Inflectional morphology in primary progressive aphasia: An elicited production study

Stephen M. Wilson, Temre H. Brandt, Maya L. Henry, Miranda Babiak, Jennifer M. Ogar, Chelsey Salli, Lisa Wilson, Karen Peralta, Bruce L. Miller, Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

Inflectional morphology lies at the intersection of phonology, syntax and the lexicon, three language domains that are differentially impacted in the three main variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). To characterize spared and impaired aspects of inflectional morphology in PPA, we elicited inflectional morphemes in 48 individuals with PPA and 13 healthy age-matched controls. We varied the factors of regularity, frequency, word class, and lexicality, and used voxel-based morphometry to identify brain regions where atrophy was predictive of deficits on particular conditions. All three PPA variants showed deficits in inflectional morphology, with the specific nature of the deficits dependent on the anatomical and linguistic features of each variant. Deficits in inflecting low-frequency irregular words were associated with semantic PPA, with lexical/semantic deficits, and with left temporal atrophy. Deficits in inflecting pseudowords were associated with non-fluent/agrammatic and logopenic variants, with phonological deficits, and with left frontal and parietal atrophy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)58-68
Number of pages11
JournalBrain and Language
Volume136
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2014

Keywords

  • Inflectional morphology
  • Primary progressive aphasia
  • Semantic dementia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Speech and Hearing

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