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Language impairment in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome: MLSE screening and its neural correlates
Author(s) -
Peterson Katie A.,
Jones P. Simon,
Patel Nikil,
Ingram Ruth,
Patterson Karalyn,
Rowe James B.,
Garrard Peter
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.045809
Subject(s) - progressive supranuclear palsy , audiology , corticobasal degeneration , psychology , medicine , atrophy
Abstract Background Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) change speech and language as well as motor function. Here, we used the new Mini Linguistic State Examination (MLSE), a brief, yet comprehensive language assessment tool, to investigate structural correlates of language impairment in PSP and CBS, alongside patients with the nonfluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA). Method Twenty‐eight patients (PSP N=8, CBS N=10 and nfvPPA N=10) and 24 aged‐matched controls completed the MLSE, the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III, and 3T PRISMA structural MRI. T1‐weighted images were processed using Freesurfer 6.0. The groups were compared using an ANCOVA of cortical thickness including age, gender and MLSE total score as covariates. Result PSP and CBS patients’ MLSE total scores were significantly (p<0.001) impaired compared to controls but better (p<0.05) than nfvPPA. For the MLSE subscores, compared to controls, PSP impaired motor speech (p=0.003), while CBS impaired phonology, semantics, and syntax (p<0.05). There was a positive correlation between cortical thickness with MLSE total score in the left inferior frontal gyrus pars triangularis, middle temporal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus (p<0.001 unc). Conclusion The MLSE screening tool identifies speech and language deficits in PSP and CBS. Impairments were associated with atrophy in key regions of left hemisphere frontotemporal language networks. Future work will identify multisite scalability of the MLSE and its imaging correlates.