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Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.) Feb 2019This article reviews two of the primary progressive aphasias (PPAs), disorders characterized by the early and predominant impairment of language, and primary progressive... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
This article reviews two of the primary progressive aphasias (PPAs), disorders characterized by the early and predominant impairment of language, and primary progressive apraxia of speech, a degenerative motor speech disorder that is closely related to PPA. An outline of the history and controversy surrounding how these disorders are classified is provided before the article focuses on each disorder's clinical and imaging features.
RECENT FINDINGS
Over the past decade, the classification of degenerative speech and language disorders has been refined. Clinical, imaging, and pathologic evidence suggests that primary progressive apraxia of speech is a distinct degenerative disorder. Furthermore, multiple lines of evidence have highlighted issues with nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA, which complicates the diagnosis, prognosis, and study of this disorder. Semantic variant PPA, while not without controversy, remains one of the most well-defined disorders, with good clinicopathologic correlation.
SUMMARY
Accurate classification and diagnosis of these degenerative speech and language disorders is crucial in clinical practice and ongoing research efforts. For nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA, the authors suggest emphasizing agrammatism as the core inclusion criterion and taking care not to include patients with isolated or predominant apraxia of speech. Isolated apraxia of speech can be the manifestation of a degenerative disease and, based on the different prognosis, should be recognized as distinct from PPA. Finally, it is important to recognize that some patients with semantic dementia, despite sharing the same pathologic associations, may not meet criteria for PPA.
Topics: Aged; Aphasia, Primary Progressive; Apraxias; Brain; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Frontotemporal Dementia; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neurologic Examination; Neuropsychological Tests; Positron-Emission Tomography; Speech
PubMed: 30707189
DOI: 10.1212/CON.0000000000000699 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... May 2018Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) affects a child's ability to produce sounds and syllables precisely and consistently, and to produce words and sentences with accuracy... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) affects a child's ability to produce sounds and syllables precisely and consistently, and to produce words and sentences with accuracy and correct speech rhythm. It is a rare condition, affecting only 0.1% of the general population. Consensus has been reached that three core features have diagnostic validity: (1) inconsistent error production on both consonants and vowels across repeated productions of syllables or words; (2) lengthened and impaired coarticulatory transitions between sounds and syllables; and (3) inappropriate prosody (ASHA 2007). A deficit in motor programming or planning is thought to underlie the condition. This means that children know what they would like to say but there is a breakdown in the ability to programme or plan the fine and rapid movements required to accurately produce speech. Children with CAS may also have impairments in one or more of the following areas: non-speech oral motor function, dysarthria, language, phonological production impairment, phonemic awareness or metalinguistic skills and literacy, or combinations of these. High-quality evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is lacking on interventions for CAS.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the efficacy of interventions targeting speech and language in children and adolescents with CAS as delivered by speech and language pathologists/therapists.
SEARCH METHODS
We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, eight other databases and seven trial registers up to April 2017. We searched the reference lists of included reports and requested information on unpublished trials from authors of published studies and other experts as well as information groups in the areas of speech and language therapy/pathology and linguistics.
SELECTION CRITERIA
RCTs and quasi-RCTs of children aged 3 to 16 years with CAS diagnosed by a speech and language pathologist/therapist, grouped by treatment types.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors (FL, AM) independently assessed titles and abstracts identified from the searches and obtained full-text reports of all potentially relevant articles and assessed these for eligibility. The same two authors extracted data and conducted the 'Risk of bias' and GRADE assessments. One review author (EM) tabulated findings from excluded observational studies (Table 1).
MAIN RESULTS
This review includes only one RCT, funded by the Australian Research Council; the University of Sydney International Development Fund; Douglas and Lola Douglas Scholarship on Child and Adolescent Health; Nadia Verrall Memorial Scholarship; and a James Kentley Memorial Fellowship. This study recruited 26 children aged 4 to 12 years, with mild to moderate CAS of unknown cause, and compared two interventions: the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme-3 (NDP-3); and the Rapid Syllable Transitions Treatment (ReST). Children were allocated randomly to one of the two treatments. Treatments were delivered intensively in one-hour sessions, four days a week for three weeks, in a university clinic in Australia. Speech pathology students delivered the treatments in the English language. Outcomes were assessed before therapy, immediately after therapy, at one month and four months post-therapy. Our review looked at one-month post-therapy outcomes only.We judged all core outcome domains to be low risk of bias. We downgraded the quality of the evidence by one level to moderate due to imprecision, given that only one RCT was identified. Both the NDP-3 and ReST therapies demonstrated improvement at one month post-treatment. A number of cases in each cohort had recommenced usual treatment by their speech and language pathologist between one month and four months post-treatment (NDP-3: 9/13 participants; ReST: 9/13 participants). Hence, maintenance of treatment effects to four months post-treatment could not be analysed without significant potential bias, and thus this time point was not included for further analysis in this review.There is limited evidence that, when delivered intensively, both the NDP-3 and ReST may effect improvement in word accuracy in 4- to 12-year-old children with CAS, measured by the accuracy of production on treated and non-treated words, speech production consistency and the accuracy of connected speech. The study did not measure functional communication.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
There is limited evidence that, when delivered intensively, both the NDP-3 and ReST may effect improvement in word accuracy in 4- to 12-year-old children with CAS, measured by the accuracy of production on treated and non-treated words, speech production consistency and the accuracy of connected speech. The study did not measure functional communication. No formal analyses were conducted to compare NDP-3 and ReST by the original study authors, hence one treatment cannot be reliably advocated over the other. We are also unable to say whether either treatment is better than no treatment or treatment as usual. No evidence currently exists to support the effectiveness of other treatments for children aged 4 to 12 years with idiopathic CAS without other comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders. Further RCTs replicating this study would strengthen the evidence base. Similarly, further RCTs are needed of other interventions, in other age ranges and populations with CAS and with co-occurring disorders.
Topics: Apraxias; Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; Speech Disorders; Speech Therapy; Speech-Language Pathology
PubMed: 29845607
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006278.pub3 -
Seminars in Speech and Language Feb 2018Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that disrupts the planning and programming of speech motor movements. In the acute stage of stroke recovery, AOS... (Review)
Review
Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that disrupts the planning and programming of speech motor movements. In the acute stage of stroke recovery, AOS following unilateral (typically) left hemisphere stroke can occur alongside dysarthria, an impairment in speech execution and control, and/or aphasia, a higher-level impairment in language function. At this time, perceptual evaluation (the systematic, although subjective, description of speech and voice characteristics) is perhaps the only "gold standard" for differential diagnosis when it comes to motor speech disorders. This poses a challenge for speech-language pathologists charged with the evaluation of poststroke communication abilities, as distinguishing production impairments associated with AOS from those that can occur in aphasia and/or dysarthria can be difficult, especially when more than one deficit is present. Given the need for more objective, reliable methods to identify and diagnose AOS, several studies have turned to acoustic evaluation and neuroimaging to supplement clinical assessment. This article focuses on these recent advances. Studies investigating acoustic evaluation of AOS will be reviewed, as well as those that have considered the extent that neuroimaging can guide clinical decision making. Developments in the treatment of AOS will also be discussed. Although more research is needed regarding the use of these methods in everyday clinical practice, the studies reviewed here show promise as emerging tools for the management of AOS.
Topics: Apraxias; Diagnosis, Differential; Humans; Neuroimaging; Speech; Speech Acoustics; Speech Disorders; Speech Production Measurement; Stroke
PubMed: 29359303
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1608853 -
CoDAS 2019Apraxia of speech is defined as the inability to sequence the movements required for accurate articulatory production, traditionally involving a deficit in speech motor...
Apraxia of speech is defined as the inability to sequence the movements required for accurate articulatory production, traditionally involving a deficit in speech motor programming. Language clinicians often confront about speech inconsistency clinical cases, which raise questions concerning the differential diagnosis between apraxia and language disorders. Such problem often results in the difficulty to establish an adequate treatment decision. In this work, we discuss a clinical report in which both diagnosis and treatment raise questions about the apraxic speech condition in childhood. We start from the recognition that, in apraxia, it seems imperative to consider that the body to be considered is the one that surpasses its organic functions and structure. Clinical consequences are drawn from the premise that the human body is one whose ear can listen, and mouth can speak, i.e., the organic structure is a material realm open to the incidence of language and its "music", which creates the speaking body.
Topics: Apraxias; Child, Preschool; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Language Development Disorders; Language Therapy; Speech Disorders; Speech Production Measurement
PubMed: 31691745
DOI: 10.1590/2317-1782/20192018121 -
Arquivos de Neuro-psiquiatria Nov 2017
Topics: Aphasia; Apraxias; Humans
PubMed: 29236816
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20170165 -
La Clinica Terapeutica 2020Apraxia affects 20% of the right brain-damaged patients and 50% of the left brain-damaged patients. This disorder of motor programming reduces patients' independence and... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Apraxia affects 20% of the right brain-damaged patients and 50% of the left brain-damaged patients. This disorder of motor programming reduces patients' independence and there are few guidelines on the rehabilitative treatment in the physiotherapy and speech therapy field.The aim of this study was to assess which therapeutic interventions are the most effective in stroke patients with apraxia in considering the mentioned purviews. Four databases were systematically searched in order to detect all available studies investigating the physical and speech rehabilitation of patients. The literature research produced five studies including 168 patients for the physiotherapy and 50 for speech therapy fields; two were eligible for meta-analysis. Quality was rated with Jadad, PEDro scale and Cochrane Risk Of Bias Tool. Both for physiotherapy and speech therapy fields, the RCTs interventions obtained statistically significant results for outcomes of interest. Despite this, it is still not possible to determine the best approach due to the low number of patients involved, the lack of maintenance of the results at follow up and the timing of the revaluation period being very short to confirm the efficacy of treatments.
Topics: Apraxias; Humans; Physical Therapy Modalities; Speech Therapy; Stroke
PubMed: 32901792
DOI: 10.7417/CT.2020.2257 -
Cortex; a Journal Devoted To the Study... Dec 2020Aberrant performance of skilled action has long been noted in schizophrenia and relatedly, recent reports have demonstrated impaired use, performance, and perception of... (Review)
Review
Aberrant performance of skilled action has long been noted in schizophrenia and relatedly, recent reports have demonstrated impaired use, performance, and perception of hand gestures in this group. Still, this deficit is not acknowledged as apraxia, which to the broader medical field, characterizes impairments in skilled actions. Understanding the relationship between apraxia and schizophrenia may shed an invaluable new perspective on disease mechanism, and highlight novel treatment opportunities as well. To examine this potential link, we reviewed the evidence for the types of praxis errors, associated psychopathology, and cerebral correlates of the praxis deficit in schizophrenia. Notably, the review indicated that gesture deficits are severe enough to be considered genuine apraxia in a substantial proportion of patients (about 25%). Further, other potential contributors (e.g., hypokinetic motor abnormalities, cognitive impairment) are indeed associated with gesture deficits in schizophrenia, but do not sufficiently explain the abnormality. Finally, patients with praxis deficits have altered brain structure and function including the left parieto-premotor praxis network and these neural correlates are specific to the praxis deficit. Therefore, we argue that the gestural disorder frequently observed in schizophrenia shares both the clinical and neurophysiological features of true apraxia, as in other neuropsychiatric disorders with impaired higher order motor control, such as Parkinson's disease.
Topics: Apraxias; Brain; Gestures; Humans; Parkinson Disease; Schizophrenia
PubMed: 33099076
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.09.017 -
Current Neurology and Neuroscience... Jul 2023Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that has long been recognized to occur secondary to acute neurologic insults and, more recently, to neurodegenerative... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that has long been recognized to occur secondary to acute neurologic insults and, more recently, to neurodegenerative diseases as a harbinger for progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome. This article reviews recent findings regarding the clinic phenotypes of AOS, neuroimaging correlates, and the underlying disease processes.
RECENT FINDINGS
Two clinical subtypes of AOS map onto two underlying 4-repeat tauopathies. New imaging techniques have recently been applied to the study of progressive AOS. There is no data on the impact of behavioral intervention, although studies of nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia that include patients with AOS suggest some benefit in speech intelligibility and maintenance. While recent findings suggest subtypes of AOS exist that are linked to molecular pathology and have important implications for disease progression, further research is needed to assess outcome of behavioral and other types of intervention.
Topics: Humans; Speech; Apraxias; Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive; Neuroimaging; Neurodegenerative Diseases
PubMed: 37269450
DOI: 10.1007/s11910-023-01275-1 -
Rhode Island Medical Journal (2013) Mar 2022
Topics: Apraxias; Humans
PubMed: 35211706
DOI: No ID Found -
Research in Developmental Disabilities Jan 2018Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have basic motor impairments in balance, gait, and coordination as well as autism-specific impairments in praxis/motor...
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have basic motor impairments in balance, gait, and coordination as well as autism-specific impairments in praxis/motor planning and interpersonal synchrony. Majority of the current literature focuses on isolated motor behaviors or domains. Additionally, the relationship between cognition, symptom severity, and motor performance in ASD is unclear. We used a comprehensive set of measures to compare gross and fine motor, praxis/imitation, motor coordination, and interpersonal synchrony skills across three groups of children between 5 and 12 years of age: children with ASD with high IQ (HASD), children with ASD with low IQ (LASD), and typically developing (TD) children. We used the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency and the Bilateral Motor Coordination subtest of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests to assess motor performance and praxis skills respectively. Children were also examined while performing simple and complex rhythmic upper and lower limb actions on their own (solo context) and with a social partner (social context). Both ASD groups had lower gross and fine motor scores, greater praxis errors in total and within various error types, lower movement rates, greater movement variability, and weaker interpersonal synchrony compared to the TD group. In addition, the LASD group had lower gross motor scores and greater mirroring errors compared to the HASD group. Overall, a variety of motor impairments are present across the entire spectrum of children with ASD, regardless of their IQ scores. Both, fine and gross motor performance significantly correlated with IQ but not with autism severity; however, praxis errors (mainly, total, overflow, and rhythmicity) strongly correlated with autism severity and not IQ. Our study findings highlight the need for clinicians and therapists to include motor evaluations and interventions in the standard-of-care of children with ASD and for the broader autism community to recognize dyspraxia as an integral part of the definition of ASD.
Topics: Apraxias; Ataxia; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child; Female; Humans; Male; Motor Skills; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychomotor Performance; Severity of Illness Index; Social Skills; Statistics as Topic; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 29121516
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.10.025