scholarly journals Semantic and logopenic primary progressive aphasia differ in pitch variation during a motor speech task

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (S6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Pressman ◽  
Eric Lemieux ◽  
Gordon Matthewson ◽  
Chris O'Neill ◽  
Elliott D. Ross
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1290-1290
Author(s):  
L Perez

Abstract Objective Often, individuals with lower educational attainment and limited proficiency in the English language get misdiagnosed and/or undertreated, which can impact their quality of life and other outcomes. The present case study intends to review and discuss the presentation of a monolingual, Spanish-speaking woman with Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA), who was originally referred for a neuropsychological evaluation to determine the severity of her existing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) diagnosis. Case Description Ms. X, is a 64-year-old, right-handed Hispanic woman with 6 years of education. Symptoms included forgetfulness, restlessness, and insomnia. Her family reported that she was repeating her ideas frequently during conversations and failing to recognize previously acquainted people, including her own relatives. A recent MRI of the brain showed anterior temporal lobe atrophy. Diagnostic Impressions and Outcomes Overall, she showed naming deficits (anomia), impaired verbal fluency, surface dyslexia, and significant problems with comprehension. Executive functioning, sentence repetition, working memory, and attention were generally intact. Qualitatively, her speech was apparently fluent and automatic, yet clearly empty in meaning. In Ms. X’s case, collateral reports of word-finding difficulties, tendency to repeat her thoughts incessantly, associative agnosia and prosopagnosia, and spared repetition and motor speech are strongly indicative of svPPA. Discussion svPPA primarily impacts language production and comprehension, and is characterized by severe anomia, word-finding difficulties, impaired single word comprehension, and in some cases, defective recognition of familiar faces. On testing, impairments can be observed in confrontation naming, with motor speech and repetition, working memory, episodic memory, visuospatial skills, and problem-solving skills relatively intact. Language symptoms are thought to stem from deficits of the semantic system.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naida L. Graham ◽  
Carol Leonard ◽  
David F. Tang-Wai ◽  
Sandra Black ◽  
Tiffany W. Chow ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: Frank agrammatism, defined as the omission and/or substitution of grammatical morphemes with associated grammatical errors, is variably reported in patients with nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfPPA). This study addressed whether frank agrammatism is typical in agrammatic nfPPA patients when this feature is not required for diagnosis. Method: We assessed grammatical production in 9 patients who satisfied current diagnostic criteria. Although the focus was agrammatism, motor speech skills were also evaluated to determine whether dysfluency arose primarily from apraxia of speech (AOS), instead of, or in addition to, agrammatism. Volumetric MRI analyses provided impartial imaging-supported diagnosis. Results: The majority of cases exhibited neither frank agrammatism nor AOS. Conclusion: There are nfPPA patients with imaging-supported diagnosis and preserved motor speech skills who do not exhibit frank agrammatism, and this may persist beyond the earliest stages of the illness. Because absence of frank agrammatism is a subsidiary diagnostic feature in the logopenic variant of PPA, this result has implications for differentiation of the nonfluent and logopenic variants, and indicates that PPA patients with nonfluent speech in the absence of frank agrammatism or AOS do not necessarily have the logopenic variant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1S) ◽  
pp. 498-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Clark ◽  
Rene L. Utianski ◽  
Joseph R. Duffy ◽  
Edythe A. Strand ◽  
Hugo Botha ◽  
...  

Purpose The primary aim was to examine the utility of the Western Aphasia Battery–Revised (WAB-R; Kertesz, 2007 ) for classifying variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Traditional WAB-R metrics of Aphasia Quotient (AQ), subtest scores, WAB-R classification, and several novel metrics were examined. A secondary aim was to examine these same WAB-R metrics in individuals with primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS). Method A retrospective analysis of WAB-R records from 169 participants enrolled in a study of neurodegenerative speech and language disorders was conducted. PPA/PPAOS classification was determined by consensus review of speech, language, and cognitive profiles. Scores on each of the WAB-R subtests were obtained to derive AQ, WAB-R aphasia profile, and 3 ratios reflecting relative performance on subtests. Results Mean AQ was significantly higher in the PPAOS group compared to all PPA variants except primary fluent aphasia. AQ above the normal cutoff was observed for 20% of participants with PPA. Significant main effects of group were noted for each of the subtests. Follow-up comparisons most frequently discriminated PPAOS, primary agrammatic aphasia (PAA), and logopenic progressive aphasia. Primary fluent aphasia and semantic dementia (SD) subtest scores were less distinctive, with the exception of Naming for SD, which was significantly lower than for PAA and PPAOS. When the WAB-R AQ detected aphasia, a classification of anomic aphasia was most frequently observed; this pattern held true for each of the PPA variants. The mean Information Content:Naming ratio was highest for SD, and the mean Comprehension:Fluency ratio was highest for PAA. Conclusions In the current study, AQ underestimated the presence of PPA and WAB-R classification did not distinguish among PPA classification determined by consensus. Performance on individual subtests and relative performance across subtests demonstrated inconsistent alignment with PPA classification. We conclude the WAB-R in isolation is inadequate to detect or characterize PPA. We instead suggest utilizing the WAB-R as 1 component of a comprehensive language and motor speech assessment when PPA is suspected.


Cortex ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 66-79
Author(s):  
Anja Staiger ◽  
Matthias L. Schroeter ◽  
Wolfram Ziegler ◽  
Theresa Schölderle ◽  
Sarah Anderl-Straub ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (7S_Part_19) ◽  
pp. P886-P886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ann Eastman ◽  
Adam Martersteck ◽  
Alfred Rademaker ◽  
M.-Marsel Mesulam ◽  
Sandra Weintraub ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talita Gallas dos Reis ◽  
Thais Helena Machado ◽  
Paulo Caramelli ◽  
Francisco Scornavacca ◽  
Liana Lisboa Fernandez ◽  
...  

Background: Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is characterized by progressive language impairment due to focal degeneration of brain areas related to linguistic processing. The detection and differential diagnosis of PPA can be difficult with clinical features that may overlap with features of other neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The scientific production on PPA in Latin American patients is still scarce. This study investigated the first symptoms in a Brazilian sample of patients with PPA in comparison with AD patients.Method: We compared the first symptoms reported by caregivers of people with PPA (n = 20; semantic variant n = 8, non-fluent variant n = 7, logopenic variant n = 3, and unclassified cases n = 2) and AD (n = 16). Data were collected through the application of a structured questionnaire that was presented in an interview format to the caregiver who knew the patient best.Results: Anomia, paraphasias and motor speech difficulties were the first symptoms capable of differentiating patients with PPA from those with AD, while memory was exclusive of AD. Among the PPA variants, anomia was the initial symptom associated with the semantic variant, while motor speech difficulties were associated with the non-fluent variant. The results are discussed considering the unique cultural and sociodemographic characteristics of this studied population.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that some of the initial symptoms of PPA patients may be unique to clinical variants of PPA and of AD, and their investigation may be useful for the early and differential diagnosis of this population.


Neurology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (17) ◽  
pp. e1992-e2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Cordella ◽  
Megan Quimby ◽  
Alexandra Touroutoglou ◽  
Michael Brickhouse ◽  
Bradford C. Dickerson ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether a quantitative speech measure is effective in identifying and monitoring motor speech impairment (MSI) in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and to investigate the neuroanatomical basis of MSI in PPA.MethodsSixty-four patients with PPA were evaluated at baseline, with a subset (n = 39) evaluated longitudinally. Articulation rate (AR), a quantitative measure derived from spontaneous speech, was measured at each time point. MRI was collected at baseline. Differences in baseline AR were assessed across PPA subtypes, separated by severity level. Linear mixed-effects models were conducted to assess groups differences across PPA subtypes in rate of decline in AR over a 1-year period. Cortical thickness measured from baseline MRIs was used to test hypotheses about the relationship between cortical atrophy and MSI.ResultsBaseline AR was reduced for patients with nonfluent variant PPA (nfvPPA) compared to other PPA subtypes and controls, even in mild stages of disease. Longitudinal results showed a greater rate of decline in AR for the nfvPPA group over 1 year compared to the logopenic and semantic variant subgroups. Reduced baseline AR was associated with cortical atrophy in left-hemisphere premotor and supplementary motor cortices.ConclusionsThe AR measure is an effective quantitative index of MSI that detects MSI in mild disease stages and tracks decline in MSI longitudinally. The AR measure also demonstrates anatomic localization to motor speech–specific cortical regions. Our findings suggest that this quantitative measure of MSI might have utility in diagnostic evaluation and monitoring of MSI in PPA.


2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Poole ◽  
Amy Brodtmann ◽  
David Darby ◽  
Adam P. Vogel

Purpose Our purpose was to create a comprehensive review of speech impairment in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and progressive apraxia of speech in order to identify the most effective measures for diagnosis and monitoring, and to elucidate associations between speech and neuroimaging. Method Speech and neuroimaging data described in studies of FTD and PPA were systematically reviewed. A meta-analysis was conducted for speech measures that were used consistently in multiple studies. Results The methods and nomenclature used to describe speech in these disorders varied between studies. Our meta-analysis identified 3 speech measures which differentiate variants or healthy control-group participants (e.g., nonfluent and logopenic variants of PPA from all other groups, behavioral-variant FTD from a control group). Deficits within the frontal-lobe speech networks are linked to motor speech profiles of the nonfluent variant of PPA and progressive apraxia of speech. Motor speech impairment is rarely reported in semantic and logopenic variants of PPA. Limited data are available on motor speech impairment in the behavioral variant of FTD. Conclusions Our review identified several measures of speech which may assist with diagnosis and classification, and consolidated the brain–behavior associations relating to speech in FTD, PPA, and progressive apraxia of speech.


Aphasiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 1004-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Duffy ◽  
Edythe A. Strand ◽  
Keith A. Josephs

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