Objective We report 1) the first quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA); and 2) the effects of two novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in PCA patients' reading ability. Methods Reading performance, eye movements and fixations were assessed in PCA and typical Alzheimer’s disease (tAD) patients and healthy controls (Experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (Experiment 2). Results PCA patients’ mean reading accuracy was significantly worse (57%) compared to both tAD patients (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%-270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of PCA patients’ fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid. Conclusions These findings demonstrate how neurological characterisation of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities. Classification of evidence This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with posterior cortical atrophy, two software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy
