Noun and Verb Production and Comprehension in Stroke-Induced and Primary Progressive Aphasia: An Introduction to the Northwestern Naming Battery

This study examined production and comprehension of nouns and verbs using the Northwestern Naming Battery (NNB), a new test designed to assess naming ability in individuals with stroke-induced or primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Scores derived from the NNB were also compared to scores from published, standardized tests to evaluate the NNB’s validity. Dissociations between word classes in production were observed for participants with stroke-induced anomic and Broca’s aphasia with agrammatism and individuals with logopenic and agrammatic variants of PPA, with the two agrammatic groups showing greater impairment for verb compared to noun naming. Clinical and theoretical implications will be discussed

Word-finding pauses in primary progressive aphasia (PPA): Effects of lexical category

Word-finding pauses are common in logopenic primary progressive aphasia (PPA-L). However, no previous research investigated the distribution of word-finding pauses in PPA or their specificity to PPA-L. We coded pauses preceding nouns and verbs in narrative speech samples from participants with PPA-L, agrammatic (PPA-G) and semantic PPA (PPA-S), and controls, hypothesizing that frequent word-finding pauses, if present, should match previously-observed lexical category deficits (noun deficits in PPA-L and PPA-S; verb deficits in PPA-G).The PPA-L group paused more frequently before nouns than verbs, whereas no other group exhibited lexical category effects, suggesting that frequent word-finding pauses are specific to PPA-L

Phonological Facilitation of Object Naming in Agrammatic and Logopenic Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA): Evidence for a Phonological Processing Deficit

Naming is a pervasive deficit in primary progressive aphasia. However, the source of such deficits across PPA variants is little understood. In this study, individuals with agrammatic (PPA-G) and logopenic (PPA-L) PPA, along with age-matched controls, performed a picture-word interference task to test for online phonological processing deficits during naming. All groups exhibited phonological facilitation (PF) effects, i.e., speeded picture naming in the presence of phonologically-related words. However, the PPA participants exhibited abnormally large PF effects that also were protracted, compared to the control group. These results suggest that impaired phonological processing may contribute to anomia in PPA-G and PPA-L

P4‐617: Working Memory Maintenance Accuracy In Elderly Adults With Extraordinary Episodic Memory

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152719/1/alzjjalz201908165.pd

A web-based normative calculator for the uniform data set (UDS) neuropsychological test battery

Introduction: With the recent publication of new criteria for the diagnosis of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is a need for neuropsychological tools that take premorbid functioning into account in order to detect subtle cognitive decline. Using demographic adjustments is one method for increasing the sensitivity of commonly used measures. We sought to provide a useful online z-score calculator that yields estimates of percentile ranges and adjusts individual performance based on sex, age and/or education for each of the neuropsychological tests of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set (NACC, UDS). In addition, we aimed to provide an easily accessible method of creating norms for other clinical researchers for their own, unique data sets. Methods: Data from 3,268 clinically cognitively-normal older UDS subjects from a cohort reported by Weintraub and colleagues (2009) were included. For all neuropsychological tests, z-scores were estimated by subtracting the raw score from the predicted mean and then dividing this difference score by the root mean squared error term (RMSE) for a given linear regression model. Results: For each neuropsychological test, an estimated z-score was calculated for any raw score based on five different models that adjust for the demographic predictors of SEX, AGE and EDUCATION, either concurrently, individually or without covariates. The interactive online calculator allows the entry of a raw score and provides five corresponding estimated z-scores based on predictions from each corresponding linear regression model. The calculator produces percentile ranks and graphical output. Conclusions: An interactive, regression-based, normative score online calculator was created to serve as an additional resource for UDS clinical researchers, especially in guiding interpretation of individual performances that appear to fall in borderline realms and may be of particular utility for operationalizing subtle cognitive impairment present according to the newly proposed criteria for Stage 3 preclinical Alzheimer's disease

Neural correlates of grammatical impairment in primary progressive aphasia

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is characterized by distinct patterns of left-lateralized neural degeneration and declining language functioning. Although deficits in grammatical processing (e.g., complex sentence production and comprehension, production of grammatical morphology) are primarily seen in the agrammatic variant (PPA-G), subtle impairments also may be observed in the logopenic (PPA-L) and semantic (PPA-S) variants (see Wilson, et al., 2012; Thompson & Mack, in press, for a review). In cognitively healthy individuals, production and comprehension of syntactically complex structures involves both the left middle temporal cortex (Ben-Shalom & Poeppel, 2008; Indefrey & Levelt, 2004) and the left inferior frontal and motor cortices (Friederici, 2002; Kielar et al., 2011; Shapiro, et al., 2012; Tyler et al., 2005), with similar regions engaged for production of grammatical morphology. However, impaired complex sentence production and comprehension in PPA has been linked primarily to atrophy in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) (Amici et al., 2007; Rogalski et al., 2011; Wilson et al., 2011) and atrophy patterns associated with deficits in grammatical morphology have not been previously studied. The present study aimed to identify the cortical areas of atrophy associated with deficits in complex sentence production, complex sentence comprehension, and production of grammatical morphology in PPA. Identification of these patterns has relevance for understanding the neural mechanisms of grammatical processing and as well as for clinical management of individuals with PPA

Sentence Comprehension and Production in Stroke-induced and Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA): The Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS)

This study examined comprehension and production of both canonical and noncanonical sentences in 46 individuals with stroke-induced (StrAph) [26 Broca’s aphasic with agrammatism (StrAg); 20 anomic (StrAn)] and 32 with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) [15 agrammatic (PPA-G); 17 logopenic (PPA-L)], using the Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS; Thompson, experimental version). The two agrammatic, StrAg and PPA-G, groups performed in a very similar manner, with both showing significantly greater difficulty with noncanonical compared to canonical sentences in both modalities, compared to StrAn and PPA-L participants

Activated Microglia in Cortical White Matter Across Cognitive Aging Trajectories

Activation of microglia, the primary mediators of inflammation in the brain, is a major component of gliosis and neuronal loss in a number of age-related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The role of activated microglia in white matter, and its relationship with cognitive decline during aging are unknown. The current study evaluated microglia densities in the white matter of postmortem specimens from cognitively normal young adults, cognitively normal older adults, and cognitive “SuperAgers,” a unique group of individuals over age 80 whose memory test scores are at a level equal to or better than scores of 50-to-65-year-olds. Whole hemisphere sections from cognitively normal old, young, and “SuperAgers” were used to quantify densities of human leukocyte antigen-D related (HLA-DR)-positive activated microglia underlying five cortical regions. Statistical findings showed a significant main effect of group on differences in microglia density where cognitively normal old showed highest densities. No difference between SuperAgers and young specimens were detected. In two autopsied SuperAgers with MRI FLAIR scans available, prominent hyperintensities in periventricular regions were observed, and interestingly, examination of corresponding postmortem sections showed only sparse microglia densities. In conclusion, activated microglia appear to respond to age-related pathologic changes in cortical white matter, and this phenomenon is largely spared in SuperAgers. Findings offer insights into the relationship between white matter neuroinflammatory changes and cognitive integrity during aging