A PRELIMINARY STUDY INVESTIGATING THE NAMING AND NARRATIVE DISCOURSE SKILLS IN THREE VARIANTS OF PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE APHASIA (PPA): SEMANTIC, LOGOPENIC, AND NON-FLUENT/AGRAMMATIC
Abstract
Introduction: Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a diagnostic term that refers to the progressive deterioration of speech and language skills while cognitive skills are preserved. The aim of this study was to explore the naming and narrative discourse skills of participants diagnosed with one of the three subtypes of a primary progressive aphasia (PPA).
Methods & Procedures: Four participants with a primary diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia participated in this descriptive study. Each participant was administered a battery of cognitive and language measures including the Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE), the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE), and the Pyramids and Palm Trees Test (P & PT). Each participant was asked to complete a narrative discourse task using the Cookie Theft picture from the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE).
Results: The preliminary results of this study revealed that: the participant with Semantic PPA scored significantly lower on the SMMSE and the P & PT Test. In addition, this participant had a decreased MLU during the narrative task as exemplified by a decreased number of utterances and morphemes. The participant with Logopenic PPA had no impairments in memory or cognition as indicated by their score on the SMMSE. One participant with Agrammatic PPA (A1) did not have any impairment in memory or cognition compared to the other participant with Agrammatic PPA (A2), who had mild impairment in memory and cognition.
Discussion and Conclusions: The results of this study revealed information about the core deficits of the participants diagnosed with the subtypes of PPA.
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References
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