Taxonomic Interference Associated with Phonemic Paraphasias in Agrammatic Primary Progressive Aphasia

Abstract Phonemic paraphasias are thought to reflect phonological (post-semantic) deficits in language production. Here we present evidence that phonemic paraphasias in non-semantic primary progressive aphasia (PPA) may be associated with taxonomic interference. Agrammatic and logopenic PPA patients and control participants performed a word-to-picture visual search task where they matched a stimulus noun to 1 of 16 object pictures as their eye movements were recorded. Participants were subsequently asked to name the same items. We measured taxonomic interference (ratio of time spent viewing related vs. unrelated foils) during the search task for each item. Target items that elicited a phonemic paraphasia during object naming elicited increased taxonomic interference during the search task in agrammatic but not logopenic PPA patients. These results could reflect either very subtle sub-clinical semantic distortions of word representations or partial degradation of specific phonological word forms in agrammatic PPA during both word-to-picture matching (input stage) and picture naming (output stage). The mechanism for phonemic paraphasias in logopenic patients seems to be different and to be operative at the pre-articulatory stage of phonological retrieval. Glucose metabolic imaging suggests that degeneration in the left posterior frontal lobe and left temporo-parietal junction, respectively, might underlie these different patterns of phonemic paraphasia.

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A disease‐specific metabolic imaging marker for diagnosis and progression evaluation of semantic variant primary progressive aphasia

European Journal of Neurology ◽

10.1111/ene.14919 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jiaying Lu ◽

Lin Huang ◽

Yingru Lv ◽

Shichun Peng ◽

Qian Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Metabolic Imaging ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Semantic Variant ◽

Disease Specific

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A Case of a Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Latina with Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA)

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/acz029.57 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (7) ◽

pp. 1290-1290

Author(s):

L Perez

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Language Production ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Motor Speech ◽

Problem Solving Skills ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

Word Finding ◽

Semantic Variant

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.

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Quantitative Analysis of Agrammatism in Agrammatic Primary Progressive Aphasia and Dominant Apraxia of Speech

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2018_jslhr-l-17-0474 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 61 (9) ◽

pp. 2337-2346 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Katerina A. Tetzloff ◽

Rene L. Utianski ◽

Joseph R. Duffy ◽

Heather M. Clark ◽

Edythe A. Strand ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Broca’S Area ◽

Apraxia Of Speech ◽

Broca's Area ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Semantic Errors ◽

Description Task ◽

Mean Length Of Utterance

Purpose The aims of the study were to assess and compare grammatical deficits in written and spoken language production in subjects with agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (agPPA) and in subjects with agrammatism in the context of dominant apraxia of speech (DAOS) and to investigate neuroanatomical correlates. Method Eight agPPA and 21 DAOS subjects performed the picture description task of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) both in writing and orally. Responses were transcribed and coded for linguistic analysis. agPPA and DAOS were compared to 13 subjects with primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) who did not have agrammatism. Spearman correlations were performed between the written and spoken variables. Patterns of atrophy in each group were compared, and relationships between the different linguistic measures and integrity of Broca's area were assessed. Results agPPA and DAOS both showed lower mean length of utterance, fewer grammatical utterances, more nonutterances, more syntactic and semantic errors, and fewer complex utterances than PPAOS in writing and speech, as well as fewer correct verbs and nouns in speech. Only verb ratio and proportion of grammatical utterances correlated between modalities. agPPA and DAOS both showed greater involvement of Broca's area than PPAOS, and atrophy of Broca's area correlated with proportion of grammatical and ungrammatical utterances and semantic errors in writing and speech. Conclusions agPPA and DAOS subjects showed similar patterns of agrammatism, although subjects performed differently when speaking versus writing. Integrity of Broca's area correlates with agrammatism.

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Patterns of Dysgraphia in Primary Progressive Aphasia Compared to Post-Stroke Aphasia

Behavioural Neurology ◽

10.1155/2013/561692 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (1-2) ◽

pp. 21-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Andreia V. Faria ◽

Jenny Crinion ◽

Kyrana Tsapkini ◽

Melissa Newhart ◽

Cameron Davis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processes ◽

Imaging Techniques ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Focal Lesions ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Complex Process ◽

Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus ◽

Word Forms

We report patterns of dysgraphia in participants with primary progressive aphasia that can be explained by assuming disruption of one or more cognitive processes or representations in the complex process of spelling. These patterns are compared to those described in participants with focal lesions (stroke). Using structural imaging techniques, we found that damage to the left extrasylvian regions, including the uncinate, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and sagittal stratum (including geniculostriate pathway and inferior longitudinal fasciculus), as well as other deep white and grey matter structures, was significantly associated with impairments in access to orthographic word forms and semantics (with reliance on phonology-to-orthography to produce a plausible spelling in the spelling to dictation task). These results contribute not only to our understanding of the patterns of dysgraphia following acquired brain damage but also the neural substrates underlying spelling.

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Modality-Specific Deterioration in Naming Verbs in Nonfluent Primary Progressive Aphasia

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/089892902320474544 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 14 (7) ◽

pp. 1099-1108 ◽

Cited By ~ 91

Author(s):

Argye E. Hillis ◽

Elizabeth Tuffiash ◽

Alfonso Caramazza

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Specific Nature ◽

Grammatical Class ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Time Points ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Lexical Representations ◽

Written Production

A longitudinal study of oral and written naming and comprehension of nouns and verbs in an individual (M. M. L.) with nonfluent primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is reported. M. M. L. showed progressive deterioration of oral naming of verbs well before deterioration of written naming of verbs and before deterioration of oral or written naming of nouns. Her comprehension of both nouns and verbs remained intact, at least relative to oral naming of verbs. Her performance is compared to that of two other individuals with nonfluent PPA, who were tested at two time points. These patients showed similar patterns with respect to grammatical word class (verbs more impaired than nouns) and modality (spoken production more impaired than written production), but somewhat different courses of deterioration. The modality-specific nature of the observed verb production deficits rules out a semantic locus for the grammatical class effects. The results provide a new source of evidence for the hypothesis that there are distinct neural mechanisms for accessing lexical representations of nouns and verbs in language production.

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Written Language Impairments in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Reflection of Damage to Central Semantic and Phonological Processes

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00153 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 261-275 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Maya L. Henry ◽

Pélagie M. Beeson ◽

Gene E. Alexander ◽

Steven Z. Rapcsak

Keyword(s):

Phonological Processing ◽

Language Production ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Spoken Language ◽

Written Language ◽

Cortical Atrophy ◽

Language Performance ◽

Phonological Processes ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive

Connectionist theories of language propose that written language deficits arise as a result of damage to semantic and phonological systems that also support spoken language production and comprehension, a view referred to as the “primary systems” hypothesis. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the primary systems account in a mixed group of individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) by investigating the relation between measures of nonorthographic semantic and phonological processing and written language performance and by examining whether common patterns of cortical atrophy underlie impairments in spoken versus written language domains. Individuals with PPA and healthy controls were administered a language battery, including assessments of semantics, phonology, reading, and spelling. Voxel-based morphometry was used to examine the relation between gray matter volumes and language measures within brain regions previously implicated in semantic and phonological processing. In accordance with the primary systems account, our findings indicate that spoken language performance is strongly predictive of reading/spelling profile in individuals with PPA and suggest that common networks of critical left hemisphere regions support central semantic and phonological processes recruited for spoken and written language.

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Assessment of Individuals with Primary Progressive Aphasia

Seminars in Speech and Language ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1660782 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (03) ◽

pp. 231-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Stephanie Grasso ◽

Maya Henry

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Sentence Comprehension ◽

Comprehensive Evaluation ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Current Status ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Cognitive Linguistic ◽

Assessment And Treatment ◽

Detailed Assessment

AbstractSpeech–language pathologists play a crucial role in the assessment and treatment of individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The speech–language evaluation is a critical aspect of the diagnostic and rehabilitative process, informing differential diagnosis as well as intervention planning and monitoring of cognitive-linguistic status over time. The evaluation should include a thorough case history and interview and a detailed assessment of speech–language and cognitive functions, with tasks designed to detect core and associated deficits outlined in current diagnostic criteria. In this paper, we review assessments that can be utilized to examine communication and cognition in PPA, including general aphasia batteries designed for stroke and/or progressive aphasia as well as tests of specific cognitive-linguistic functions, including naming, object/person knowledge, single-word and sentence comprehension, repetition, spontaneous speech/language production, motor speech, written language, and nonlinguistic cognitive domains. The comprehensive evaluation can inform diagnostic decision making and facilitate planning of interventions that are tailored to the patient's current status and likely progression of deficits. As such, the speech–language evaluation allows the medical team to provide individuals with PPA and their families with appropriate recommendations for the present and the future.

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