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Progressive logopenic/phonological aphasia: erosion of the language network
Rohrer JD, Ridgway GR, Crutch SJ, Hailstone J, Goll JC, Clarkson MJ, Mead S, Beck J et al.. NeuroImage, 2009-08-11
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
The primary progressive aphasias (PPA) are paradigmatic disorders of language network breakdown associated with focal degeneration of the left cerebral hemisphere. Here we addressed brain correlates of PPA in a detailed neuroanatomical analysis of the third canonical syndrome of PPA, logopenic/phonological aphasia (LPA), in relation to the more widely studied clinico-anatomical syndromes of semantic dementia (SD) and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA). 32 PPA patients (9 SD, 14 PNFA, 9 LPA) and 18 cognitively normal controls had volumetric brain MRI with regional volumetry, cortical thickness, grey and white matter voxel-based morphometry analyses. Five of nine patients with LPA had cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers consistent with Alzheimer (AD) pathology (AD-PPA) and 2/9 patients had progranulin (GRN) mutations (GRN-PPA). The LPA group had tissue loss in a widespread left hemisphere network. Compared with PNFA and SD, the LPA group had more extensive involvement of grey matter in posterior temporal and parietal cortices and long association white matter tracts. Overlapping but distinct networks were involved in the AD-PPA and GRN-PPA subgroups, with more anterior temporal lobe involvement in GRN-PPA. The importance of these findings is threefold: firstly, the clinico-anatomical entity of LPA has a profile of brain damage that is complementary to the network-based disorders of SD and PNFA; secondly, the core phonological processing deficit in LPA is likely to arise from temporo-parietal junction damage but disease spread occurs through the dorsal language network (and in GRN-PPA, also the ventral language network); and finally, GRN mutations provide a specific molecular substrate for language network dysfunction.
Key findings
- The primary progressive aphasias (PPA) are paradigmatic disorders of language network breakdown associated with focal degeneration of the left cerebral hemisphere.
- Compared with PNFA and SD, the LPA group had more extensive involvement of grey matter in posterior temporal and parietal cortices and long association white matter tracts.
- The importance of these findings is threefold: firstly, the clinico-anatomical entity of LPA has a profile of brain damage that is complementary to the network-based disorders of SD and PNFA; secondly, the core phonological processing deficit in LPA is likely to arise from temporo-parietal junction damage but disease spread occurs through the dorsal language network (and in GRN-PPA, also the ventral language network); and finally, GRN mutations provide a specific molecular substrate for language network dysfunction.
Why it matters
Among 32 patients with primary progressive aphasia, the logopenic/phonological group had widespread left hemisphere tissue loss, and five of nine had CSF biomarkers consistent with Alzheimer pathology. This is a descriptive brain-imaging study of a language variant and does not test any treatment.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed 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 | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NeuroImage) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | NeuroImage: journal h-index 523 (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 | 2010 — 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 | 5 / 7 | Cited 295 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 16.4 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 33 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Jason D. Warren: h-index 95 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19679189) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.08.002
- PubMed: 19679189
- Original source →
- Free full text: NeuroImage →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Rohrer, J. D., Ridgway, G. R., Crutch, S. J., Hailstone, J., Goll, J. C., Clarkson, M. J., et al. (2010). Progressive logopenic/phonological aphasia: erosion of the language network. NeuroImage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.08.002
Vancouver
Rohrer JD, Ridgway GR, Crutch SJ, Hailstone J, Goll JC, Clarkson MJ, et al. Progressive logopenic/phonological aphasia: erosion of the language network. NeuroImage. 2010. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.08.002. PMID: 19679189.
BibTeX
@article{rohrer2010-19679189,
author = {Rohrer, J. D. and Ridgway, G. R. and Crutch, S. J. and Hailstone, J. and Goll, J. C. and Clarkson, M. J. and Mead, S. and Beck, J. and others},
title = {{Progressive logopenic/phonological aphasia: erosion of the language network}},
journal = {NeuroImage},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.08.002},
pmid = {19679189},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.08.002}
}
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