2009 Volume 29 Issue 2 Pages 268-276
We examined the relationship between action production and action recognition in patients with probable Pick's disease with temporal lobe atrophy (semantic dementia ). The patients were a 60-year-old right-handed woman and a 79-year-old right-handed man, who showed disturbances in verbal semantic memory.
We tested their action-production ability by using 6 different standard tests for apraxia (intransitive gestures on verbal command, imitation of intransitive gestures, transitive pantomimes on verbal command, transitive pantomimes to visually presented objects without touching them, imitation of transitive pantomimes, and actual object use ). Additionally, we examined their action-recognition ability by using 6tests (object naming, identification of the examiner's intransitive gestures and transitive pantomimes, and explanation of the use of objects in response to visually presented objects or name of them ).
Action production and action recognition were generally impaired in our patients, with the exception of the imitation of intransitive actions. Since the scores of action-production tasks were significantly correlated with those of recognition tasks, a common factor may impair both action production and action recognition. Patients of Pick's disease with temporal lobe atrophy experienced difficulty in explaining intransitive gestures and transitive pantomimes. The present results indicated that not only semantic memory for words and objects but also that for actions may be impaired in these patients.
