title: The neural basis of syntactic deficits in primary progressive aphasia.
abstract: Patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) vary considerably in terms of which brain regions are impacted, as well as in the extent to which syntactic processing is impaired. Here we review the literature on the neural basis of syntactic deficits in PPA. Structural and functional imaging studies have most consistently associated syntactic deficits with damage to left inferior frontal cortex. Posterior perisylvian regions have been implicated in some studies. Damage to the superior longitudinal fasciculus, including its arcuate component, has been linked with syntactic deficits, even after gray matter atrophy is taken into account. These findings suggest that syntactic processing depends on left frontal and posterior perisylvian regions, as well as intact connectivity between them. In contrast, anterior temporal regions, and the ventral tracts that link frontal and temporal language regions, appear to be less important for syntax, since they are damaged in many PPA patients with spared syntactic processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States. smwilson@u.arizona.edu
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galantucci
authors.forename: Maria Carmela
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tartaglia
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gorno-Tempini
mesh_terms: D018888:Aphasia, Primary Progressive / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001284:Atrophy; D001931:Brain Mapping; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D013569:Synapses / Q000473:pathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*