Clinical Perspectives on Primary Progressive Aphasia [Paperback]

Primary progressive aphasia is a type of dementia that progressively impairs language abilities (speaking, understanding, reading and writing) and may eventually affect other aspects of thinking, movement and/or personality. For the person with primary progressive aphasia, these problems have a profound effect on their ability to communicate, which in turn impacts their relationships, social networks and ability to participate in everyday activities that depend on communication. Recent understanding of primary progressive aphasia has grown enormously, however, and this book provides an up-to-date survey of research relevant to the clinical care of people with primary progressive aphasia. It covers initial diagnosis, neuropathology, genetics and typical patterns of progression from early- to late-stage disease, with a special focus on management and intervention for a range of different language symptoms and everyday communication activities.

This book is suitable for a wide readership, from neurologists, geriatricians and other medical specialists, to general practitioners, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and students in these fields. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Aphasiology.

1. Introduction: Understanding and living with primary progressive aphasia: Current progress and challenges for the future Lyndsey Nickels and Karen Croot  2. Our journey with primary progressive aphasia Shirley Rutherford  3. Differential diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia variants using the international criteria Cristian E. Leyton and John R. Hodges  4. Biomarkers in the primary progressive aphasias Murray Grossman  5. The genetics of primary progressive aphasia Jonathan D. Rohrer  6. Longitudinal imaging and deterioration in word comprehension in primalc