3. Nonfluent/Agrammatic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (nfvPPA)
Nonfluent/Agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA), is another type of FTD that heavily impacts an individual’s ability to communicate, albeit differently from svPPA. Where svPPA primarily affects language comprehension, nfvPPA primarily impairs speech production.
In the early stages of nfvPPA, people typically experience difficulty with fluent speech. Speaking becomes an effortful process.
They may struggle to form complete sentences and articulate words correctly. Sentences may be shortened or simplified, and individuals may omit small words such as “is,” “and,” and “the.” They may also have difficulty with grammar, resulting in speech that appears broken or ungrammatical.
As the condition progresses, the speech problems become more noticeable and disruptive. People with nfvPPA might also exhibit agrammatism, a condition characterized by difficulty using or understanding grammatical systems.
This makes constructing sentences increasingly hard, adding to the struggles with communication. They might also experience apraxia, a disorder that impairs the motor planning system required to produce speech, even when the individual knows what they want to say.
nfvPPA is primarily caused by degeneration in the frontal and left temporal lobes of the brain, regions crucial for speech and language production. However, unlike bvFTD, behavior and personality are typically preserved until the late stages of the disease.
Despite the progressive nature of nfvPPA, early diagnosis and interventions, including speech and language therapy, can help manage the symptoms and improve the quality of life for those affected. (3)
