Effects of Lexical Retrieval Treatment on Written Naming in Primary Progressive Aphasia

EasyChair Preprint 6582

Abstract

The semantic and logopenic variants of primary progressive aphasia (sv and lvPPA) are characterized by prominent anomia and selective written language deficits. Written naming is a functionally relevant skill that is rarely assessed in individuals with PPA, although spelling intervention has shown promise in this population. In the current study, we evaluated whether written naming ability improves following a treatment primarily focused on spoken naming in participants with sv and lvPPA. Participants were administered Lexical Retrieval Treatment (LRT), which targets spoken naming while capitalizing on residual semantic and word form knowledge. Production of the orthographic word form is a component of the training protocol during clinician-led sessions as well as home practice. We examined the effect of LRT on written naming accuracy and whether written responses more effectively conveyed participants’ intended meaning after treatment. Accuracy data were analyzed using 2 x 2 mixed ANOVAs. For trained sets, the main effect of timepoint and the interaction were significant, indicating that both groups improved spelling accuracy from pre- to post-treatment and that individuals with svPPA performed worse at pre-treatment and better at post-treatment relative to individuals with lvPPA. For untrained sets, there was a significant main effect of timepoint, reflecting better performance at post-treatment for both groups. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed that target items were more recognizable at post-treatment for trained sets for individuals with svPPA and lvPPA, but not for untrained sets of items. Our findings indicate that naming treatment involving orthographic stimulation leads to improved written naming for trained and untrained words in individuals with lvPPA and svPPA. Moreover, improved recognition of target words by naïve readers supports the functional utility of this treatment.

Keyphrases: Dysgraphia, Written Naming, primary progressive aphasia, spelling, treatment

@booklet{EasyChair:6582,
  author    = {Carly Miller and Mary Kate O'Connell and Karinne Berstis and Eduardo Europa and Stephanie M. Grasso and Gary Robinaugh and Kristin M. Schaffer and Rachel Tessmer and Lisa D. Wauters and Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini and Heather Dial and Maya L. Henry},
  title     = {Effects of Lexical Retrieval Treatment on Written Naming in Primary Progressive Aphasia},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 6582},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2021}}