Verb Use in Parkinson's Disease

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

M Sc

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Western Ontario

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Nikumb, Swati S

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• JB Orange

• Parkinson's disease
• verb motion
• action verbs
• discourse
• analyses of conversation

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/35099

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/35099