Non-fluent primary progressive aphasia: A case study

This single case study of a patient with non-fluent Primary Progressive Aphasia, JB, aimed at presenting a comprehensive picture of his abilities in linguistic and cognitive domains. The study followed the progression of the disorder over a period of three years, presenting a comprehensive neuropsychological report as well as investigations into phonology, syntax, morphology and comprehension and production of language. This case of NFPPA was especially interesting because the patient was bilingual (Hungarian - Ll/English - L2) and, whenever possible, his abilities were investigated in both languages. The phonological investigation tested JB's ability in reading and repetition of single words in two testing periods (Time 1 and Time 2), controlling for syllable length and complexity. The results of the study in general showed that JB's performance was not different from other reported cases of NFPPA and that JB's abilities for most areas of interest appeared to be more preserved in LI. The results of the phonological experiment indicated that the pattern of errors appears to be similar across languages, the frequency of particular error types and the effect of complexity remain reasonably stable over time, even though performance was poorer overall at Time 2 than Time 1, and the length effect (increased level of impairment for longer targets) is more pronounced at Time 2 than Time 1. Overall results of the study are discussed in relation to similar reports and findings