Language Recovery In Aphasia Research Articles

Neuroimaging in aphasia treatment research: standards for establishing the effects of treatment.

The goal of this paper is to discuss experimental design options available for establishing the effects of treatment in studies that aim to examine the neural mechanisms associated with treatment-induced language recovery in aphasia, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We present both group and single-subject experimental or case-series design options for doing this and address advantages and disadvantages of each. We also discuss general components of and requirements for treatment research studies, including operational definitions of variables, criteria for defining behavioral change and treatment efficacy, and reliability of measurement. Important considerations that are unique to neuroimaging-based treatment research are addressed, pertaining to the relation between the selected treatment approach and anticipated changes in language processes/functions and how such changes are hypothesized to map onto the brain.

Objective automated analysis of natural language: The Fluency Profiling System as a measure of the efficiency of dynamic language networks.

Event Abstract Back to Event Objective automated analysis of natural language: The Fluency Profiling System as a measure of the efficiency of dynamic language networks. Kathryn M. Hird1, 2*, Kim Kirsner1, 2, Daniel Little3, Raoul Oehmen1, 2 and John Dunn4 1 University of Notre Dame, Australia 2 University of Western Australia, Australia 3 University of Melbourne, Australia 4 University of Adelaide, Australia Recent advances in neuro-imaging have provided biological confirmation of the presence of large-scale networks underpinning language processing (Thompson & den Ouden, 2008). Fluent effortless speech production is thought to reflect optimum network function. Hird and Kirsner (2010) demonstrated in three diverse aphasic speakers that the Fluency Profiling System (Little, Oehmen, Dunn, Hird & Kirsner (2012) provides a powerful, objective and sensitive profile of fluency in natural speech samples. Discourse samples from the Cinderella story were selected from the AphasiaBank repository (McWhinney et al., 2011) if they met an empirically defined Signal: Noise ratio. To date a total of 28 cases have been analysed: 18 with a diagnosis of Broca’s aphasia and 10 controls. Dependent measures of long pauses, short pauses and speech segment durations (ln) for each aphasic were converted to z scores by comparison with the control group. All of the Broca’s aphasics showed shorter mean speech segment durations than the control group. Nine cases produced significantly longer mean short pause durations. The results demonstrate that the FPS is a sensitive tool for characterisation of cognitive and motor processes associated with the impact of brain impairment on spontaneous speaking. It provides inferential statistics that quantify function across cognitive and motor domains beyond those provided by traditional categorical or model based diagnostic tools. References Hird K, Kirsner K (2010) Objective measurement of fluency in natural language production: A dynamic systems approach. Journal of Neurolinguistics. 23 (5): Special Issue: 518-530. Little, D., Oehmen, R., Dunn, J, Hird, K & Kirsner, K. (2012) Fluency Profiling System: An automated system for analyzing the temporal properties of speech. Behavioural Research. DOI 10.3758/s13428-012-0222-0 MacWhinney, B., Fromm, D., Forbes, M & Holland, A. (2011). AphasiaBank: Methods for studying discourse. Aphasiology, 25, 1286-1307 Thompson, C. K., & den Ouden, D. B. (2008). Neuroimaging and recovery of language in aphasia. Current Neurology and Neuroscience, 8(6), 475–483. Keywords: language measurement, fluency, Aphasia, speech science, validation of methods, natural language Conference: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 29 Nov - 2 Dec, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Language Citation: Hird KM, Kirsner K, Little D, Oehmen R and Dunn J (2012). Objective automated analysis of natural language: The Fluency Profiling System as a measure of the efficiency of dynamic language networks.. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2012 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2012.208.00045 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Oct 2012; Published Online: 07 Nov 2012. * Correspondence: Prof. Kathryn M Hird, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, WA, Australia, Kathryn.Hird@nd.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn Google Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn Google Scholar Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn PubMed Kathryn M Hird Kim Kirsner Daniel Little Raoul Oehmen John Dunn Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Research with rTMS in the treatment of aphasia

This review of our research with rTMS to treat aphasia contains four parts: Part 1 reviews functional brain imaging studies related to recovery of language in aphasia with emphasis on nonfluent aphasia. Part 2 presents the rationale for using rTMS to treat nonfluent aphasia patients (based on results from functional imaging studies). Part 2 also reviews our current rTMS treatment protocol used with nonfluent aphasia patients, and our functional imaging results from overt naming fMRI scans, obtained pre- and post- a series of rTMS treatments. Part 3 presents results from a pilot study where rTMS treatments were followed immediately by constraint-induced language therapy (CILT). Part 4 reviews our diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study that examined white matter connections between the horizontal, midportion of the arcuate fasciculus (hAF) to different parts within Broca's area (pars triangularis, PTr; pars opercularis, POp), and the ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) in the RH and in the LH. Part 4 also addresses some of the possible mechanisms involved with improved naming and speech, following rTMS with nonfluent aphasia patients.

Ambient Experience in Restitutive Treatment of Aphasia

One of the greatest challenges to language rehabilitation is reconciling the fact that the same therapeutic intervention, provided to different individuals with similar types of stroke-induced aphasia, may result in divergent outcomes. In this paper, the authors reviewed existing literature to identify relevant ambient factors – those outside the control of the clinician – that may potentially influence functional language recovery in aphasia and response to treatment. The goal was to develop a clinical history-taking tool to assist clinicians in gathering information germane to each individual's unique circumstances and environment, elements that may have previously been underestimated, to provide a complete inventory of potentially potent prognostic factors. First, two of the authors, speech–language pathologists experienced in aphasia rehabilitation, identified and categorized factors that seemed likely to influence aphasia outcomes. Then, a wide range of literature was reviewed in an effort to identify factors empirically found to be potent influences on aphasia recovery. Where studies relating these factors to aphasia were not found, relevant research from allied fields that examined recovery from brain injury is reported. Moreover, some factors thought to be potentially potent have yet to be examined. Finally, the ambient factors supported by evidence were categorized as facilitators or barriers to functional improvement, and the Ambient Influences on Outcome Checklist (AOC) was developed, including only those factors shown to be potent in the recovery process. It is hoped that this checklist can be used to more broadly assess potential prognostic influences in aphasia restitution, as well as spawn further research.

Research with transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of aphasia

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been used to improve language behavior, including naming, in stroke patients with chronic, nonfluent aphasia. Part 1 of this article reviews functional imaging studies related to language recovery in aphasia. Part 2 reviews the rationale for using rTMS to treat nonfluent aphasia (based on functional imaging) and presents our current rTMS protocol. We present language results from our rTMS studies as well as imaging results from overt naming functional MRI scans obtained before and after a series of rTMS treatments. Part 3 presents results from a pilot study in which rTMS treatments were followed immediately by constraint-induced language therapy. Part 4 reviews our diffusion tensor imaging study examining the possible connectivity of the arcuate fasciculus to different parts of Broca's area (pars triangularis, pars opercularis) and to the ventral premotor cortex. The potential role of mirror neurons in the right pars opercularis and ventral premotor cortex in aphasia recovery is discussed.

Neuroimaging and recovery of language in aphasia.

The use of functional neuroimaging techniques has advanced what is known about the neural mechanisms used to support language processing in aphasia resulting from brain damage. This paper highlights recent findings derived from neuroimaging studies focused on neuroplasticity of language networks, the role of the left and right hemispheres in this process, and studies examining how treatment affects the neurobiology of recovery. We point out variability across studies as well as factors related to this variability, and we emphasize challenges that remain for research.

The Neurobiology of Language Recovery in Aphasia

The Neurobiology of Language Recovery in Aphasia

The CHILDES project: tools for analyzing talk

Language research thrives on data collected from spontaneous interactions in naturally occurring situations. However, the process of collecting, transcribing, and analyzing naturalistic data can be extremely time-consuming and often unreliable. This book describes three basic tools for language analysis of transcript data by computer that have been developed in the context of the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) project. These are: the CHAT transcription and coding format, the CLAN package of analysis programs, and the database. These tools have brought about significant changes in the way research is conducted in the child language field. They are being used with great success by researchers working with second language learning, adult conversational interactions, sociological content analyses, and language recovery in aphasia, as well as by students of child language development. tools are widely applicable, although this book concentrates on their use in the child language field, believing that researchers from other areas can make the necessary analogies to their own topics. This thoroughly revised 2nd edition includes documentation on a dozen new computer programs that have been added to the basic system for transcript analysis. most important of these new programs is the Text Editor (CED) which can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including editing non-Roman orthographies, systematically adding codes to transcripts, checking the files for correct use of CHAT, and linking the files to digitized audio and videotape. In addition to information on the new computer programs, the manual documents changed the shape of the CHILDES/BIB system--given a major update in 1994--which now uses a new computer database system. documentation for the transcript database has been updated to include new information on old corpora and information on more than a dozen new corpora from many different languages. Finally, the system of CHAT notations for file transcript have been clarified to emphasize the ways in which the codes are used by particular CLAN programs. new edition concludes with a discussion of new directions in transcript analysis and links between the database and other developments in multimedia computing and global networking. It also includes complete references organized by research topic area for the more than 300 published articles that have made use of the database and/or the CLAN programs. LEA also distributes the CLAN programs and the complete Database--including corpora from several languages and discourse situations--described in The CHILDES Project. Be sure to choose the correct platform (IBM or Macintosh) for the CLAN programs; the Database CD-ROM runs on both platforms.

Language and Reading in the Right Hemisphere: Highways or Byways of the Brain?

The literature pertaining to the representation of language in the right hemisphere of hemispherectomy and callosotomy patients is reviewed to ascertain whether it provides an empirical basis for the assertions that (1) the right hemisphere participates in the recovery of language in aphasia, (2) the right hemisphere mediates the reading errors of deep dyslexic and pure alexic patients, and (3) the right hemisphere plays a fixed role in normal reading processes. At present, there appears to be some support for the first assertion, limited support for the second (if individual variation in representation can be accepted), and disconfirming evidence for the third in the data from these populations.

The Role of Right Hemispheric Information Processing Strategies in Language Recovery in Aphasia: An Electroencephalographic Investigation of Hemispheric Alpha Asymmetries in Normal and Aphasic Subjects

The hemispheric alpha asymmetries of a group of normal males, a group of normal females and a group of aphasic patients (fluent and dysfluent) were examined with electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques during the presentation of sentencial information (which the subjects were to repeat following presentation of each sentence) and connected verbal discourse (which the subjects were required to answer questions about following presentation). Results demonstrated both fluent and nonfluent aphasic patients to show less alpha in the right hemisphere contrasted with both normal groups who demonstrated less alpha in the left hemisphere. Results are discussed in relation to the contribution of right hemispheric information processing strategies in language recovery in aphasic patients.