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Multiple Choice

Which syndrome is characterized by loss of semantic knowledge with fluent speech, poor naming, and poor verbal comprehension, while episodic memory remains relatively preserved?

This profile reflects a selective loss of semantic knowledge with fluent speech and impaired naming and verbal comprehension, while episodic memory remains relatively spared. That pattern is characteristic of semantic dementia, also called semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. It results from degeneration of the anterior temporal lobes, which erodes conceptual knowledge and word meanings, producing fluent but empty speech, naming difficulties, and poor understanding of words and objects. Episodic memory stays intact early on because it relies on different brain systems. The other options don’t fit this precise dissociation: the logopenic variant involves slower, halting speech with impaired repetition and phonological errors but relatively preserved semantic knowledge; Huntington disease centers on motor and executive dysfunction; HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder tends to show more global cognitive decline rather than a selective semantic loss.

This profile reflects a selective loss of semantic knowledge with fluent speech and impaired naming and verbal comprehension, while episodic memory remains relatively spared. That pattern is characteristic of semantic dementia, also called semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. It results from degeneration of the anterior temporal lobes, which erodes conceptual knowledge and word meanings, producing fluent but empty speech, naming difficulties, and poor understanding of words and objects. Episodic memory stays intact early on because it relies on different brain systems. The other options don’t fit this precise dissociation: the logopenic variant involves slower, halting speech with impaired repetition and phonological errors but relatively preserved semantic knowledge; Huntington disease centers on motor and executive dysfunction; HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder tends to show more global cognitive decline rather than a selective semantic loss.