An open-label trial of bromocriptine in nonfluent aphasia: a qualitative analysis of word storage and retrieval

Anomia is a commonly found in aphasia and has been attributed to a loss of representations (storage deficit) or to a loss of access to these representations (retrieval deficit). Bromocriptine, a dopamine agonist, was tested on four patients, two men and two women, with nonfluent aphasia. The patients were tested in an open-label ABBA design using a stochastic model that measured the degree of storage and retrieval deficits. All patients showed significant improvements in word retrieval. Bromocriptine may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of selected patients with a nonfluent aphasia in which retrieval deficits play a major role.