%0 Journal Article
%A Suárez-González, Aida
%A Savage, Sharon A
%A Caine, Diana
%T Successful short-term re-learning and generalisation of concepts in semantic dementia.
%D 2016
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10668/10477
%X Patients with semantic dementia (SD) can rapidly and successfully re-learn word labels during cognitive intervention. This new learning, however, usually remains rigid and context-dependent. Conceptual enrichment (COEN) training is a therapy approach aimed to produce more flexible and generalisable learning in SD. In this study we compare generalisation and maintenance of learning after COEN with performance achieved using a classical naming therapy (NT). The study recruited a 62-year-old woman with SD. An AB1ACAB2 experimental design was implemented, with naming performance assessed at baseline, post- intervention, 3 and 6 weeks after the end of each treatment phase. Three generalisation tasks were also assessed pre- and post-intervention. Naming post-intervention improved significantly following both therapies, however, words trained using COEN therapy showed a significantly greater degree of generalisation than those trained under NT. In addition, only words trained with COEN continued to show significant improvements compared with baseline performance when assessed 6 weeks after practice ceased. It was concluded that therapies based on conceptual enrichment of the semantic network facilitate relearning of words and enhance generalisation in patients with SD.
%K Semantic dementia
%K cognitive therapy
%K conceptual enrichment
%K generalisation of learning
%~