This project consists of two components: pharmacotherapy for aphasia and neurochemical correlates of verbal fluency in aphasia. The overall goal is to obtain information about chemical correlates of language which could have practical, clinical usefulness in treatment of language-impaired patients. A limited but intriguing body of literature suggests that fluency in aphasia may be mediated by dopaminergic activity, and that dopamine agonist therapy may be beneficial in the treatment of non-fluency in aphasia.
The specific aim of the pharmacotherapy component is to determine whether selected signs of aphasia respond to treatment with bromocriptine. The propose study is a prospective, randomized, double- blind, placebo-controlled trial of bromocriptine therapy among 50 patients with aphasia grouped into fluent and non-fluent subtypes by means of a comprehensive battery of speech and language tests.
The specific aim of the neurochemical correlates component is to determine whether dopaminergic deficits are significantly correlated with verbal fluency in the anterior aphasias. Cerebrospinal fluid levels of metabolites of four major neurotransmitter systems will be assayed, and language measures obtained from 30 left brain-damaged aphasic patients, 10 right brain-damaged non- aphasic patients, and 10 patients with no cerebral damage.
