Executive functions predict time reference processing in French-speaking people with Alzheimer's disease.

Evodie Schaffner, Mélanie Sandoz, Noémie Auclair-Ouellet, Jean-François Démonet, Marion Fossard

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Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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5 authors.

Evodie SchaffnerInstitute of Logopedic Sciences, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Neuchâtel, Rue de la Pierre-à-Mazel 7, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. evodie.schaffner@unine.ch.

Mélanie SandozInstitute of Logopedic Sciences, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Neuchâtel, Rue de la Pierre-à-Mazel 7, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Noémie Auclair-OuelletSchool of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, 2001 av. McGill College, Montreal, QC, H3A 1G1, Canada.

Jean-François DémonetLeenaards Memory Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Mont-Paisible 16, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Marion FossardInstitute of Logopedic Sciences, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Neuchâtel, Rue de la Pierre-à-Mazel 7, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Funding

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung 10001F_197862

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ability to express time through language, known as time reference, is impaired in people with Alzheimer's disease. While cognitive impairments have been documented in this population, particularly in executive functions, few studies have examined how these deficits impact time reference abilities, including tense and grammatical aspect. Since producing time reference requires the integration of grammatical, conceptual, and subjective information, potentially demanding in processing resources, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the cognitive profile (i.e., executive function abilities) of French-speaking people with biologically probable Alzheimer's disease determines their ability in time reference. Verb inflection tasks and cognitive tests were administered to 21 people with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid or amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) biomarkers and a control group. Results revealed that individuals with Alzheimer's disease have difficulty with tense and aspect marking, with verbal working memory, inhibition, and mental flexibility playing a significant role in time reference processing. These findings suggest that deficits in executive functions impact the ability of French speakers with Alzheimer's disease to mark tense and grammatical aspect, highlighting the cognitive basis of time reference impairments in this population.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseExecutive FunctionAgedAged, 80 and overCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansInhibition, PsychologicalLanguageLinguisticsMaleMemory, Short-TermMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsPositron-Emission TomographyAlzheimer diseaseAspectExecutive functionsTenseTime referenceWorking memory

Identifiers

PMID41107353

DOI10.1038/s41598-025-20297-y

PMCPMC12534555

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.