Performance in specific language tasks correlates with regional volume changes in progressive aphasia.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Language impairment patterns historically aid in localizing brain damage in stroke patients.
• This diagnostic approach may extend to neurodegenerative diseases causing progressive aphasia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if scores on four standard language tasks correlate with regional gray matter loss.
• Study included 51 patients with progressive language impairment due to neurodegenerative disease.

Main Methods:

• Voxel-based morphometry was used to correlate language task scores with regional gray matter volumes.
• Language tasks included the Boston Naming Test and subtests from the Western Aphasia Battery (repetition, sequential commands, language fluency).

Main Results:

• Naming scores correlated with bilateral temporal lobe gray matter.
• Sentence repetition correlated with the left posterior superior temporal gyrus.
• Sentence comprehension correlated with left frontal gyri (dorsal middle/inferior).
• Language production fluency correlated with left frontal gyri (ventral middle/inferior).

Conclusions:

• Performance on distinct language tasks aligns with specific regional brain damage in neurodegenerative aphasia.
• These language assessments may prove valuable for differentiating primary progressive aphasia variants based on associated anatomic regions.