Characterization of language in the linguistic variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Abstract

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) includes a set of neurocognitive disorders with a major impairment in the linguistic function. It is characterized by the initial preservation of functioning in the other cognitive areas, while the autonomy of the individual deteriorates significantly (Mesulam, 2016). Recent advances in neuroimaging and finding of biomarkers have contributed to a better knowledge of these syndromes, although they have generated in turn the need to review the diagnostic criteria and the clinical configuration of their variants, with a result not without controversy. The objective of this work is to describe the language symptoms that characterize the different subtypes of PPA, describing the updated criteria for its diagnosis and the recent classifications of this group of pathologies. First, the ‘non-fluent or agrammatic PPA-variant’ is presented, characterized by abnormalities in a type of speech that is forced, slow and telegraphic, concomitant with speech apraxia or dysarthria. Secondly, the ‘PPA-semantic variant’ is described, characterized by a fluid speech, but empty of content, with the use of generic words and a relative anomie. Finally, we analyze the ‘PPA-logopenic variant’, characterized by the presence of frequent pauses in the discourse and circumlocutions caused by the mnesic difficulty to find the words, with a relative conservation of the grammar, in a profile of linguistic deterioration very similar to that of Alzheimer's Disease.