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The following is a summary of “Primary Progressive Aphasia in Italian and English: A Cross-Linguistic Cohort Study,” published in the November 2024 issue of Neurology by Mazzeo et al.     

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare primary progressive aphasia (PPA) phenotypes in speakers of Italian and English.  

They analyzed data from Italian (n = 106) and English (n = 166) cohorts, representing all PPA syndromes, and used neuropsychological scores normalized to native speaker controls. Comparisons of impairment proportions were conducted using χ² tests and adjusted for symptom duration and severity (P=0.003 for age; P=0.048 for symptom duration).  

The result showed English speakers were younger (mean age 62.7 years vs. 65.9 years; P=0.003) and had longer symptom duration (mean 4.6 years vs. 3.1 years; P=0.048). English patients had higher proportions of nonfluent/agrammatic PPA (42% vs. 13%, χ² = 25.4, P<0.001) and lower proportions of logopenic variant (25% vs. 38%, χ² = 5.46, P=0.019) and mixed PPA (5% vs. 29%, χ² = 29.3, P<0.001). Italian patients showed more frequent expressive agrammatism (93% vs. 46%, P=0.015), while English speakers had more impaired single-word comprehension (60% vs. 8%, P=0.013). English semantic variant patients with PPA more frequently exhibited surface dyslexia (68% vs. 30%, P=0.046) and dysgraphia (38% vs. 10%, P=0.021). English logopenic patients with PPA had higher rates of impaired word comprehension (89% vs. 29%, P<0.001), word repetition (61% vs. 26%, P=0.020), nonword repetition (78% vs. 30%, P=0.010), nonverbal working memory (69% vs. 36%, P=0.005), and visuomotor function (89% vs. 25%, P<0.001).  

They concluded that language-specific traits influenced PPA phenotypes, with Italian speakers showing more expressive agrammatism and English speakers exhibiting more impaired word processing, reflecting linguistic structural differences.  

Source: neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000210058