Differences in neuroimaging features of early- versus late-onset nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging Vol. 86; pp. 92 - 101
• Main Authors: San Lee, Jin, Yoo, Sole, Park, Seongbeom, Kim, Hee Jin, Park, Key-Chung, Seong, Joon-Kyung, Suh, Mee Kyung, Lee, Juyoun, Jang, Hyemin, Kim, Ko Woon, Kim, Yeshin, Cho, Soo Hyun, Kim, Seung Joo, Kim, Jun Pyo, Jung, Young Hee, Kim, Eun-Joo, Suh, Yeon-Lim, Lockhart, Samuel N., Seeley, William W., Na, Duk L., Seo, Sang Won
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.02.2020
• Subjects: Age of symptom onset; Aged; Aphasia, Broca - diagnostic imaging; Aphasia, Broca - pathology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - pathology; Brain reserve hypothesis; Disease Progression; Female; Frontotemporal dementia; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Neuroimaging; Nonfluent/agrammatic variant of primary progressive aphasia; Nonfluent/agrammatic variant of primary progressive aphasia; Age of symptom onset; Frontotemporal dementia; Brain reserve hypothesis
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.10.011

This study investigated distinct neuroimaging features measured by cortical thickness and subcortical structural shape abnormality in early-onset (EO, onset age <65 years) and late-onset (LO, onset age ≥65 years) nonfluent/agrammatic variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) patients. Cortical thickness and subcortical structural shape analyses were performed using a surface-based method from 38 patients with nfvPPA and 76 cognitively normal individuals. To minimize the effects of physiological aging, we used W-scores in comparisons between the groups. The EO-nfvPPA group exhibited more extensive cortical thickness reductions predominantly in the left perisylvian, lateral and medial prefrontal, temporal, posterior cingulate, and precuneus regions than the LO-nfvPPA group. The EO-nfvPPA group also exhibited significantly greater subcortical structural shape abnormality than the LO-nfvPPA group, mainly in the left striatum, hippocampus, and amygdala. Our findings suggested that there were differences in neuroimaging features between these groups by the age of symptom onset, which might be explained by underlying heterogeneous neuropathological differences or the age-related brain reserve hypothesis. •Nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia by the age of onset.•Differences in neuroimaging features of the early- and late-onset groups.•Innovative imaging method; the early-onset group shows severe neurodegeneration.