Amantadine for adynamic speech: possible benefit for aphasia?
OBJECTIVE
Dopaminergic agents may stimulate behavior and verbal expression after frontal lobe dysfunction. Although amantadine is used in neurorehabilitation of motivational disorders and head injury, it is not commonly prescribed to improve aphasia. This pilot study examined verbal fluency on and off amantadine for nonfluent speech.


METHODS
Four participants undergoing inpatient rehabilitation, meeting criteria for transcortical motor aphasia had stroke (2), stroke postaneurysm surgery (1), or brain tumor resection (1). We administered 100 mg of amantadine twice a day in an open-label, on-off protocol, with multiple assessments per on-off period.


RESULTS
Off medication, subjects generated a mean 12.62 of words (abnormally few) on the Controlled Oral Word Association test. On medication, word generation significantly improved to 17.71 words (P = 0.04), although scores remained psychometrically in the abnormal range.


CONCLUSIONS
Further research on amantadine, specifically for nonfluent speech and nonfluent aphasia, including effects on functional communication and control conditions, may be warranted.
Stroke Rehabilitation Research Program, Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation, West Orange, New Jersey 07052, USA.
Anna M
AM
Barrett
Paul J
PJ
Eslinger
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000547:Amantadine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001039:Aphasia, Broca / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D000547:Amantadine