News

Understanding deterioration of language functions

UCRH researcher Cristian Leyton has joined with colleagues from the University of Sydney and other institutions to publish a new journal publication focused on nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia.

The article, Case Series of Right-Hemisphere Nonfluent Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia, has been published in the Journal of Clinical Neurology.

Nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) is a neurodegenerative disorder which generally sees progressive deterioration of language functions. Their study looked specifically at whether predominantly right-sided atrophy of the peri-insular region (right-nfvPPA) exist and what their clinical features might be.

Their work involved a retrospective review of brain imaging data and revealed several intriguing differences between right-nfvPPA and left-nfvPPA, particularly in the prevalence of impairments in motor speech and naming as well as imaging differences.

These findings warrant further exploration in a larger cohort to improve our understanding of neural network organization and its dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders.

Read the full publication here.