Current Understanding of Verbal Fluency in Alzheimer’s Disease: Evidence to Date

Abstract

Laura M Wright,1 Matteo De Marco,2 Annalena Venneri2,3 1Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK; 2Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University London, London, UK; 3Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyCorrespondence: Annalena Venneri, Email [email protected]: Since their development, verbal fluency tests (VFTs) have been used extensively throughout research and in clinical settings to assess a variety of cognitive functions in diverse populations. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), these tasks have proven particularly valuable in identifying the earliest forms of cognitive decline in semantic processing and have been shown to relate specifically to brain regions associated with the initial stages of pathological change. In recent years, researchers have developed more nuanced techniques to evaluate verbal fluency performance, extracting a wide range of cognitive metrics from these simple neuropsychological tests. Such novel techniques allow for a more detailed exploration of the cognitive processes underlying successful task performance beyond the raw test score. The versatility of VFTs and the richness of data they may provide, in light of their low cost and speed of administration, therefore, highlight their potential value both in future research as outcome measures for clinical trials and in a clinical setting as a screening measure for early detection of neurodegenerative diseases.Keywords: fluency, Alzheimer’s disease, AD, semantic, mild cognitive impairment, MCI

Keywords

• fluency
• alzheimer’s disease
• ad
• semantic
• mild cognitive impairment
• mci