Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: August 30, 2011
The importance of being apt: metaphor comprehension in Alzheimer's disease
Carlos Roncero1, Roberto G de Almeida1
1Department of Psychology, Concordia University Montreal, QC, Canada.
Abstract:
We investigated the effect of aptness in the comprehension of copular metaphors (e.g., Lawyers are sharks) by Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients. Aptness is the extent to which the vehicle (e.g., shark) captures salient properties of the topic (e.g., lawyers). A group of AD patients provided interpretations for metaphors that varied both in aptness and familiarity. Compared to healthy controls, AD patients produced worse interpretations, but interpretation ability was related to a metaphor's aptness rather than to its familiarity level, and patients with superior abstraction ability produced better interpretations. Therefore, the ability to construct figurative interpretations for metaphors is not always diminished in AD patients nor is it dependent only on the novelty level of the expression. We show that Alzheimer's patients' capacity to build figurative interpretations for metaphors is related to both item variables, such as aptness, and participant variables, such as abstraction ability.
More Related Videos
06:48Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
07:07Analysis of Learning and Memory Ability in an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model using the Morris Water Maze
Published on: October 29, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ...
Dementia l: Introduction
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Alzheimer's Disease: Treatment
Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual....