Leveraging Thematic Relationships Between Verbs and Nouns for Noun Retrieval Treatment in Logopenic Primary...

This study examined the effects of a multimodal verb-centered noun retrieval treatment in three individuals with logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA). The intervention aimed to improve naming accuracy for trained nouns and promote generalization to untrained nouns.

Three individuals with lvPPA participated in a multiple-baseline design study. Treatment was based on thematic relationships between verbs and nouns, incorporated self-cueing strategies, and orthographic homework practice, adapted from the Copy and Recall Treatment. Naming accuracy for treated and untreated nouns was assessed pretreatment and posttreatment to evaluate gains on the treated items and generalization effects.

All participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements in naming accuracy for treated nouns, with large effect sizes. Generalization to untrained nouns was also observed in all participants but varied across participants, with the greatest gains observed in the individual with milder baseline impairments. The intervention, centered on verbs and their thematic roles, appeared to support lexical access of nouns and homework practice reinforced retrieval. The treatment effects and generalization were most robust for the individual with less-affected phonological manipulation and semantic processing abilities of nouns and verbs.

Findings support the efficacy of a structured lexical retrieval intervention in lvPPA that leverages verb-noun thematic relationships and self-cueing strategies. Individual differences in baseline cognitive-linguistic skills and performance on sematic association tasks may influence treatment responsiveness. Future research should explore predictors of treatment response and assess long-term maintenance of gains to refine intervention approaches for lvPPA.

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.30082309.