Effects of Vascular Dementia on Cognition and Linguistic Communication: A Case Study

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia after Alzheimer's's disease. The purpose of this case report is to describe the evolution and progression of vascular dementia over two years and detail its effects on multiple measures of cognition and linguistic communication. Methods: Data from multiple sources (e.g., medical records, direct testing, staff reports, and client observations) has been integrated to provide a detailed report of the effects of vascular dementia on global cognitive status and on specific domains of attention, episodic and semantic memory, executive function, visuospatial ability, linguistic comprehension, and linguistic expression. Results and Conclusions: Vascular dementia affects multiple cognitive domains including language and communicative function. Clinical implications are presented for choice of tests and language tasks for evaluating the effects of vascular dementia on linguistic communication.