Impact of Beta-Amyloid Biomarkers on Performance of Digital Mind Mapping Tasks in Alzheimer's Disease Patients
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| Title: | Impact of Beta-Amyloid Biomarkers on Performance of Digital Mind Mapping Tasks in Alzheimer's Disease Patients |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Chan Chang, Soo Jung Lee, Duk L. Na, Ji Hye Yoon |
| Source: | International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2026 61(1). |
| Availability: | Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 12 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Alzheimers Disease, Patients, Brain, Cognitive Mapping, Pathology, Adults, Language Processing, Recall (Psychology), Memory, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Neurological Impairments |
| DOI: | 10.1111/1460-6984.70196 |
| ISSN: | 1368-2822 1460-6984 |
| Abstract: | Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients experience cognitive decline due to the deposition of beta-amyloid, which particularly affects their ability to retrieve words in language tasks. A mind map is an activity that involves freely associating and retrieving words related to a given category, providing an integrated assessment of cognitive and linguistic abilities. Objective: This study aimed to identify the various characteristics observed during the performance of a digital mind map task in patients with AD pathology, with beta-amyloid deposition confirmed by positron emission tomography imaging. Methods: The study involved 48 adults aged 50 and over (30 patients with AD pathology and 18 healthy controls, HC). Participants completed a mind map task where they generated and retrieved words related to specific keywords (travel, family and food). Performance was analysed and compared across three main aspects: (1) keyword responses (number of blanks filled, number of words written), (2) performance time (preparation time for retrieval, writing time, total task time), and (3) word diversity (number of unique words, number of repeated words). Results: First, in terms of keyword responses, there was no significant difference between groups in the number of blanks filled; however, the AD pathology group wrote fewer words than HC. Error analysis revealed that the AD patients were more likely to provide elaborations and non-words compared to HC. Second, regarding performance time, the AD pathology group took longer to prepare for word retrieval and to write the words. Third, in terms of word diversity, the AD pathology group generated fewer unique words and tended to repeat words more often than HC. Conclusions: The study confirms that patients with AD pathology experience difficulties in using their mental lexicon to activate and select appropriate words for retrieval due to damage in the temporal-parietal regions caused by beta-amyloid deposition. This study highlights the potential of digital mind maps as a novel word retrieval task for early differentiation of cognitive impairment in AD. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1495152 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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