ABSTRACTMotor-action verbs (MAVs) production and comprehension are compromised in
patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).Objectives:The aim of this study was to characterize the sequential production of three
subtypes of MAVs in PD patients: whole body (e.g.,run),
specific body part (e.g.,kick), and instrumental (e.g.,saw). This study also aimed to identify the production
characteristics for each of the two main phases in fluency performance:
selection (initial abundant item production) and retrieval (more paced and
scarce production).Methods:This study involved a group of 20 nondemented, on-medication PD patients,
with an average age of 66.59 years (standard deviation = 4.13), and a
comparison group (CG) of 20 normal elderly individuals, matched by years of
education and controlled for cognitive performance and depression. Both
groups performed a classical verb fluency task. Sequential word-by-word
analyses were conducted.Results:Significant differences were found at the initial production of whole-body
MAVs and the overall production of instrumental verbs (both measures were
lower in the PD group). A repeated-measures analysis of variance confirmed
the linear CG performance and the quadratic PD performance.Conclusions:PD patients present altered production of whole-body and instrumental MAVs.
This proposal for the semantic sequential analysis of motor verbs deserves
further investigation, as a new methodology for the evaluation of fluency
performance in motor-related disease.