This study explores the retrieval of proper names and the sensitivity of this lexical category to the modulatory
effect of cognitive reserve in an aging population. Thirty-two elderly patients, undergoing their first neuropsychological
evaluation were matched for age and education to thirty-two healthy controls. All participants were administered the Montreal
Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to measure their global cognitive performance, the Famous Face Naming test to assess proper name
retrieval, and the Cognitive Reserve Index (CRI) questionnaire to obtain an index of cognitive reserve. The two groups had
comparable CRI total scores, but patients’ performance was worse in both MoCA and Famous Face naming test, compared to healthy
controls. Results showed that cognitive reserve predicted global cognitive performance (i.e., MoCA score) in the patients, but not
in the healthy participants. Naming proper names was independent from cognitive reserve. This might be due to their lexical
nature, which lies in a poor semantic connection between proper names and their bearers.
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2023. The interactive support of cognitive reserve and semantic knowledge in proper name retrieval. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 38:1 ► pp. 77 ff.
2022. The Assessment of Cognitive Reserve: A Systematic Review of the Most Used Quantitative Measurement Methods of Cognitive Reserve for Aging. Frontiers in Psychology 13
Souza, Cristiane, Joana C. Carmo & Margarida V. Garrido
2022. Norms for pictures of proper names: contrasting famous people and well-known places in younger and older adults. Behavior Research Methods 55:3 ► pp. 1244 ff.
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2021. Cognitive Reserve and language processing demand in healthy older adults. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 36:6 ► pp. 758 ff.
2021. Differential Impact of Education on Cognitive Performance in Neurological Patients with Progressive Cognitive Decline. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 80:4 ► pp. 1491 ff.
Mueller, Kimberly D., Rebecca L. Koscik, Lianlian Du, Davide Bruno, Erin M. Jonaitis, Audra Z. Koscik, Bradley T. Christian, Tobey J. Betthauser, Nathaniel A. Chin, Bruce P. Hermann & Sterling C. Johnson
2020. Proper names from story recall are associated with beta-amyloid in cognitively unimpaired adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Cortex 131 ► pp. 137 ff.
Montemurro, Sonia, Sara Mondini, Chiara Crovace & Gonia Jarema
2019. Cognitive Reserve and Its Effect in Older Adults on Retrieval of Proper Names, Logo Names and Common Nouns. Frontiers in Communication 4
Montemurro, Sonia, Sara Mondini, Matteo Signorini, Anna Marchetto, Valentina Bambini & Giorgio Arcara
2019. Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve. Frontiers in Psychology 10
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