The New Classification of Primary Progressive Aphasia into Semantic, Logopenic, or Nonfluent/Agrammatic Variants.

The New Classification of Primary Progressive Aphasia into Semantic, Logopenic, or Nonfluent/Agrammatic Variants.  Retrieved from Proquest

Primary Progressive aphasia (PPA) is an uncommon syndrome that affects language.  For diagnosis to occur, progressive language impairment has to be the primary cognitive deficit after 2 years.  There should also be minimum difficulty in other cognitive processes.  Three varieties of PPA are now recognized: Semantic variant PPA (svPPA), logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA), and nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA (navPPA).  The criteria for these three subtypes are somewhat inconsistent from one area to the next.  SvPPA is also refered to as “semantic dementia.” There is a deficit on tasks that require intact semantics.  They have trouble with naming objects, comprehending words, and knowing how to use objects.  People with this condition use more general terms such as “that” are used instead of more specific words.  There is atrophy in the Anterior temporal lobe with people with this type of PPA.  For people with lvPPA, there are issues with retrieval of words, repetitive sentences and phrases.  The core impairment is the phonological loop function, so there is repetitive information and trouble with comprehending information.  There is atrophy in the left posterior perisylvian and inferior parietal lobes for people with lvPPA.  For people with navPPA, there are errors in language production, and effortful sound errors.  They often have a lot of retakes, and dysfluent speech.  They also make grammatical errors.  There is atrophy in the left posterior frontoinsular cortex for people with navPPA.