The neuropsychological signature of primary progressive aphasia

An effect size analysis incorporating metaanalytic principles was used to review neuropsychological findings in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Studies dating back to 1982 were gathered and the neuropsychological test results from a total of 55 patients with PPA and 162 healthy controls were synthesized using effect size analyses. The results indicate that patients with PPA are most deficient on tests of verbal skill, followed by performance on measures of delayed recall, cognitive flexibility and abstraction, memory aquisition, attention/concentration, and, finally, performance skill. A rank-order list of specific neuropsychological tasks and test variables in order of sensitivity to PPA is also provided to aid in the interpretation of the quantitative results and in the differentiation of PPA from other disorders with prominent features of dementia such as Alzheimer's disease. (C) 1999 Academic Press.