Cited by 1,710Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research

SEMANTIC DEMENTIA: PROGRESSIVE FLUENT APHASIA WITH TEMPORAL LOBE ATROPHY

HODGES, JOHN R., PATTERSON, KARALYN, OXBURY, SUSAN, FUNNELL, ELAINE·1992·Brain

Abstract

We report five patients with a stereotyped clinical syndrome characterized by fluent dysphasia with severe anomia, reduced vocabulary and prominent impairment of single-word comprehension, progressing to a stage of virtually complete dissolution of the semantic components of language. A marked reduction in the ability to generate exemplars from restricted semantic categories (e.g. animals, vehicles, etc.) was a consistent and early feature. Tests of semantic memory demonstrated a radically impoverished knowledge about a range of living and man-made items. In contrast, phonology and grammar of spoken language were largely preserved, as was comprehension of complex syntactic commands. Reading showed a pattern of surface dyslexia. Autobiographical and day-to-day (episodic) memory were relatively retained. Non-verbal memory, perceptual and visuospatial abilities were also strikingly preserved. In some cases, behavioural and personality changes may supervene; one patient developed features of the Kluver-Bucy Syndrome. Radiological investigations have shown marked focal temporal atrophy in all five patients, and functional imaging by single positron emission tomography and positron emission tomography (one case) have implicated the dominant temporal lobe in all five. In the older literature, such cases would have been subsumed under the rubric of Pick's disease. Others have been included in series with progressive aphasia. We propose the term semantic dementia, first coined by Snowden et al. (1989), to designate this clinical syndrome.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/brain/115.6.1783

Cites

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The management of semantic memory involves multiple brain regions, such as the left prefrontal cortex (LPC) being involved in the retrieval of semantic information, and the temporal lobes storing specific information related to objects.

    “The management of semantic memory involves multiple brain regions, such as the left prefrontal cortex (LPC) being involved in the retrieval of semantic information, and the temporal lobes storing specific information related to objects [80, 81, 82].”

    From Human-inspired Perspectives: A Survey on AI Long-term Memory (2024) · cites this paper as [80]

  • Previous attempts to differentiate FTD from AD on the basis of reduced concentration and executive dysfunction or reduced memory have often shown uncertain or even contradictory results.

    “Previous attempts to differentiate frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on the basis of reduced concentration and executive dysfunction or reduced memory have often shown uncertain or even contradictory results [5]”

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
HODGES, J. R., PATTERSON, K., OXBURY, S., & FUNNELL, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • University of London (GB)
Corresponding author
HODGES, JOHN R.
Venue
Brain
Published
1992
Volume
115
Issue
6
Pages
1783-1806
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
OpenAlex
W2033823029
Cited by
1,710
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 60 · 2015: 64 · 2014: 62 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 55
FWCI
19.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
Keywords
semantic dementia, semantic memory impairment, anomia, Pick's disease, progressive aphasia, temporal lobe atrophy, Klüver-Bucy syndrome, surface dyslexia, positron emission tomography
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aphasia, Atrophy, Dementia, Female, Humans, Language Disorders, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Middle Aged, Semantics, Temporal Lobe, Visual Perception

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review