LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE APHASIA: PILOT STUDY WITH THE MTL-BR BATTERY

• Grant number: 22/11105-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Karin Zazo Ortiz
• Grantee: Andressa Aguiar da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Aging may lead to several physical, cognitive, and social changes. A larger number of studies in this area is necessary, because some of these changes may be pathological. Among the pathological conditions, it is possible to identify some dementias common to aging: one of them is Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), a rare dementia with manifestations that need to be clearly identified. In this perspective, this project aims to identify whether the tasks present in the Montreal Toulouse-Brazil Battery (Bateria MTL- Brasil), which is composed of tests of oral and graphic comprehension, and oral and graphic expression, are able to aid in the clinical diagnosis of PPA and to differentiate its variants, since there is a lack of materials specifically designed to assess language in dementia syndromes. METHODS: Study participants will be individuals who have been exposed to language assessment using the MTL- BR Battery in routine language assessment, with diagnostic hypotheses of APP made by neurologists specialized in dementia syndromes, and with neuroimaging tests that confirm them. Patients will be exposed to a brief cognitive battery with tests to identify cognitive status. Then, the patients who complete the brief cognitive battery will undergo a language evaluation with the MTL-BR Battery. The battery consists of 22 tasks for the complete assessment of language and will be applied according to the standards set forth in the instrument. WAY OF ANALYZING THE RESULTS: The data from the evaluation with the MTL-BR Battery made in patients with PPA will be used. The data will be compared to the normality parameters, in order to identify which tests present in the instrument used had the most altered results in this population. Next, if possible, an analysis will be made in relation to the clinical subtypes to try to identify if the most altered tasks are related to the possible variants of the dementia syndrome.