title: Facilitating text reading in posterior cortical atrophy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We report (1) the quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), and (2) the effects of 2 novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in the reading ability of patients with PCA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reading performance, eye movements, and fixations were assessed in patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer disease and in healthy controls (experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (experiment 2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean reading accuracy in patients with PCA was significantly worse (57%) compared with both patients with typical Alzheimer disease (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%-270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid in patients with PCA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate how neurologic characterization of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with PCA, 2 software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy.
authors.affiliation: From the Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegeneration, Institute of Neurology (K.X.X.Y., K.R., T.J.S., S.J.C.), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (A.P.L.), and Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology (A.P.L.), University College London, UK. keir.yong@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Keir X X
authors.initials: KX
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.affiliation: From the Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegeneration, Institute of Neurology (K.X.X.Y., K.R., T.J.S., S.J.C.), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (A.P.L.), and Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology (A.P.L.), University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Kishan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajdev
authors.affiliation: From the Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegeneration, Institute of Neurology (K.X.X.Y., K.R., T.J.S., S.J.C.), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (A.P.L.), and Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology (A.P.L.), University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Shakespeare
authors.affiliation: From the Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegeneration, Institute of Neurology (K.X.X.Y., K.R., T.J.S., S.J.C.), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (A.P.L.), and Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology (A.P.L.), University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Alexander P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Leff
authors.affiliation: From the Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegeneration, Institute of Neurology (K.X.X.Y., K.R., T.J.S., S.J.C.), Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (A.P.L.), and Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology (A.P.L.), University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Sebastian J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Crutch
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D001284:Atrophy / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004411:Dyslexia, Acquired / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted