Verb Use in Parkinson's Disease
type: CreativeWork
description: Verb-specific impairments in their use and comprehension are well documented in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The grammatical and the motor theories have been proposed as possible explanations for verb impairments. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of low-motion and high-motion content verbs in PD in everyday conversation and to determine which theory best supports these findings. In this cross-sectional prospective study, conversation samples were collected and analyzed from participants with PD and their spouses in a mealtime context. Results indicated that total verb use on a proportional basis was not significantly different between persons with PD vs. control participants. Participants with PD produced significantly fewer high-motion verbs compared to low-motion content verbs. However, control participants also produced significantly fewer high-motion verbs compared to low-motion content verbs. The findings do not support the motor theory or the grammatical theory of verb processing in participants with PD.
abstract: Verb-specific impairments in their use and comprehension are well documented in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The grammatical and the motor theories have been proposed as possible explanations for verb impairments. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of low-motion and high-motion content verbs in PD in everyday conversation and to determine which theory best supports these findings. In this cross-sectional prospective study, conversation samples were collected and analyzed from participants with PD and their spouses in a mealtime context. Results indicated that total verb use on a proportional basis was not significantly different between persons with PD vs. control participants. Participants with PD produced significantly fewer high-motion verbs compared to low-motion content verbs. However, control participants also produced significantly fewer high-motion verbs compared to low-motion content verbs. The findings do not support the motor theory or the grammatical theory of verb processing in participants with PD.
author: Nikumb, Swati S
language: en_ca
keywords: Parkinson's disease, verb motion, action verbs, discourse, analyses of conversation
date published: 2014-07-21
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:56:11Z
provider: Western University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Western Ontario

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/35099