4 Topic Commentaries

Speech aging may differ across dementia phenotypes

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  Leighton Hinkley, PhD

  Neuroscientist

  •

  University of California, San Francisco

  We’re able to identify a deficit of high-frequency activity in the non-fluent variants and a deficit of low-frequency activity in the logopenic variants.

  [Source]
• 

  Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini, MD, PhD

  Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry; Charles Schwab Distinguished Professor in Dyslexia and Neurodevelopment

  •

  University of California, San Francisco

  We think this is specifically because the consonant clusters that are so common in English pose a challenge for a degenerating speech-planning system.

  [Source]
• 

  Bradley F. Boeve, MD

  Neurologist; The Little Family Foundation Professor of Lewy Body Dementia; Co-Principal Investigator, ALLFTD Study

  •

  Mayo Clinic

  Some people have difficulties expressing language. They comprehend reasonably well, but getting the lips and the tongue to manipulate so that words come out with fluency is more of a challenge. As opposed to another variant, coming up with the names of people or objects is the primary difficulty. (For) others, it’s a bit of a mix — comprehending, also expressing as well as naming items.

  [Source]
• 

  Kyrana Tsapkini, PhD

  Professor of Neurology

  •

  Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

  For example, those who have more posterior atrophy, parietal lobe, they cannot put the syllables together.

  [Source]