.Conclusion:There are similar clinical and neuropsychological characteristics for SD between the Chinese patient and the sample of Western. Selective impairment of semantic memory may bring about by left temporal neocortex atrophy。