Dataset Information

From singing to speaking: facilitating recovery from nonfluent aphasia.

ABSTRACT: It has been reported for more than 100 years that patients with severe nonfluent aphasia are better at singing lyrics than they are at speaking the same words. This observation led to the development of melodic intonation therapy (MIT). However, the efficacy of this therapy has yet to be substantiated in a randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, its underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. The two unique components of MIT are the intonation of words and simple phrases using a melodic contour that follows the prosody of speech and the rhythmic tapping of the left hand that accompanies the production of each syllable and serves as a catalyst for fluency. Research has shown that both components are capable of engaging fronto-temporal regions in the right hemisphere, thereby making MIT particularly well suited for patients with large left hemisphere lesions who also suffer from nonfluent aphasia. Recovery from aphasia can happen in two ways: either through the recruitment of perilesional brain regions in the affected hemisphere, with variable recruitment of right-hemispheric regions if the lesion is small, or through the recruitment of homologous language and speech-motor regions in the unaffected hemisphere if the lesion of the affected hemisphere is extensive. Treatment-associated neural changes in patients undergoing MIT indicate that the unique engagement of right-hemispheric structures (e.g., the superior temporal lobe, primary sensorimotor, premotor and inferior frontal gyrus regions) and changes in the connections across these brain regions may be responsible for its therapeutic effect.

SUBMITTER: Schlaug G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2982746 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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From singing to speaking: facilitating recovery from nonfluent aphasia.

Schlaug Gottfried G Norton Andrea A Marchina Sarah S Zipse Lauryn L Wan Catherine Y CY

Future neurology 20100901 5

It has been reported for more than 100 years that patients with severe nonfluent aphasia are better at singing lyrics than they are at speaking the same words. This observation led to the development of melodic intonation therapy (MIT). However, the efficacy of this therapy has yet to be substantiated in a randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, its underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. The two unique components of MIT are the intonation of words and simple phrases using a melodic conto ...[more]

PMID: 21088709

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Project description:BackgroundA subset of patients with the nonfluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) exhibit concomitant single-word comprehension problems, constituting a 'mixed variant' phenotype. This phenotype is rare and currently not fully characterized. The aim of this study was twofold: to assess the prevalence and nature of single-word comprehension problems in the nonfluent variant and to study multimodal imaging characteristics of atrophy, tau, and amyloid burden associated with this mixed phenotype.MethodsA consecutive memory-clinic recruited series of 20 PPA patients (12 nonfluent, five semantic, and three logopenic variants) were studied on neurolinguistic and neuropsychological domains relative to 64 cognitively intact healthy older control subjects. The neuroimaging battery included high-resolution volumetric magnetic resonance imaging processed with voxel-based morphometry, and positron emission tomography with the tau-tracer [18F]-THK5351 and amyloid-tracer [11C]-Pittsburgh Compound B.ResultsSeven out of 12 subjects who had been classified a priori with nonfluent variant PPA showed deficits on conventional single-word comprehension tasks along with speech apraxia and agrammatism, corresponding to a mixed variant phenotype. These mixed variant cases included three females and four males, with a mean age at onset of 65 years (range 44-77 years). Object knowledge and object recognition were additionally affected, although less severely compared with the semantic variant. The mixed variant was characterized by a distributed atrophy pattern in frontal and temporoparietal regions. A more focal pattern of elevated [18F]-THK5351 binding was present in the supplementary motor area, the left premotor cortex, midbrain, and basal ganglia. This pattern was closely similar to that seen in pure nonfluent variant PPA. At the individual patient level, elevated [18F]-THK5351 binding in the supplementary motor area and premotor cortex was present in six out of seven mixed variant cases and in five and four of these cases, respectively, in the thalamus and midbrain. Amyloid biomarker positivity was present in two out of seven mixed variant cases, compared with none of the five pure nonfluent cases.ConclusionsA substantial proportion of PPA patients with speech apraxia and agrammatism also have single-word comprehension deficits. At the neurobiological level, the mixed variant shows a high degree of similarity with the pure nonfluent variant of PPA.Trial registrationEudraCT, 2014-002976-10 . Registered on 13-01-2015.

Project description:ImportanceDespite being characterized as a disorder of language production, nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) is frequently associated with auditory symptoms. However, to our knowledge, peripheral auditory function has not been defined in this condition.ObjectiveTo assess peripheral hearing function in individuals with nfvPPA compared with healthy older individuals and patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional single-center study was conducted at the Dementia Research Centre of University College London between August 2015 and July 2018. A consecutive cohort of patients with nfvPPA and patients with AD were compared with healthy control participants. No participant had substantial otological or cerebrovascular disease; all eligible patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria and able to comply with audiometry were included.Main outcomes and measuresWe measured mean threshold sound levels required to detect pure tones at frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 6000 Hz in the left and right ears separately; these were used to generate better-ear mean and worse-ear mean composite hearing threshold scores and interaural difference scores for each participant. All analyses were adjusted for participant age.ResultsWe studied 19 patients with nfvPPA (9 female; mean [SD] age, 70.3 [9.0] years), 20 patients with AD (9 female; mean [SD] age, 69.4 [8.1] years) and 34 control participants (15 female; mean [SD] age, 66.7 [6.3] years). The patients with nfvPPA had significantly higher scores than control participants on better-ear mean scores (patients with nfvPPA: mean [SD], 36.3 [9.4] decibels [dB]; control participants: 28.9 [7.3] dB; age-adjusted difference, 5.7 [95% CI, 1.4-10.0] dB; P = .01) and worse-ear mean scores (patients with nfvPPA: 42.2 [11.5] dB; control participants: 31.7 [8.1] dB; age-adjusted difference, 8.5 [95% CI, 3.6-13.4] dB; P = .001). The patients with nfvPPA also had significantly higher better-ear mean scores than patients with AD (patients with AD: mean [SD] 31.1 [7.5] dB; age-adjusted difference, 4.8 [95% CI, 0.0-9.6] dB; P = .048) and worse-ear mean scores (patients with AD: mean [SD], 33.8 [8.2] dB; age-adjusted difference, 7.8 [95% CI, 2.4-13.2] dB; P = .005). The difference scores (worse-ear mean minus better-ear mean) were significantly higher in the patients with nfvPPA (mean [SD], 5.9 [5.2] dB) than control participants (mean [SD], 2.8 [2.2] dB; age-adjusted difference, 2.8 [95% CI, 0.9-4.7] dB; P = .004) and patients with AD (mean [SD], 2.8 [2.1] dB; age-adjusted difference, 3.0 [95% CI, 0.9-5.1] dB; P = .005).Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, patients with nfvPPA performed worse on pure-tone audiometry than healthy older individuals or patients with AD, and the difference was not attributable to age or general disease factors. Cases of nfvPPA were additionally associated with increased functional interaural audiometric asymmetry. These findings suggest conjoint peripheral afferent and more central regulatory auditory dysfunction in individuals with nfvPPA.

Dataset Information

From singing to speaking: facilitating recovery from nonfluent aphasia.

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From singing to speaking: facilitating recovery from nonfluent aphasia.

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