Dr. Hurley: Function (Doesn't Always) Follow Form

Dr. Robert Hurley’s talk regarding Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) was very interesting, especially because it connected with what we were talking about in class. Dr. Hurley discussed the different subtypes of PPA, and they reminded me of umbrella types of aphasia. In agrammatic PPA (PPA-G), the patient has deficits in grammar, but their word comprehension is relatively spared. This sounds like Non Fluent, or Broca’s, Aphasia. This is caused by atrophy in frontal areas (including Broca’s area) that are related with speech production, and imaging studies have agreed with this. 

When explaining semantic PPA (PPA-S), Dr. Hurley described that this is caused by anterior temporal (temporal pole) damage which results in deficits in word comprehension, but not grammar. This reminds me of Fluent, or Wernicke’s, Aphasia because of the deficits. However, Dr. Hurley pointed out that if Wernicke’s area is associated with comprehension, one would expect it to be damaged in PPA-S (since comprehension is impaired), but imaging shows that it actually is not. This leads one to believe that there is something else going on, and much research still needs to be conducted.

I really enjoyed Dr. Hurley’s talk, and it also brought up the important point discovering the inner-workings of the brain is a complex and ever-changing field. One must consider the anatomy of the brain when studying function (and vice versa), and must also integrate the results of imaging and behavioral studies when drawing conclusions. Sometimes, one has to adjust their theory and roll with the punches.