Quantification of motor speech impairment and its anatomic basis in primary progressive aphasia

Objective: To evaluate whether a quantitative speech measure is effective in identifying and monitoring motor speech impairment (MSI) in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and to investigate the neuroanatomical basis of MSI in PPA. Methods: Sixty-four patients with PPA were evaluated at baseline, with a subset (N=39) evaluated longitudinally. Articulation rate (AR), a quantitative measure derived from spontaneous speech, was measured at each timepoint. MRI was collected at baseline. Differences in baseline AR were assessed across PPA subtypes, separated by severity level. Linear mixed-effects models were conducted to assess groups differences across PPA subtypes in rate of decline in AR over a one-year period. Cortical thickness measured from baseline MRIs was used to test hypotheses about the relationship between cortical atrophy and MSI. Results: Baseline AR was reduced for patients with non-fluent variant PPA (nfvPPA), as compared to other PPA subtypes and controls, eve...