Can Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) cause hallucinations?

My mother-in-law "saw" people in her house that weren't there. That was after a stroke. Eventually it went away, or she stopped talking about it.

OK, true. Then my mom has hallucinations AND delusions. She thinks the TV is talking to her sometimes and she sees kids around the house that are not there or people outside.

"They can see me" is not a hallucination. It's a delusion. The difference is that hallucinations are seeing or hearing things that aren't there. Delusion is believing something is true when it is not.

Luv2travel, Mom has done the same thing. Told me that someone on TV wants her to do something.

My Mom thinks some people are talking to her (game show host, tv show host) and she will wave back to them. Dr Phil too. In fact she thought the game show wanted her to come and do something and we told her she was fine and didn't need to go anywhere.

Moms neurologist told Mom she would hallucinate. TV, dreams and reality all are one and the same to Mom. She was catching Diagnosis Murder and told me Dick VanDyke wanted to talk to me. If there was an explosion on the TV, she thought it really happened and got upset. So yes, it's part of his Dementia.

8et5hin: It seems with PPA that speech is the primary issue. Understanding the written word or spoken word manifests itself into hallucinagenic thoughts and actions as the individual's brain has been injured. Thinking persons on television can see your elder could be not only due to brain damage, but medication as well. I wish you well. That's difficult! (((Hugs)))

Mom (98 with dementia) does the same thing. Often she sees the people on TV who are looking at us as threats of some kind. This is a sign that it's time to change the station.

I recommend NickJr with the exception of the vroom-vroom vehicles or monster types of agitating action.

Meanwhile I can watch movies or whatever on my laptop or Kindle Fire. Favorite TV shows can be recorded for later viewing when Mom is otherwise occupied.

Anyway, not to worry; this is a normal progression of the disease. Just keep smiling.

It sounds like you have been using the internet to look up unusual terms which really don't mean anything. Once a person has aphasia (the loss of ability to speak or understand the written word) their brain has damage. Dementia causes the brain to lose the ability to speak because from hearing a word, it takes about five steps in the brain to formulate the meaning and then speak the word. Hallucinations coming from the television are more a symptom of a manic phase of bipolar disorder than dementia. I suspect the "hallucinations" are not really coming from the t.v., but rather from his mind which interprets sound and pictures differently. Who really knows what a person with dementia understands or knows but that person? The brain is so complicated and you will waste your time trying to figure out how it works. Spend time loving your loved one...

Thanks for new information. It may not pertain to alz spouse but helps understand others.

Is it all TV personalities, or just one or two. Sometimes a TV personality can touch us in a place long kept secret. A secret need, that now wants to be noticed. This attachment could cause a person to think the TV personality can "see" them. Watching this play out could give incites into this person's needs.

This is typical of persons with Lewy Body Dementia.

I agree with Jessie. This should be discussed with the doctor who is following his PPA.

I haven't heard of hallucinations with PPA. Have you talked to his doctor about this? Something else could be going on that is either related or separate.

I can understand how he can believe people on TV can see him. It is a primary visual response that isn't being damped by higher centers. I can understand because I can't have pictures of people around me. Though I know they can't see, I can't shake the feeling that they can. I have to even turn magazines over so the cover photo isn't looking at me. It is just primary response to visual input that for some reason I can't override. The same may be going on with your with the man you are referring to.