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Naming in semantic dementia--what matters?
Lambon Ralph MA, Graham KS, Ellis AW, Hodges JR.. Neuropsychologia, 1998-08-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
One of the major symptoms of semantic dementia (or progressive fluent aphasia) is profound word-finding difficulties. We present here a cross-sectional study of the factors affecting picture naming in semantic dementia based on data obtained from eight patients, together with a longitudinal analysis of naming in another patient. Various properties and attributes of the objects were entered into a series of regression analyses in order to predict which items the patients could or could not name. The analyses showed that object familiarity, word frequency and age-of-acquisition predicted naming success for the group and, in most cases, for each individual patient, irrespective of lesion site or overall naming success. We propose that the pattern of naming in semantic dementia is best described in terms of reduced semantic activation within a cascading/interactive speech production system. We suggest that object familiarity, and possibly word frequency, reflect the inherent robustness of individual semantic representations to the decay process in terms of both quantity and quality of experience. Age-of-acquisition and word frequency (at a phonological-lexical level) predicts naming success, because frequent, early-acquired words are relatively easy to activate even with reduced semantic "input".
Key findings
- The analyses showed that object familiarity, word frequency and age-of-acquisition predicted naming success for the group and, in most cases, for each individual patient, irrespective of lesion site or overall naming success.
- We suggest that object familiarity, and possibly word frequency, reflect the inherent robustness of individual semantic representations to the decay process in terms of both quantity and quality of experience.
Why it matters
This study examined factors affecting picture naming in eight patients with semantic dementia and one followed longitudinally. It found that object familiarity, word frequency and age-of-acquisition predicted naming success, but it is about understanding symptoms, not treating or curing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuropsychologia) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Neuropsychologia: journal h-index 321 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1998 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 316 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 10.5 citations a year over 30 year(s) since 1998 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 10 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author John R. Hodges: h-index 107 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Addenbrooke's Hospital: institution h-index 1,025 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 9751441) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00169-3
- PubMed: 9751441
- Original source →
- Free full text: Neuropsychologia →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Lambon Ralph, M. A., Graham, K. S., Ellis, A. W., & Hodges, JR. (1998). Naming in semantic dementia--what matters? Neuropsychologia. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00169-3
Vancouver
Lambon Ralph MA, Graham KS, Ellis AW, Hodges JR. Naming in semantic dementia--what matters? Neuropsychologia. 1998. doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00169-3. PMID: 9751441.
BibTeX
@article{lambonralph1998-9751441,
author = {Lambon Ralph, M. A. and Graham, K. S. and Ellis, A. W. and Hodges, JR.},
title = {{Naming in semantic dementia--what matters?}},
journal = {Neuropsychologia},
year = {1998},
doi = {10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00169-3},
pmid = {9751441},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00169-3}
}
Later studies that cite this one
8 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.