Study of Language Function in Bengali-Speaking Population with Motor Neuron Disease

Motor neuron diseases (MNDs) have been traditionally considered to spare cognition. But recent findings show that multiple domains of cognition including language can be involved in MND patients. Most studies on language patterns of MND patients were conducted in Western nations, but data on Indian population is limited. This study is an attempt to explore the language functions of Bengali-speaking MND patients from this part of eastern India.

To determine the prevalence and nature of language dysfunction in MND patients.

A single-center, hospital-based, observational, cross-sectional study. The Bengali adaptation of the Western Aphasia Battery was administered to 50 cases diagnosed with MND, attending a tertiary care hospital consecutively over a 1-year period, and fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for expressing results.

Eighteen percent of cases showed impairments in spontaneous speech. Fluency was impaired in 72%, and 22% cases showed impaired naming. Moreover, 20% and 26% of cases were impaired in repetition and comprehension, respectively. Reading and writing was impaired in 16% and 26% of cases, respectively. Significant difference was found in the primary language skill scores and aphasia quotient across age groups, while no significant difference was found in these scores across education status.

This study describes the language profiles of Bengali-speaking MND patients from eastern India, and the findings are similar to previous research works, which have shown morpho-syntactic, lexical-semantic, and phonological errors in language function.