Primary Progressive Aphasia
Description of Primary Progressive Aphasia
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a category of language disorders associated with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. PPA is a progressive condition in which language functions decline over time. Other cognitive abilities (e.g., memory) are relatively preserved early on. There are different types of PPA.
Nonfluent variant of PPA (nfvPPA) is associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration. It involves difficulty with:
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word finding
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grammar
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motor speech (dysarthria and/or apraxia of speech)
Semantic variant PPA (svPPA) is also associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration. It involves difficulty with:
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concept knowledge
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object knowledge (recognizing objects and what they are for)
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naming objects (profound difficulty)
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understanding words
Logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA) is related to Alzheimer's disease. lvPPA is the variant of Alzheimer's in which language impairment is one of the first and most prominent symptoms. It involves:
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difficulty with word finding
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reduced verbal output
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difficulty with repetition
Resources
"Managing Primary Progressive Aphasia" (2005)
Dr. J. R. Duffy
http://live-naa.pantheon.io/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Managing-PPA.pdf
"Treatment of Aphasia in Persons with Primary Progressive Aphasia" (2016)
Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences
https://soundcloud.com/ancds/ancds-podcast-ep-4-maya-henry
Primary Progressive Aphasia
National Aphasia Association
https://www.aphasia.org/aphasia-resources/primary-progressive-aphasia/
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
Primary Progressive Aphasia
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
https://memory.ucsf.edu/dementia/primary-progressive-aphasia
Gorno-Tempini, M. L., Hillis, A. E., Weintraub, S., Kertesz, A., Mendez, M., Cappa, S. F., . . . Grossman, M. (2011) Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology, 76, 1006-1014. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e31821103e6
Nonfluent Variant PPA
"A Patient's Guide to Nonfluent Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (nfvPPA)"
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
"A Healthcare Provider's Guide to Nonfluent Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (nfvPPA)"
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
https://memory.ucsf.edu/sites/memory.ucsf.edu/files/wysiwyg/UCSF_nfvPPA_Providers_7-13-17.pdf
Semantic Variant PPA
"A Patient's Guide to Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA)"
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
"A Healthcare Provider's Guide to Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA)"
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
https://memory.ucsf.edu/sites/memory.ucsf.edu/files/wysiwyg/UCSF_svPPA_Providers_7-18-17.pdf
Logopenic Variant PPA
"A Patient's Guide to Logopenic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (lvPPA)"
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
"A Healthcare Provider's Guide to Logopenic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (lvPPA)"
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences - Memory and Aging Centre
https://memory.ucsf.edu/sites/memory.ucsf.edu/files/wysiwyg/UCSF_lvPPA_Providers_7-13-17.pdf
