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Nothing to say, something to sing: primary progressive dynamic aphasia
Warren JD, Warren JE, Fox NC, Warrington EK.. Neurocase, 2003-04-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
We describe a 76-year-old man (ADY) with dynamic aphasia in the setting of a degenerative frontal lobe dementia: primary progressive dynamic aphasia. He displayed a striking paucity of propositional speech despite intact speech production, and preserved singing and prosody. Vocal expression in the verbal and musical domains was investigated in a series of neuropsychological experiments based on novel language and musical tasks that were designed to establish the nature and specificity of the verbal output deficit. The features of the language disorder indicated that the speech output pathway was disrupted at the early stage of generation of a new pre-verbal message. In contrast, tests of musical output demonstrated that the generation of new musical ideas was unimpaired. The domain-specificity of dynamic aphasia may result from the disruption of specific cognitive processes necessary for the creation of verbal messages, as well as selective damage of brain regions involved in language production.
Key findings
- The features of the language disorder indicated that the speech output pathway was disrupted at the early stage of generation of a new pre-verbal message.
- In contrast, tests of musical output demonstrated that the generation of new musical ideas was unimpaired.
- The domain-specificity of dynamic aphasia may result from the disruption of specific cognitive processes necessary for the creation of verbal messages, as well as selective damage of brain regions involved in language production.
Why it matters
This case study describes a 76-year-old man with dynamic aphasia in the setting of degenerative frontal lobe dementia who had preserved singing and prosody. It is a description of language and musical function in one patient, not a treatment or cure for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 38/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neurocase) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Neurocase: journal h-index 87 (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 | 2003 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 61 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 2.4 citations a year over 25 year(s) since 2003 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 5 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Elizabeth K. Warrington: h-index 92 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology: institution h-index 875 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12925938) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 38 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Warren, J. D., Warren, J. E., Fox, N. C., & Warrington, E. K. (2003). Nothing to say, something to sing: primary progressive dynamic aphasia. Neurocase. https://doi.org/10.1076/neur.9.2.140.15068
Vancouver
Warren JD, Warren JE, Fox NC, Warrington EK. Nothing to say, something to sing: primary progressive dynamic aphasia. Neurocase. 2003. doi:10.1076/neur.9.2.140.15068. PMID: 12925938.
BibTeX
@article{warren2003-12925938,
author = {Warren, J. D. and Warren, J. E. and Fox, N. C. and Warrington, E. K.},
title = {{Nothing to say, something to sing: primary progressive dynamic aphasia}},
journal = {Neurocase},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1076/neur.9.2.140.15068},
pmid = {12925938},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1076/neur.9.2.140.15068}
}