Personalized prognosis and care for primary progressive aphasia
Official title: Toward Personalized Prognosis and Outcomes in Primary Progressive Aphasia
Funded at Massachusetts General Hospital · NIH-10973968 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will use brain scans and molecular imaging to help predict how language skills will change over time for people with primary progressive aphasia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | April 17, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $823,683 |
| NIH project number | 4R01NS131395-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-10973968 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with a diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia or suspected early PPA who can undergo MRI and PET scanning and attend follow-up visits would be the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Those without PPA, unable to undergo MRI/PET (for example because of incompatible implants or severe claustrophobia), or unable to travel to the study site may not be able to participate or benefit.
What this research studies
You would have PET scans that look for tau and amyloid proteins and several kinds of MRI (structural, diffusion, and functional) to map your language networks. The team will repeat imaging over time to see how your brain changes and which molecular pathology is driving your symptoms. That information will be used to give a more specific diagnosis and clearer predictions about language decline. The researchers aim to make these imaging methods into practical tools clinicians can use to guide care and future treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could give earlier and more specific diagnoses and clearer forecasts of decline to help patients plan care and match to targeted therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Prior smaller studies have shown promising results using tau and amyloid PET and advanced MRI in PPA, but combining these measures for routine clinical use is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
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Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dickerson, Bradford C — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Dickerson, Bradford C
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Improving diagnosis and outcomes for primary progressive aphasia
This study is looking at ways to better understand and diagnose primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a condition that affects how people communicate, by using advanced brain imaging techniques, so that doctors can provide better care and support for those living with PPA.
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Communication Bridge: Improving language therapy for people with primary progressive aphasia
A proven language-therapy program called Communication Bridge helps people with primary progressive aphasia improve and maintain how they communicate with others.
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Bilingualism and language resilience in Hispanic people with primary progressive aphasia
Researchers compare different bilingual experiences to see how they relate to language decline and thinking skills in Hispanic adults with primary progressive aphasia.
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Communication Bridge helps people with primary progressive aphasia talk more clearly
Aimed at people with primary progressive aphasia, this project tests a speech-language and psychosocial program delivered by telepractice to improve daily communication and quality of life.
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Transcranial current therapy for language in progressive aphasia
A world-class team is testing a painless brain-stimulation method to help people with primary progressive aphasia say more words and names.
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Improving communication support for people with primary progressive aphasia
This project improves and delivers an evidence-based speech and communication program to help people with primary progressive aphasia and their care partners, including through telehealth.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.