Q2. What have the authors stated for future works in "Positive impact of speech therapy in progressive non-fluent aphasia" ?
For future research in this area, the implementation of such a speech therapy program with a group of patients having different educational levels is worth considering in order to determine whether such a program would be beneficial to a wider range of PNFA patients.
Q3. What is the role of the left posterior parietal cortex in language processing?
The left posterior parietal cortex could be part of the temporo-parietal-frontal network, a system that acts as an interface between auditory and articulatory processes (Ackermann & Rieker, 2004; Loevenbruck et al., 2005).
Q4. What is the role of the frontal cortex in language processing?
Because the generation of fluent speech requires planning in order to convey the intentions of the speaker, language processing involves a large number of cortical and subcortical structures.
Q5. How long did JM carry out articulation fluency exercises?
In every session, after the strengthening pulmonary ventilation exercises, JM carried out articulation fluency exercises for ten minutes.
Q6. What regions of the posterior inferior and middle frontal gyrus are associated with atrophy?
Fluency deficits have usually been associated with atrophy in the posterior inferior and middle frontal gyrus, whereas grammatical processing is associated with more widespread atrophy, including other regions of the inferior frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus (Rogalski et al., 2011).
Q7. How many sessions were required for the implementation of the neuropsychological assessment battery?
For the implementation of the neuropsychological test battery, three sessions of 60 minutes each, one per week, were required in each of the three instances of assess-ment.
Q8. What were the main mental functions of the patient preserved?
The basal assessment revealed that the following mental functions of the patient were preserved: orientation; selective attention for visual material; verbal and visualmemory; learning; ideational praxis; and visuo-spatial gnosis.
Q9. What is the main limitation of the present work?
One limitation of the present work is its single-case design, which makes it impossible to generalize the results to other PNFA patients; another limitation that may bias or influence the results is the patient’s educational level, as it may be associated with cognitive reserve, a factor that plays an important role in preventing, or slowing, the neurodegenerative process (Stern, 2002).
Q10. What is the role of the temporal lobe in language processing?
The temporal lobe is frequently involved in language syntax processes and the decoding and recovery of complex linguistic long-term memory materials (Mandonnet et al., 2007).
Q11. What are the characteristics of the interventions used in these studies?
The characteristics of the aforementioned interventions show the need for and importance of the design, implementation, and dissemination of systematic speech therapy programs for PNFA patients, that are not only ecologically valid and can be replicated, but that can also be used to assess the benefit, maintenance, and/or generalization of the intervention.
Q12. What mental functions were preserved after the articulation fluency exercises?
Other mental functions, such as selective attention for verbal material and ideo-motor praxis, showed slight alterations, while sustained attention showed a moderate deficit.
Q13. What can be used to identify changes in brain activation patterns over time?
in addition to the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging or other functional neuroimaging studies (such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET)), can be used to identify possible changes in brain activation patterns over time resulting from speech therapy.
Q14. What were the strategies used to improve the patient’s structural analysis of sentences and speech?
These strategies aimed to improve the patient’s structural analysis of sentences and speech, thereby enabling recovery and the relearning of grammatical and syntactical elements altered by the progress of the disease.
Q15. What did the family report after six months of therapy?
After six and twelve months of therapy, JM’s family reported maintenance and even improvement of cognitive functioning (IQCODE), preserved ADLs (Barthel scale and PFAQ), no presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms, and good QOL.
Q16. How long does a patient with PNFA live?
From reports on prognosis in PNFA (Rogers & Alarcon, 1999; Hodges et al., 2003), the median survival is 6.8 years; therefore, a rapid progression of the disease is expected.
Q17. What were the exercises for articulation fluency?
When lexical stimulation started, the sessions were divided as follows: strengthening pulmonary ventilation (5 min.), articulation fluency exercises (10 min.), phonological exercises (10 min.) and stimulation of lexical analysis (35 min.).
Q18. What is the effect of the intervention on the patient’s mood?
It is important to note the improvement in the mood of the patient, who reported absence of depression and less anxiety after the intervention.