Statistical learning and its consolidation in persons with aphasia

Abstract

Purpose The present study aimed to investigate statistical learning abilities and its consolidation in Persons with Aphasia (PWA). Methods Ten PWA following stroke and Ten Neuro-Typical Individuals (NTI) were recruited for the study. Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) was used in the study. Sequence and random pattern blocks were used within the paradigm. The task was administered in three sessions, learning session (day 1), second session (24 hours after learning session), and third session (two days after the second session). In the third session, a recall block was introduced. Reaction time served as the outcome measure from the task administered. Results The results revealed that NTI outpaced the PWA in learning from SRTT. A statistically significant difference was found (p<0.05) for sequence patterns between groups measured across three sessions, but it was not the same for random patterns. Index of sequence learning was derived, and no significant effect (p>0.05) was found on Mixed ANOVA. Consolidation of learning between groups was analyzed using an Independent t-test for the second session and third sessions. It was found a significant difference between groups for the second session but not for the third session. A significant difference (p<0.05) between groups was found for recall scores. Conclusions According to the study’s results, even though PWA did not perform at the level of NTI in all measures, PWA demonstrated learning, and its memory traces were consolidated. Retention of learning was observed even though it was learned implicitly. PWAs were able to recall the implicitly acquired information explicitly. Keywords: Implicit learning; SRTT; Consolidation; Sequence learning; Aphasia