Investigation of the Association Between History of Learning Disabilities and Primary Progressive Aphasia in Brazilian Portuguese Speakers

Abstract

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a neurological syndrome characterized by impaired language due to neurodegeneration. It is subdivided into three variants: semantic, agrammatic or nonfluent, and logopenic. Pieces of evidence have suggested that learning disabilities in childhood, such as dyslexia, might be susceptibility factors in the occurrence of PPA in adulthood. The objective of this study was to verify the existence of the relationship between PPA and the history of learning disabilities of patients and their children, compared to a control group of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). A questionnaire was applied to investigate the presence of indicators of learning disabilities and difficulties in individuals with PPA and AD and their children. Twenty subjects with PPA and 16 with AD participated in the study. Our findings are presented and discussed in light of the current scientific evidence and the social, educational, and economic Brazilian scenario. Despite the challenges of doing research with individuals with PPA in Brazil, we present the first evidence about the investigation of association between the history of learning disabilities and difficulties and PPA in native Brazilian Portuguese speakers.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; differential diagnosis; dyslexia; learning disabilities; primary progressive aphasia.

Figure 1

Description of the percentage of responses in the questionnaire of learning difficulties history of the AD and PPA groups. AD, Alzheimer's disease; PPA, primary progressive aphasia. (A) responses of PPA patients; (B) responses of AD patients; (C) responses of PPA children; (D) responses of AD children.

Figure 2

Description of the percentage of responses in the questionnaire of learning difficulties history of the PPA variants. AD, Alzheimer's disease; PPA, primary progressive aphasia; lvPPA, logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia; svPPA, semantic variant primary progressive aphasia; nfvPPA, nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia; ncPPA, non-classifiable primary progressive aphasia. (A) responses of lvPPA patients; (B) responses of svPPA patients; (C) responses of nfvPPA patients; (D) responses of ncPPA patients; (E) responses of lvPPA children; (F) responses of svPPA children; (G) responses of nfvPPA children; (H) responses of ncPPA children.