Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24991038›Full record

Trial reportNeurology2014

Narrative discourse deficits in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Sharon Ash, Anna Menaged, Christopher Olm, Corey T McMillan, Ashley Boller, David J Irwin, Leo McCluskey, Lauren Elman, Murray Grossman

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neurology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Ten years of using the APACS test: a multistudy cross-diagnostic analysis of pragmatic profiles and their relationship with Theory of Mind.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Sensory Involvement in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022
    Review
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  11. Review
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  15. Article
  16. Syntactic processing as a marker for cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis & frontotemporal degeneration · 2015
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sharon AshFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. ash@mail.med.upenn.edu.
Anna MenagedFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Christopher OlmFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Corey T McMillanFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Ashley BollerFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
David J IrwinFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Leo McCluskeyFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Lauren ElmanFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Murray GrossmanFrom the Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (S.A., A.M., C.O., C.T.M., A.B., D.J.I., L.M., L.E., M.G.), and Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (D.J.I.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium · US

Funding

Transgenic Mouse Models of Tau PathologiesP01AG017586 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI LEE, VIRGINIA M · 2000 to 2021
$37.3M
Project IV: "Alpha-Synuclein Strains & Diverse Synucleinopathies"P50NS053488 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI TROJANOWSKI, JOHN Q. · 2007 to 2017
$20.9M
Neural Basis of Generalized QuantifiersR01NS044266 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI GROSSMAN, MURRAY · 2004 to 2014
$6.8M
TDP-43 Proteinopathies in ALS-DementiaP01AG032953 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI LEE, VIRGINIA M · 2010 to 2014
$5.8M
CONCEPTUAL PROCESSING IN ALZHEIMERS DISEASER01AG015116 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI GROSSMAN, MURRAY · 1998 to 2010
$4.3M
Age, Hearing Loss, and Sentence Comprehension: Neural CorrelatesR01AG038490 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI GROSSMAN, MURRAY · 2012 to 2016
$2.1M
Identification of Endophenotypes in the Behavioral-Variant of Frontotemporal DemeK23NS088341 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI IRWIN, DAVID JOHN · 2014 to 2018
$836k
Multimodal Biomarkers in Frontotemporal Lobar DegenerationK01AG043503 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI MCMILLAN, COREY T · 2013 to 2017
$642k
NIA NIH HHS AG015116NIA NIH HHS AG017586NIA NIH HHS AG032953NIA NIH HHS AG043503NIA NIH HHS K01 AG043503NIA NIH HHS P01 AG017586NIA NIH HHS P01 AG032953NIA NIH HHS R01 AG015116NIA NIH HHS R01 AG038490NINDS NIH HHS K23 NS088341NINDS NIH HHS NS044266NINDS NIH HHS NS053488NINDS NIH HHS P50 NS053488NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS044266
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe examined narrative discourse in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to assess the role of executive functioning in support of language and the neuroanatomical basis for such support.

methodsWe analyzed a semistructured speech sample in 26 patients with ALS and 19 healthy seniors for narrative discourse features of coherence. Regression analyses related a measure of discourse coherence ("local connectedness") to gray matter atrophy and reduced white matter fractional anisotropy.

resultsPatients with ALS were impaired relative to controls on measures of discourse adequacy, including local connectedness and maintenance of the theme. These discourse measures were related to measures of executive functioning but not to motor functioning. Regressions related local connectedness to gray matter atrophy in ventral and dorsal prefrontal regions and to reduced fractional anisotropy in white matter tracts mediating projections between prefrontal regions.

conclusionPatients with ALS exhibit deficits in their ability to organize narrative discourse. These deficits appear to be related in part to executive limitations. Consistent with the hypothesis that ALS is a multisystem disorder, this deficit is related to disease in prefrontal regions.

Indexed as

NarrationNeuropsychological TestsAgedAmyotrophic Lateral SclerosisFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSpeechSpeech Disorders

Identifiers

PMID24991038
PMCPMC4142005
OpenAlexW2066853107

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.