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Medical Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Nov 2023Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive impairments in behavior, executive function, and language, primarily affecting... (Review)
Review
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive impairments in behavior, executive function, and language, primarily affecting individuals under the age of 65. This disorder is associated with expressive and receptive anomia, word comprehension deficits, and behavioral symptoms such as apathy, loss of empathy, and disinhibition, all of which closely correlate with functional impairment in daily activities. Despite substantial efforts, research on occupational therapy (OT) interventions has yet to demonstrate clear benefits in managing the disease. The aim of this study is to investigate OT interventions and assess their efficacy, with a specific focus on individuals suffering from FTD. We systematically conducted searches on two databases, namely Medline and Science Direct, spanning a ten-year period from 2003 to 2023, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. OT interventions targeted both patients and caregivers and yielded significant positive improvements in their lives. A key focus of these interventions was to teach acceptable alternatives to the behaviors exhibited by FTD patients, as these behaviors are strongly influenced by the disease itself. OT contributes positively to enhancing the quality of life of FTD patients and alleviating the caregiving burden experienced by those providing long-term care to these patients.
Topics: Humans; Frontotemporal Dementia; Occupational Therapy; Quality of Life; Pick Disease of the Brain; Caregivers
PubMed: 37987326
DOI: 10.3390/medsci11040071 -
Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences 2023The current study employed interrupted time series (ITS) models to analyze all available (published and unpublished) Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training...
The current study employed interrupted time series (ITS) models to analyze all available (published and unpublished) Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training (AbSANT) data. AbSANT is a semantically focused anomia treatment that targets not only concrete but abstract words, unique among existing anomia treatments. However, evidence to date for the positive effects of AbSANT comes only from small-sample, single-subject design studies, limiting the strength of this evidence and the inferences that can be drawn from it. The statistical power and greater representativeness afforded by this larger aggregated sample enabled us to look for group-level efficacy evidence for AbSANT, examine specific questions about AbSANT's direct training and generalization effects, and identify potential predictors and mechanisms of AbSANT treatment response. We found that across 33 participants from four different data sources, AbSANT appears to be a robust word retrieval therapy protocol, with overall direct training and generalization effects that were more meaningful than exposure effects. Similar to previous smaller-sample study conclusions, we found that in this large sample, training abstract words results not only in larger direct training effects than training concrete words, but also larger generalization effects, suggesting that while AbSANT successfully improves both abstract and concrete word retrieval, it may be better suited for training abstract words. In general, direct training effects were more persistent after treatment ended than generalization effects and effects for concrete words were more persistent than for abstract words. Additionally, the effects of generalization appear to be distinct from the effects of simple exposure to words, and generalization effects are consistent with AbSANT's hypothesized mechanism of action: spreading activation from directly trained concepts to related concepts. Also consistent with this mechanism, we found that milder aphasia and both conceptual and lexical semantic processing ability predicted both direct training and generalization gains, and that executive function was predictive of generalization effects. These factors are thus important to consider when evaluating the appropriateness of AbSANT for individual clients.
PubMed: 37608806
DOI: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1017389 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Sep 2023The relationship between language and thought is the subject of long-standing debate. One claim states that language facilitates categorization of objects based on a...
The relationship between language and thought is the subject of long-standing debate. One claim states that language facilitates categorization of objects based on a certain feature (e.g. color) through the use of category labels that reduce interference from other, irrelevant features. Therefore, language impairment is expected to affect categorization of items grouped by a single feature (low-dimensional categories, e.g. "Yellow Things") more than categorization of items that share many features (high-dimensional categories, e.g. "Animals"). To test this account, we conducted two behavioral studies with individuals with aphasia and an fMRI experiment with healthy adults. The aphasia studies showed that selective low-dimensional categorization impairment was present in some, but not all, individuals with severe anomia and was not characteristic of aphasia in general. fMRI results revealed little activity in language-responsive brain regions during both low- and high-dimensional categorization; instead, categorization recruited the domain-general multiple-demand network (involved in wide-ranging cognitive tasks). Combined, results demonstrate that the language system is not implicated in object categorization. Instead, selective low-dimensional categorization impairment might be caused by damage to brain regions responsible for cognitive control. Our work adds to the growing evidence of the dissociation between the language system and many cognitive tasks in adults.
Topics: Humans; Adult; Language; Brain; Aphasia
PubMed: 37557910
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad289 -
ORL; Journal For Oto-rhino-laryngology... 2024The structures of the skull and the brain are related to each other. Prior work in individuals with isolated congenital anosmia (ICA) showed that these individuals were...
INTRODUCTION
The structures of the skull and the brain are related to each other. Prior work in individuals with isolated congenital anosmia (ICA) showed that these individuals were characterized by olfactory bulb (OB) defects. The aim of this study was to compare the morphological pattern of the anterior skull base surrounding the OB between individuals with ICA and normosmic controls. We meant to investigate whether these features can help distinguish abnormalities from normal variation.
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective study to acquire T2-weighted magnetic resonance images from individuals diagnosed with ICA (n = 31) and healthy, normosmic controls matched for age and gender (n = 62). Between both groups, we compared the depth and width of the olfactory fossa, the angle of the ethmoidal fovea, as well as the angle of the lateral lamella of the cribriform plate. Within the ICA group, we further performed subgroup analyses based on the presence or absence of the OB, to investigate whether the morphology of the anterior skull base relates to the presence of OBs. The diagnostic performance of these parameters was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis.
RESULTS
Individuals with ICA exhibited a flattened ethmoid roof and shallower olfactory fossa when compared to controls. Further, the absence of the OB was found to be associated with a higher degree of flattening of the ethmoid roof and a shallow olfactory fossa. We reached the results in the following areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves: 0.80 - angle of fovea ethmoidalis, 0.76 - depth of olfactory fossa, 0.70 - angle of lateral lamella of the cribriform plate for significant differentiation between individuals with ICA and normosmic controls.
CONCLUSION
Individuals with ICA exhibited an unusual anterior skull base surrounding the OB. This study supports the idea of an integrated development of OB and anterior skull base. Hence, the morphological pattern of the anterior skull base surrounding the OB helps distinguish individuals with ICA from normosmic controls and may therefore be useful for the diagnosis of ICA, although it is certainly not an invariable sign of congenital anosmia.
Topics: Humans; Retrospective Studies; Ethmoid Bone; Skull Base; Olfaction Disorders
PubMed: 37607521
DOI: 10.1159/000532077 -
Brain Stimulation 2023"Wernicke's area" is most often used to describe the posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and refers to a region traditionally thought to support language...
BACKGROUND
"Wernicke's area" is most often used to describe the posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and refers to a region traditionally thought to support language comprehension. However, the posterior STG additionally plays a critical role in language production. The purpose of the current study was to determine to what extent regions within the posterior STG are selectively recruited during language production.
METHODS
23 healthy right-handed participants completed an auditory fMRI localizer task, resting-state fMRI and underwent neuronavigated TMS language mapping. We applied repetitive TMS bursts during a picture naming paradigm to probe speech disruptions of different categories (anomia, speech arrest, semantic paraphasia and phonological paraphasia). We combined an in-house built high precision stimulation software suite with E-field modeling to map the naming errors to cortical regions and revealed a dissociation of language functions within the temporal gyrus. Resting state fMRI was used to explain how E-field peaks of different categories differentially affected language production.
RESULTS
Peaks for phonological and semantic errors were found in the STG while those for anomia and speech arrest were located in the MTG. Seed-based connectivity analysis revealed a local connectivity pattern for phonological and semantic errors, while anomia and speech arrest seeds resulted in a larger network between IFG and posterior MTG.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study provides important insights into the functional neuroanatomy of language production and might help to increase the current understanding of specific language production difficulties on a causal level.
Topics: Humans; Anomia; Brain Mapping; Language; Temporal Lobe; Semantics; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 37390891
DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2023.06.014 -
Brain Sciences Dec 2023Naming decline is one of the most common symptoms of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Most studies on anomia in PPA are performed without taking into account PPA...
Naming decline is one of the most common symptoms of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Most studies on anomia in PPA are performed without taking into account PPA variants, especially for action naming. Only limited data are available for the neuroanatomical basis of anomia considering differences in the pathogenesis of PPAs. The aim of our study is to investigate the associations between anomia severity for both noun and verb naming and gray matter (GM) atrophy, as well as accompanying functional connectivity (FC) changes in three PPA variants. A total of 17 patients with non-fluent (nfvPPA), 11 with semantic (svPPA), and 9 with logopenic (lvPPA) PPA variants were included in the study and underwent cognitive/naming assessments and brain MRIs. Voxel-based morphometry was performed to evaluate GM volume. A resting-state functional MRI was applied to investigate FC changes in the identified GM areas. The study shows that different brain regions are involved in naming decline in each PPA variant with a predominantly temporal lobe involvement in svPPA, parietal lobe involvement in lvPPA, and frontal lobe involvement in nfvPPA. Separate data for object and action naming in PPA variants are provided. The obtained results mainly correspond to the current understanding of language processing and indicate that the evaluation of language impairments is preferable for each PPA variant separately. A further analysis of larger cohorts of patients is necessary to confirm these preliminary results.
PubMed: 38137151
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121703 -
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2023We report the clinical presentation and evolution of a case with a novel Progranulin gene () mutation and non-fluent language disturbances at onset.
OBJECTIVES
We report the clinical presentation and evolution of a case with a novel Progranulin gene () mutation and non-fluent language disturbances at onset.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A 60 year-old, white patient was followed due to a history of language disturbances. Eighteen months after onset, the patient underwent FDG positron emission tomography (PET), and at month 24 was hospitalized to perform neuropsychological evaluation, brain 3 T MRI, lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, and genotyping. At month 31, the patient repeated the neuropsychological evaluation and brain MRI.
RESULTS
At onset the patient complained prominent language production difficulties, such as effortful speech and anomia. At month 18, FDG-PET showed left fronto-temporal and striatal hypometabolism. At month 24, the neuropsychological evaluation reported prevalent speech and comprehension deficits. Brain MRI reported left fronto-opercular and striatal atrophy, and left frontal periventricular white matter hyperintensities (WMHs). Increased CSF total tau level was observed. Genotyping revealed a new c.1018delC (p.H340TfsX21) mutation. The patient received a diagnosis of non-fluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA). At month 31, language deficits worsened, together with attention and executive functions. The patient presented also with behavioral disturbances, and a progressive atrophy in the left frontal-opercular and temporo-mesial region.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The new p.H340TfsX21 mutation resulted in a case of nfvPPA characterized by fronto-temporal and striatal alterations, typical frontal asymmetric WMHs, and a fast progression toward a widespread cognitive and behavioral impairment, which reflects a frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Our findings extend the current knowledge of the phenotypic heterogeneity among mutation carriers.
PubMed: 37383099
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1204504 -
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2024Visual naming ability reflects semantic memory retrieval and is a hallmark deficit of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Naming impairment is most prominently observed in the...
INTRODUCTION
Visual naming ability reflects semantic memory retrieval and is a hallmark deficit of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Naming impairment is most prominently observed in the late-onset amnestic and logopenic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (lvPPA) syndromes. However, little is known about how other patients across the atypical AD syndromic spectrum perform on tests of auditory naming, particularly those with primary visuospatial deficits (Posterior Cortical Atrophy; PCA) and early onset (EOAD) syndromes. Auditory naming tests may be of particular relevance to more accurately measuring anomia in PCA syndrome and in others with visual perceptual deficits.
METHODS
Forty-six patients with biomarker-confirmed AD (16 PCA, 12 lvPPA, 18 multi-domain EOAD), at the stage of mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, were administered the Auditory Naming Test (ANT). Performance differences between groups were evaluated using one-way ANOVA and -tests. Correlation analyses were used to examine ANT performance in relation to measures of working memory and word retrieval to elucidate cognitive mechanisms underlying word retrieval deficits. Whole-cortex general linear models were generated to determine the relationship between ANT performance and cortical atrophy.
RESULTS
Based on published cutoffs, out of a total possible score of 50 on the ANT, 56% of PCA patients (mean score = 45.3), 83% of EOAD patients (mean = 39.2), and 83% of lvPPA patients (mean = 29.8) were impaired. Total uncued ANT performance differed across groups, with lvPPA performing most poorly, followed by EOAD, and then PCA. ANT performance was still impaired in lvPPA and EOAD after cuing, while performance in PCA patients improved to the normal range with phonemic cues. ANT performance was also directly correlated with measures of verbal fluency and working memory, and was associated with cortical atrophy in a circumscribed semantic language network.
DISCUSSION
Auditory confrontation naming is impaired across the syndromic spectrum of AD including in PCA and EOAD, and is likely related to auditory-verbal working memory and verbal fluency which represent the nexus of language and executive functions. The left-lateralized semantic language network was implicated in ANT performance. Auditory naming, in the absence of a visual perceptual demand, may be particularly sensitive to measuring naming deficits in PCA.
PubMed: 38327846
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1342928 -
American Journal of Speech-language... Sep 2023This study tested the effectiveness of a modified semantic feature analysis (SFA) treatment protocol that incorporated metacognitive strategy training (MST). Regarding...
PURPOSE
This study tested the effectiveness of a modified semantic feature analysis (SFA) treatment protocol that incorporated metacognitive strategy training (MST). Regarding its restitutive component, SFA most reliably results in improved word retrieval for treated items and untreated, semantically related items, but evidence of response generalization is often small/inconsistent. Regarding its substitutive component, SFA is thought to facilitate successful communication via habituation of the SFA circumlocution strategy. However, repeated practice with SFA's strategy in the absence of direct MST may not result in independent strategy use and/or generalization. Furthermore, people with aphasia's independent use of the SFA strategy in moments of anomia is presently underreported. To address these limitations, we incorporated MST into SFA and directly measured substitutive outcomes.
METHOD
Four people with aphasia participated in 24 treatment sessions of SFA + MST in a single-subject, A-B experimental design with repeated measurements. We measured word retrieval accuracy, strategy use, and explicit strategy knowledge. We calculated effect sizes to measure changes in word retrieval accuracy and strategy use and used visual inspection to assess gains in explicit strategy knowledge from pre- to posttreatment and retention.
RESULTS
Participants achieved marginally small to medium effects in word retrieval accuracy for treated; untreated, semantically related; and untreated, semantically unrelated items and marginally small to large effects in independent strategy use. Explicit strategy knowledge was variable.
CONCLUSIONS
Across participants, SFA + MST yielded positive changes in word retrieval accuracy or strategy use, or both. Positive changes in word retrieval accuracy were comparable to other SFA studies. Positive changes in strategy use demonstrate preliminary evidence of this treatment's ability to yield restitutive and substitutive gains. Overall, this study offers preliminary evidence of SFA + MST's effectiveness and highlights the importance of directly measuring SFA's substitutive outcomes, which showed that people with aphasia can respond to this treatment in multiple successful ways-not just improved target word production.
Topics: Humans; Semantics; Language Therapy; Aphasia; Anomia; Generalization, Psychological
PubMed: 37433115
DOI: 10.1044/2023_AJSLP-22-00230