From psychosis-deaf





The following abstract is from the on-line program for the upcoming
International Conference Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders.
Thought you might be interested.



AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE APHASIA IN ALZHEIMER DISEASE
Topic: Diagnosis and Disease Progression Neuropsychological
Presentation Time: Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Ann Marie Hake, Martin R. Farlow, Indiana University School of Medicine,
Indianapolis, IN, USA. Contact e-mail: ahake@...
Presentation Number: P3-073
Keyword: language, verbal fluency, cognition
Background: Several cases of acquired aphasia for American Sign Language
(ASL) have been described in individuals with left hemispheric lesions
from stroke or trauma. Objectives: Here, we present 2 patients with
Alzheimer disease and congenital deafness who developed aphasia for sign
language. Case 1: A 71-year old woman with congenital deafness was
brought to the dementia clinic by her daughter, who reported a gradually
progressive decline in memory, orientation, and activities of daily
living over approximately 4 years, and apparent problems with language
for 1 year. The patient often had difficulty coming up with the correct
sign for objects, and had an increasing tendency to give the sign for
"item" for any object. Sometimes she would use inappropriate or nonsense
signs and also sometimes appeared to have difficulty understanding
others' signing to her. These language difficulties were also noticed by
the clinic's ASL interpreter. Neuropsychological testing revealed
dementia with a prominent amnestic component and anomia; constructional
praxis was intact. Routine laboratories and a head CT were normal. Her
aphasia and dementia progressed over the next 4 years until her death.
Case 2: An 80-year old congenitally deaf man presented with a 2-year
history of gradually progressive short-term memory loss, disorientation,
and mood swings. Neuropsychological testing revealed dementia with a
prominent amnestic component and depressive symptoms. Routine
laboratories and a head CT were unremarkable. Treatment with an
antidepressant produced improvement of his mood and energy, but not
cognition. Over the next year, he started having difficulty
understanding both signed and written language. His wife also reported
that his own signing was becoming "sparse", whereas in the past he had
had a broad vocabulary. Conclusions: Numerous cases of aphasia for ASL
in stroke or head injury patients have been studied and described since
the 1800's. Neurological, neuropsychological, and functional
neuroimaging testing has demonstrated that sign language depends upon
the same neuroanatomic areas as spoken language, as opposed to gestural
language or praxis. Our patients exhibited the same aphasia symptoms
exhibited by many hearing individuals with Alzheimer disease. To our
knowledge, this is the first formal report of ASL aphasia in Alzheimer
disease.
Commercial Relationship: A. Hake, None; M.R. Farlow, None.

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