Errorless Learning Therapy in Semantic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Abstract

Background: The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is characterized by a progressive loss of semantic knowledge impairing the ability to name and to recognize the meaning of words. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the immediate and short-term effect of errorless learning speech therapy on the naming and recognition of commonly used words in patients with svPPA. Methods: Eight participants diagnosed with svPPA received 16 sessions of intensive errorless learning speech therapy. Naming and word comprehension tasks were evaluated at baseline, immediately postintervention, and at follow-up after 1, 3, and 6 months. These evaluations were performed using two item sets (a trained list and an untrained list). Results: In the naming tasks, patients showed a significant improvement in trained items immediately after the intervention, but that improvement decayed progressively when therapy ended. No improvements were found either in trained comprehension or in untrained tasks. Conclusion: Errorless learning therapy could improve naming ability in patients with svPPA. This effect may be due to the relative preservation of episodic memory, but the benefit is not maintained over time, presumably because there is no consolidation.