Speech Therapy in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Pilot Study

In this article, we explore the symptoms, cause, treatment potential, and supportive services for individuals diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). Although it is possible to regain certain cognitive abilities with stroke or brain injury, in PPA, language abilities worsen and other symptoms emerge with time, shortening the lifespan. The goal of speech therapy for PPA is not to regain lost language, but rather to maximize communication for as long as possible. In this article, we offer information and tools for speech-language pathologists to help people living with PPA achieve these goals and improve overall quality of life.

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Transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of primary progressive aphasia: An open-label pilot study

Brain and Language ◽

10.1016/j.bandl.2016.05.007 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 162 ◽

pp. 35-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Felix Gervits ◽

Sharon Ash ◽

H. Branch Coslett ◽

Katya Rascovsky ◽

Murray Grossman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Direct Current ◽

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Open Label ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Direct Current Stimulation ◽

Primary Progressive

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Errorless Learning Therapy in Semantic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-200904 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 415-422

Author(s):

Núria Montagut ◽

Sergi Borrego-Écija ◽

Magdalena Castellví ◽

Immaculada Rico ◽

Ramón Reñé ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Speech Therapy ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Semantic Knowledge ◽

Errorless Learning ◽

Short Term ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Semantic Variant ◽

Naming Tasks

Background: The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is characterized by a progressive loss of semantic knowledge impairing the ability to name and to recognize the meaning of words. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the immediate and short-term effect of errorless learning speech therapy on the naming and recognition of commonly used words in patients with svPPA. Methods: Eight participants diagnosed with svPPA received 16 sessions of intensive errorless learning speech therapy. Naming and word comprehension tasks were evaluated at baseline, immediately postintervention, and at follow-up after 1, 3, and 6 months. These evaluations were performed using two item sets (a trained list and an untrained list). Results: In the naming tasks, patients showed a significant improvement in trained items immediately after the intervention, but that improvement decayed progressively when therapy ended. No improvements were found either in trained comprehension or in untrained tasks. Conclusion: Errorless learning therapy could improve naming ability in patients with svPPA. This effect may be due to the relative preservation of episodic memory, but the benefit is not maintained over time, presumably because there is no consolidation.

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Effects of tDCS on Sound Duration in Patients with Apraxia of Speech in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11030335 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 335

Author(s):

Charalambos Themistocleous ◽

Kimberly Webster ◽

Kyrana Tsapkini

Keyword(s):

Speech Therapy ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽

Motor Disorder ◽

Apraxia Of Speech ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Progressive Aphasia ◽

Primary Progressive ◽

Post Stroke ◽

Sound Duration

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was found to improve oral and written naming in post-stroke and primary progressive aphasia (PPA), speech fluency in stuttering, a developmental speech-motor disorder, and apraxia of speech (AOS) symptoms in post-stroke aphasia. This paper addressed the question of whether tDCS over the left IFG coupled with speech therapy may improve sound duration in patients with apraxia of speech (AOS) symptoms in non-fluent PPA (nfvPPA/AOS) more than sham. Eight patients with non-fluent PPA/AOS received either active or sham tDCS, along with speech therapy for 15 sessions. Speech therapy involved repeating words of increasing syllable-length. Evaluations took place before, immediately after, and two months post-intervention. Words were segmented into vowels and consonants and the duration of each vowel and consonant was measured. Segmental duration was significantly shorter after tDCS compared to sham and tDCS gains generalized to untrained words. The effects of tDCS sustained over two months post-treatment in trained and untrained sounds. Taken together, these results demonstrate that tDCS over the left IFG may facilitate speech production by reducing segmental duration. The results provide preliminary evidence that tDCS may maximize efficacy of speech therapy in patients with nfvPPA/AOS.

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