Abstract Details

Title Automated Analysis of Functional Written Communication in the Three Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Topic Aging, Dementia, and Behavioral Neurology

Presentation(s) P7 - Poster Session 7 (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 3-001

Objective We compared written functional communication between Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) subtypes: nonfluent (nfvPPA), semantic (svPPA), and logopenic (lvPPA), and compared written to spoken communication.

Background Despite the important role of written language in everyday life, abnormalities in functional written communication have been sparsely investigated in PPA.

Design/Methods Based on our published approach, content units (CU) were quantified in written and spoken samples on a picture-elicited task; separating ambiguous from unambiguous CUs. We developed and applied an automated CU quantification method in our PPA cohort (n=70).

Results lvPPA patients produce the largest number of written words (37.2+/-26.1) with nfvPPA producing fewer (31.9+/-19.4) and svPPA producing the fewest (27.8+/-19.3). For unambiguous CU, nfvPPA produced 11.88±5.74, lvPPA produced 9.92±7.35, and svPPA produced 7.47±3.79. For ambiguous CU, svPPA produced 2±1.49, lvPPA produced 1.92±1.7, and nfvPPA produced 1.61±1.2. Patients with lvPPA produced less informative writing samples (32.5%±13.7) compared to nfvPPA (44.26%±12.7) (p=0.009), due to a relative decrease in CU and a relative increase in non-content words in lvPPA. Patients with svPPA had a relative decrease in both CU and non-content words compared to nfvPPA and lvPPA, resulting in an intermediate level of informativeness (39.24%±16.1, not statistically different from nfvPPA). Informativeness was greater in written than spoken language in all PPA subtypes (svPPA 39.8% written vs 11.49% spoken, lvPPA 32.5% vs 14.6%, and nfvPPA 45.4% vs 30.4%).

Conclusions Automated analysis of picture-elicited written and spoken language is an efficient way to analyze functional communication. Patients with lvPPA and svPPA produce fewer specific CUs in a picture-elicited writing sample relative to nfvPPA. Regardless of PPA subtype, patients had better informativeness in written than spoken language, in part because of a larger number of less informative utterances in spoken language. Therapeutic efforts targeting compensatory strategies in written communication are important in PPA.

Authors/Disclosures
Sylvia Josephy, MD (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social) PRESENTER	Dr. Josephy has nothing to disclose.
Neguine Rezaii, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital)	Dr. Rezaii has nothing to disclose.
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Megan Quimby (Massachusetts General Hospital)	Ms. Quimby has nothing to disclose.
	No disclosure on file
Bradford Dickerson, MD, FAAN	Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Biogen. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Acadia. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Arkuda. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Eisai. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Lantheus. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Lilly. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Merck. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Novo Nordisk. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Merck. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Arkuda. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Acadia. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Lilly. Dr. Dickerson has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Elsevier. Dr. Dickerson has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Dickerson has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.

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