Investigation of the Association Between History of Learning Disabilities and Primary Progressive Aphasia in Brazilian Portuguese Speakers

Talita Gallas Dos Reis; Thais Helena Machado; Paulo Caramelli; Francisco Scornavacca; Liana Lisboa Fernandez; Bárbara Costa Beber

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.703729

Investigation of the Association Between History of Learning Disabilities and Primary Progressive Aphasia in Brazilian Portuguese Speakers

Front Neurol. 2022 Feb 28:13:703729. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.703729. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Talita Gallas Dos Reis¹, Thais Helena Machado², Paulo Caramelli³, Francisco Scornavacca⁴, Liana Lisboa Fernandez⁵, Bárbara Costa Beber¹

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Fonoaudiologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Reabilitação, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
² Departamento de Fonoaudiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Clínica Médica-Neurologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais-UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
⁴ Departamento de Pediatria, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Pediatria: Atenção à Saúde da Criança e do Adolescente, Universidade Federal de Ciência da Saúde de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
⁵ Departamento de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal das Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre-UFCSPA, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Abstract

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a neurological syndrome characterized by impaired language due to neurodegeneration. It is subdivided into three variants: semantic, agrammatic or nonfluent, and logopenic. Pieces of evidence have suggested that learning disabilities in childhood, such as dyslexia, might be susceptibility factors in the occurrence of PPA in adulthood. The objective of this study was to verify the existence of the relationship between PPA and the history of learning disabilities of patients and their children, compared to a control group of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). A questionnaire was applied to investigate the presence of indicators of learning disabilities and difficulties in individuals with PPA and AD and their children. Twenty subjects with PPA and 16 with AD participated in the study. Our findings are presented and discussed in light of the current scientific evidence and the social, educational, and economic Brazilian scenario. Despite the challenges of doing research with individuals with PPA in Brazil, we present the first evidence about the investigation of association between the history of learning disabilities and difficulties and PPA in native Brazilian Portuguese speakers.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; differential diagnosis; dyslexia; learning disabilities; primary progressive aphasia.