# Speech profiles and cue responsiveness in primary progressive aphasia

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $411,631

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The purpose of the proposed research is to strengthen the impact of a current project on speech
profiles after left hemisphere stroke (R01DC018569). Specifically, we seek to expand its scope to
primary progressive aphasia as seen in some phenotypes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and
Alzheimer’s disease. Recent research at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has
demonstrated a spectrum of quantitative speech profiles in stroke-induced aphasia. These profiles
include apraxia of speech—a disorder of motor programming that has been notoriously difficult to
diagnose with traditional perceptual methods. Though apraxia of speech is usually caused by stroke, it
also occurs in degenerative disease, where its presence or absence is central to the behavioral
differentiation among variants of primary progressive aphasia and is predictive of underlying
pathology1,2. As such, the diagnosis is essential to early prognostication and treatment. Through
collaboration with colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin and The University of New Mexico,
we plan to apply experimental conditions and analysis procedures from the parent stroke project to
persons with primary progressive aphasia. We expect this expansion will facilitate synergistic
neurobehavioral research across distinct pathologies that affect overlapping brain regions and
networks. In Aim 1 we will evaluate the extent to which the speech assessment we are developing for
stroke-induced apraxia of speech is applicable to primary progressive aphasia. We plan to adjust
parameters as needed to ensure psychometric rigor and clinical feasibility for both etiologies.
Anticipated tools and procedures will be of value to all researchers and clinicians whose work involves
either of these clinical populations. In Aim 2, we will determine to what extent apraxia of speech and
related speech profiles predict responsiveness to behavioral cueing strategies. By replicating
experimental conditions utilized in the stroke-focused parent grant, we will contribute to converging
evidence about cognitive compensation and capacity for learning after diverse left hemisphere
pathology. In conjunction with the parent project, these two aims will establish a foundation for
collaborative research beyond traditional boundaries of disorder etiology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10287754
- **Project number:** 3R01DC018569-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** KATARINA L HALEY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $411,631
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10287754

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10287754, Speech profiles and cue responsiveness in primary progressive aphasia (3R01DC018569-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10287754. Licensed CC0.

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