This episode is a conversation about primary progressive aphasia (PPA). We discuss the definition of PPA, the three widely used subtypes, common clinical symptoms, neuroanatomy and proteinopathies, epidemiology, overlap/differences between PPA and Alzheimer’s disease, neuropsychiatric symptoms in PPA, neuropsychological assessment of PPA patients, and current available treatments.
If you’d like to receive CE credit for listening to this episode, click here.
Guest disclosures: Dr. Rogalski has received grants through NIH to the University of Chicago.
About Emily
Emily Rogalski, PhD, is the Rosalind Franklin Professor of Neurology and Director of the Healthy Aging & Alzheimer’s Research Care (HAARC) Center at the University of Chicago. She is a clinical and cognitive neuroscientist whose research focuses on primary progressive aphasia (PPA), Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and exceptional cognitive aging. Dr. Rogalski is known for her work characterizing the clinical, neuroimaging, and biomarker features of PPA, as well as for pioneering research in SuperAging to better understand resilience to age-related memory decline. She also developed Communication Bridge, a person-centered speech-language intervention for individuals with PPA and their communication partners, and leads interdisciplinary, community-engaged research aimed at improving diagnosis, care, and quality of life across neurodegenerative disease.
Resources
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD)
References
Belder, C. R., Marshall, C. R., Jiang, J., Mazzeo, S., Chokesuwattanaskul, A., Rohrer, J. D., … & Warren, J. D. (2024). Primary progressive aphasia: six questions in search of an answer. Journal of Neurology, 271(2), 1028-1046.
Mesulam, M. M., Coventry, C. A., Bigio, E. H., Sridhar, J., Gill, N., Fought, A. J., … & Rogalski, E. J. (2022). Neuropathological fingerprints of survival, atrophy and language in primary progressive aphasia. Brain, 145(6), 2133-2148.
Rezaii, N., Hochberg, D., Quimby, M., Wong, B., Brickhouse, M., Touroutoglou, A., … & Wolff, P. (2024). Artificial intelligence classifies primary progressive aphasia from connected speech. Brain, 147(9), 3070-3082.
Rogalski, E., Bona, M., Esparza, M., Fegter, O., Schafer, R., Mooney, A., … & Roberts, A. (2025). Efficacy of Communication Bridge‐2 for primary progressive aphasia: A randomized controlled trial of communication intervention. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 21(3), e70088.
Ruksenaite, J., Volkmer, A., Jiang, J., Johnson, J. C., Marshall, C. R., Warren, J. D., & Hardy, C. J. (2021). Primary progressive aphasia: toward a pathophysiological synthesis. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 21(3), 7.
Ulugut, H., Stek, S., Wagemans, L. E., Jutten, R. J., Keulen, M. A., Bouwman, F. H., … & Pijnenburg, Y. A. (2022). The natural history of primary progressive aphasia: beyond aphasia. Journal of neurology, 269(3), 1375-1385.
Wauters, L. D., Croot, K., Dial, H. R., Duffy, J. R., Grasso, S. M., Kim, E., … & Henry, M. L. (2024). Behavioral treatment for speech and language in primary progressive aphasia and primary progressive apraxia of speech: A systematic review. Neuropsychology review, 34(3), 882-923.
