使用中文的輕度認知功能障礙者之動詞命名表現研究

Abstract

命名作業被視為是偵測和鑑別不同神經退化性疾病在語言功能受損上的重要工具，近年來，對於動詞命名的西方研究關注逐漸增多，然而，現今對於使用中文的失憶型輕度認知功能障礙長者在動詞命名的表現以及背後機制的了解仍是有限。本研究納入40位健康高齡者以及40位失憶型輕度認知功能障礙長者，進行名詞、動詞和不同動詞類型（及物性、工具性、論元結構數）的圖片命名測驗，並評估其命名表現和語法或語意能力的關聯性。結果發現對使用中文的輕度認知功能障礙長者和健康高齡者來說，動詞命名皆比名詞命名更為困難，在不同動詞類型的命名測驗中，並未觀察到兩組之間的顯著差距。然而，兩組處理不同動詞類型的潛在機制可能有所不同，健康高齡者組在工具性動詞的表現較差，並與語法能力顯著相關，而失憶型輕度認知功能障礙組在及物動詞和工具性動詞的較差表現則和語意能力有顯著關聯。此外，兩組在二元動詞 命名表現皆比一元或三元動詞命名表現還差，並此表現和語意能力具有顯著的關聯性。最後，本研究中也觀察到教育程度對動詞命名表現的影響。綜上所述，本研究認為使用中文之失憶型輕度認知障礙長者在不同動詞類型的命名表現和其語意處理困難具有顯著關聯，這為臨床工作者提估了對其動詞命名表現背後歷程的初步了解。

Naming tasks are considered important tools for detecting and differentiating language function impairments in various neurodegenerative diseases. In recent years, there has been increasing attention to verb naming in Western studies. However, the understanding of verb naming performance and its underlying mechanisms in Mandarin-speaking individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) remains limited. This study included 40 healthy older adults (HC) and 40 individuals with aMCI, who were administered noun, verb, and different verb type (transitivity, instrumentality, argument structure) picture naming tests. The study also evaluated the relationship between their naming performance and their syntactic or semantic abilities. The results showed that verb naming was more challenging than noun naming for both individuals with aMCI and HC. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in naming different verb types. However, the underlying mechanisms for processing different verb types may differ between the groups. The HC group performed worse on instrumental verbs, which was significantly associated to syntactic ability. In contrast, the aMCI group's poorer performance in naming transitive and instrumental verbs was significantly associated to semantic ability. Additionally, both groups performed worse on two-argument verbs compared to one- or three-argument verbs, and this performance was significantly associated with semantic ability. Finally, we observed that education level had an impact on verb naming performance. In conclusion, this study suggests that the naming performance of different verb types in Mandarin-speaking individuals with aMCI is significantly associated with difficulties in semantic processing. This provides clinicians with a preliminary understanding of the underlying processes affecting verb naming performance in this population.