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Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants
Maria‐Luisa Gorno‐Tempini, Argye Elizabeth Hillis, Sandra Weıntraub, ANDREW E. KERTESZ, Mario F. Mendez, Stefano Francesco Cappa, J. Ogar, Jonathan Daniel Rohrer et al.. Neurology, 2011-02-16
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
This article provides a classification of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and its 3 main variants to improve the uniformity of case reporting and the reliability of research results. Criteria for the 3 variants of PPA--nonfluent/agrammatic, semantic, and logopenic--were developed by an international group of PPA investigators who convened on 3 occasions to operationalize earlier published clinical descriptions for PPA subtypes. Patients are first diagnosed with PPA and are then divided into clinical variants based on specific speech and language features characteristic of each subtype. Classification can then be further specified as "imaging-supported" if the expected pattern of atrophy is found and "with definite pathology" if pathologic or genetic data are available. The working recommendations are presented in lists of features, and suggested assessment tasks are also provided. These recommendations have been widely agreed upon by a large group of experts and should be used to ensure consistency of PPA classification in future studies. Future collaborations will collect prospective data to identify relationships between each of these syndromes and specific biomarkers for a more detailed understanding of clinicopathologic correlations.
Key findings
- This article provides a classification of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and its 3 main variants to improve the uniformity of case reporting and the reliability of research results.
Why it matters
This article provides a classification of primary progressive aphasia and its three main variants—nonfluent/agrammatic, semantic, and logopenic—to improve uniformity of case reporting and reliability of research results. The recommendations were widely agreed upon by a large group of experts and should be used to ensure consistency of classification in future studies.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 64/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 5,155 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 303.2 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 132.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 6 / 6 | Cited by 258 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 1,181 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Owen A. Ross: h-index 95 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 4 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21325651) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 64 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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APA 7th
Gorno‐Tempini, M., Hillis, A. E., Weıntraub, S., KERTESZ, A. E., Mendez, M. F., Cappa, S. F., et al. (2011). Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e31821103e6
Vancouver
Gorno‐Tempini M, Hillis AE, Weıntraub S, KERTESZ AE, Mendez MF, Cappa SF, et al. Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology. 2011. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e31821103e6. PMID: 21325651.
BibTeX
@article{gornotempini2011-21325651,
author = {Gorno‐Tempini, Maria‐Luisa and Hillis, Argye Elizabeth and Weıntraub, Sandra and KERTESZ, ANDREW E. and Mendez, Mario F. and Cappa, Stefano Francesco and Ogar, J. and Rohrer, Jonathan Daniel and others},
title = {{Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e31821103e6},
pmid = {21325651},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e31821103e6}
}
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