1

Rohrer

Appendix e-1

Baseline psychometric data in the semantic dementia group

Verbal and performance IQ (VIQ and PIQ) were assessed using the WAIS-R1 or the Verbal and Spatial Reasoning Test2. Verbal and visual episodic memory were assessed using the Recognition Memory Tests for Words and Faces respectively3,4. Executive function was assessed using a Modified Card Sorting test or the Weigl test5,6. Either the National Adult Reading Test or the Schonell reading test were used to test reading skills7,8. Naming was assessed with the Graded Naming Test or the Oldfield naming test9.10 whilst single word comprehension was assessed using the Warrington Synonyms Test11, British Picture Vocabulary Scale12 or the Vocabulary subtest of the WAIS-R1. Other cognitive domains evaluated were spelling (Graded Difficulty Spelling Test13), calculation (Graded Difficulty Arithmetic Test14) and visuospatial and visuoperceptual skills (subtests of the Visual Object and Spatial Perception (VOSP) battery15 or the Block Design subtest of the WAIS-R1). Limb apraxia was tested as part of a structured clinical assessment identifying inability to copy meaningless or meaningful hand gestures.

E-mail for further information:

  1. Wechsler D. Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation, 1981.
  2. Langdon DW, Warrington EK. The Verbal and Spatial Reasoning Test. Hove (UK): Lawrence Erlbaum; 1995.
  3. Warrington EK. Manual for the Recognition Memory Test for words and faces. Windsor, UK: NFER-Nelson, 1984.
  4. Warrington EK. The Camden Memory Tests. Hove, UK: Psychology Press, 1996.
  5. Nelson HE. A modified card sorting test sensitive to frontal lobe defects. Cortex 1976;12:313–24.
  6. Weigl E. On the psychology of the so called process of abstraction. J Abnorm Soc Psychol 1948;36:3–33.
  7. Nelson HE. National Adult Reading Test (NART): Test Manual, NFER-NELSON, Windsor, 1982
  8. Nelson HE, McKenna P. The use of current reading ability in the assessment of dementia. Br J Soc Clin Psychol 1975; 14: 259-67.
  9. McKenna P, Warrington EK. Testing for nominal dysphasia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1980;43 (9) :781–8.
  10. Oldfield RC, Wingfield A. Response latencies in naming objects. Q J Exp Psychol (series A) 1965;17:273-281.
  11. Warrington EK, McKenna P, Orpwood L. Single word comprehension: a concrete and abstract word synonym test. Neuropsychol Rehabil 1998;8:143–54.
  12. Dunn LM, Dunn LM, Whetton C, Burley J. The British Picture Vocabulary Scale second edition Slough, UK, NFER-Nelson, 1997.
  13. Baxter DM, Warrington EK. Measuring dysgraphia: a graded-difficulty spelling test. Behav Neurol 1994;7 (3–4) :107–16.
  14. Jackson M, Warrington EK. Arithmetic skills in patients with unilateral cerebral lesions. Cortex 1986;22 (4) :611–20.
  15. Warrington EK, James M. The visual object and space perception battery. Bury St Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company, 1991.

1