Item Details

title

SEMANTIC NETWORKS AND STAGES OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT: INVESTIGATING DIFFERENCES IN STRUCTURAL CONNECTIVITY AND HUB CENTRALITY ASSOCIATED WITH FLUENCY PERFORMANCE

author

Lu, Kunbo

abstract

This study investigated the impact of age-related cognitive impairment on the structure of semantic networks using computational network analysis with three groups of participants: cognitively healthy older adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. By analyzing the interconnectivity among items produced on the category verbal fluency test, we mapped the semantic memory structures for the three groups, examining average shortest path length, clustering coefficient, modularity, and the network hubs. These findings indicated a decline in network efficiency, interconnectivity, and structural flexibility as cognitive impairment increases. The hub analysis revealed considerable overlap and item prioritization in the central nodes between the cognitively impaired groups and healthy controls, particularly in the measures of node degree and closeness centrality. However, betweenness centrality differed across the groups, suggesting that the connections linking different parts of the semantic network are particularly affected by changes due to neurodegenerative diseases.

subject

Alzheimer's disease

fluency test

mild cognitive impairment

network analysis

semantic memory

contributor

Jennings, Janine (advisor)

Sali, Anthony (committee member)

Hugenschmidt, Christina (committee member)

date

2024-09-13T08:36:19Z (accessioned)

2024 (issued)

degree

Psychology (discipline)

embargo

2025-09-12 (terms)

2025-09-12 (liftdate)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/109843 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis