Receptive Language Tasks Research Articles

Language brain responses and neurodevelopmental outcome in preschoolers with congenital heart disease: A fNIRS study

Neurodevelopmental disabilities affect up to 50% of survivors of congenital heart disease (CHD). Language difficulties are frequently identified during preschool period and can lead to academic, social, behavioral, and emotional difficulties. Structural brain alterations are associated with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes in patients with CHD during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. However, evidence is lacking about the functional brain activity in children with CHD and its relationship with neurodevelopment. This study therefore aimed to characterize brain responses during a passive story-listening task in 3-year-old children with CHD, and to investigate the relationship between functional brain patterns of language processing and neurodevelopmental outcomes. To do so, we assessed hemodynamic concentration changes, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and neurodevelopmental outcomes, using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence – 4th Edition (WPPSI-IV), in children with CHD (n = 19) and healthy controls (n = 23). Compared to their healthy peers, children with CHD had significantly lower scores on the Verbal comprehension index (VCI), the Vocabulary acquisition index (VAI), the General ability index (GAI), and the Information and the Picture Naming subtests of the WPPSI-IV. During the passive story-listening task, healthy controls showed significant hemodynamic brain responses in the temporal and the temporal posterior regions, with stronger activation in the temporal posterior than in the temporal regions. In contrast, children with CHD showed reduced activation in the temporal posterior regions compared to controls, with no difference of activation between regions. Reduced brain responses in the temporal posterior regions were also correlated with lower neurodevelopmental outcomes in both groups. This is the first study that reveals reduced brain functional responses in preschoolers with CHD during a receptive language task. It also suggests that the temporal posterior activation could be a potential brain marker of cognitive development. These findings provide support for the feasibility of identifying brain correlates of neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities in children with CHD.

The Use of the Teddy Talk Test to Determine Speech and Language Development in Children Aged 4 to 5 Years

<p style="text-align: justify;">Speech therapy uses a combination of approaches to assess speech and language, including analysis of spontaneous speech, use of standardized scales and assessment by the child’s parents and/or preschool teachers. In this paper, we present the Teddy Talk Test. Using a sample of sixteen children aged 4 to 5 years, we examined whether the test provided representative data on child language development. The parent questionnaire included information on the parents’ education, the parents’ native language, the child’s gender and the language the parents speak with their child. It was found that the Teddy Talk Test has the characteristics of screening tests for speech and language: it is time-efficient, it covers receptive and expressive language tasks, and it allows for rapid assessment of speech and language in large numbers of children. However, since the Teddy Talk Test has not yet been evaluated, we do not know its value regarding sensitivity, specificity and predictive validity.</p>

Brain language networks and cognitive outcomes in children with frontotemporal lobe epilepsy.

Pediatric frontal and temporal lobe epilepsies (FLE, TLE) have been associated with language impairments and structural and functional brain alterations. However, there is no clear consensus regarding the specific patterns of cerebral reorganization of language networks in these patients. The current study aims at characterizing the cerebral language networks in children with FLE or TLE, and the association between brain network characteristics and cognitive abilities. Twenty (20) children with FLE or TLE aged between 6 and 18 years and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent a neuropsychological evaluation and a simultaneous functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography (fNIRS-EEG) recording at rest and during a receptive language task. EEG was used to identify potential subclinical seizures in patients. We removed these time intervals from the fNIRS signal to investigate language brain networks and not epileptogenic networks. Functional connectivity matrices on fNIRS oxy-hemoglobin concentration changes were computed using cross-correlations between all channels. Group comparisons of residual matrices (=individual task-based matrix minus individual resting-state matrix) revealed significantly reduced connectivity within the left and between hemispheres, increased connectivity within the right hemisphere and higher right hemispheric local efficiency for the epilepsy group compared to the control group. The epilepsy group had significantly lower cognitive performance in all domains compared to their healthy peers. Epilepsy patients' local network efficiency in the left hemisphere was negatively associated with the estimated IQ (p = 0.014), suggesting that brain reorganization in response to FLE and TLE does not allow for an optimal cognitive development.

MEG language mapping using a novel automatic ECD algorithm in comparison with MNE, dSPM, and DICS beamformer.

The single equivalent current dipole (sECD) is the standard clinical procedure for presurgical language mapping in epilepsy using magnetoencephalography (MEG). However, the sECD approach has not been widely used in clinical assessments, mainly because it requires subjective judgements in selecting several critical parameters. To address this limitation, we developed an automatic sECD algorithm (AsECDa) for language mapping. The localization accuracy of the AsECDa was evaluated using synthetic MEG data. Subsequently, the reliability and efficiency of AsECDa were compared to three other common source localization methods using MEG data recorded during two sessions of a receptive language task in 21 epilepsy patients. These methods include minimum norm estimation (MNE), dynamic statistical parametric mapping (dSPM), and dynamic imaging of coherent sources (DICS) beamformer. For the synthetic single dipole MEG data with a typical signal-to-noise ratio, the average localization error of AsECDa was less than 2 mm for simulated superficial and deep dipoles. For the patient data, AsECDa showed better test-retest reliability (TRR) of the language laterality index (LI) than MNE, dSPM, and DICS beamformer. Specifically, the LI calculated with AsECDa revealed excellent TRR between the two MEG sessions across all patients (Cor = 0.80), while the LI for MNE, dSPM, DICS-event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha band, and DICS-ERD in the low beta band ranged lower (Cor = 0.71, 0.64, 0.54, and 0.48, respectively). Furthermore, AsECDa identified 38% of patients with atypical language lateralization (i.e., right lateralization or bilateral), compared to 73%, 68%, 55%, and 50% identified by DICS-ERD in the low beta band, DICS-ERD in the alpha band, MNE, and dSPM, respectively. Compared to other methods, AsECDa's results were more consistent with previous studies that reported atypical language lateralization in 20-30% of epilepsy patients. Our study suggests that AsECDa is a promising approach for presurgical language mapping, and its fully automated nature makes it easy to implement and reliable for clinical evaluations.

The domain-separation language network dynamics in resting state support its flexible functional segregation and integration during language and speech processing

Modern linguistic theories and network science propose that language and speech processing are organized into hierarchical, segregated large-scale subnetworks, with a core of dorsal (phonological) stream and ventral (semantic) stream. The two streams are asymmetrically recruited in receptive and expressive language or speech tasks, which showed flexible functional segregation and integration. We hypothesized that the functional segregation of the two streams was supported by the underlying network segregation. A dynamic conditional correlation approach was employed to construct framewise time-varying language networks and k-means clustering was employed to investigate the temporal-reoccurring patterns. We found that the framewise language network dynamics in resting state were robustly clustered into four states, which dynamically reconfigured following a domain-separation manner. Spatially, the hub distributions of the first three states highly resembled the neurobiology of speech perception and lexical-phonological processing, speech production, and semantic processing, respectively. The fourth state was characterized by the weakest functional connectivity and was regarded as a baseline state. Temporally, the first three states appeared exclusively in limited time bins (∼15%), and most of the time (> 55%), state 4 was dominant. Machine learning-based dFC-linguistics prediction analyses showed that dFCs of the four states significantly predicted individual linguistic performance. These findings suggest a domain-separation manner of language network dynamics in resting state, which forms a dynamic “meta-network” framework to support flexible functional segregation and integration during language and speech processing.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Activation in Motor and Language Areas Suggest a Compensatory Role of the Motor Cortex in Second Language Processing.

The involvement of the motor cortex in language understanding has been intensively discussed in the framework of embodied cognition. Although some studies have provided evidence for the involvement of the motor cortex in different receptive language tasks, the role that it plays in language perception and understanding is still unclear. In the present study, we explored the degree of involvement of language and motor areas in a visually presented sentence comprehension task, modulated by language proficiency (L1: native language, L2: second language) and linguistic abstractness (literal, metaphorical, and abstract). Magnetoencephalography data were recorded from 26 late Chinese learners of English. A cluster-based permutation F test was performed on the amplitude of the source waveform for each motor and language region of interest (ROI). Results showed a significant effect of language proficiency in both language and motor ROIs, manifested as overall greater involvement of language ROIs (short insular gyri and planum polare of the superior temporal gyrus) in the L1 than the L2 during 300-500 ms, and overall greater involvement of motor ROI (central sulcus) in the L2 than the L1 during 600-800 ms. We interpreted the over-recruitment of the motor area in the L2 as a higher demand for cognitive resources to compensate for the inadequate engagement of the language network. In general, our results indicate a compensatory role of the motor cortex in L2 understanding.

Using word-picture verification to inform language impairment locus in chronic post-stroke aphasia.

Word-picture verification, a task that requires a yes/no response to whether a word and a picture match, has been used for both receptive and expressive language; however, there is limited systematic investigation on the linguistic subprocesses targeted by the task. Verification may help to identify linguistic strengths and weaknesses to ultimately provide more targeted, individualized lexical retrieval intervention. The current study assessed the association of semantic and phonological skills with verification performance to demonstrate early efficacy of the paradigm as an aphasia assessment. Sixteen adults with chronic post-stroke aphasia completed a battery of language assessments in addition to reading and auditory verification tasks. Verification scores were positively correlated with auditory and reading comprehension. Accuracy of semantic and phonological verification were positively correlated with accuracy on respective receptive language tasks. More semantic errors were made during verification than naming. The relationship of phonological errors between naming and verification varied by modality (reading or listening). Semantic and phonological performance significantly predicted verification response accuracy and latency. In sum, we propose that verification tasks are particularly useful because they inform semantics pre-lemma selection and phonological decoding, helping to localize individual linguistic strengths and weaknesses, especially in the presence of significant motor speech impairment that can obscure expressive language abilities.

A-139 Language and Communication Skills in Children with Different Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnoses

Abstract Objective: Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) exhibit language deficits, but there has been limited investigation of differences in language and every day communication abilities between FASD diagnostic subgroups. Objective: First, it was hypothesized that children across FASD diagnoses would show deficits in expressive and receptive language and parent rated communication compared to the normative sample. Second, it was hypothesized that language and communication scores would get significantly worse as the severity of FASD diagnosis increased. Method: 90 children (Mean Age = 8 years; 58% Male) were assessed through FASD multidisciplinary clinic using the 4-digit code (Astley, 2004). Fourteen participants met criteria for full/partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), 29 for Static Encephalopathy (SE), and 47 for Neurobehavioral Disorder (ND). Language skills were assessed with Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Formulated Sentences, NEPSY-2 Comprehension of Instructions, and Vineland-III Communication subtest. Results: The FASD group performed significantly worse than the normative sample on expressive language (p <.001; 95% CI [-5.72, -2.63]), receptive language (p<.001; 95% CI [-3.33, -2.12]) and communication tasks (p <.001; 95% CI [-24.70, -20.30]). The expressive language score was significantly different between groups: F (2, 30.208) = 5.355, p = .020. The ND group performed significantly better (p = .048) 95% CI [.04, 9.96] than other groups. No other significant differences were found. Conclusions: Children with FASD have language deficits on objective measures and parent ratings, which should be a focus of intervention. Expressive but not receptive language or communication skills were impacted by diagnostic severity; therefore, other factors impacting communication should be examined.

Inconsistent language lateralisation – Testing the dissociable language laterality hypothesis using behaviour and lateralised cerebral blood flow

BackgroundMost people have strong left-brain lateralisation for language, with a minority showing right- or bilateral language representation. On some receptive language tasks, however, lateralisation appears to be reduced or absent. This contrasting pattern raises the question of whether and how language laterality may fractionate within individuals. Building on our prior work, we postulated (a) that there can be dissociations in lateralisation of different components of language, and (b) these would be more common in left-handers. A subsidiary hypothesis was that laterality indices will cluster according to two underlying factors corresponding to whether they involve generation of words or sentences, versus receptive language. MethodsWe tested these predictions in two stages: At Step 1 an online laterality battery (Dichotic listening, Rhyme Decision and Word Comprehension) was given to 621 individuals (56% left-handers); At Step 2, functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD) was used with 230 of these individuals (51% left-handers). 108 left-handers and 101 right-handers gave useable data on a battery of three language generation and three receptive language tasks. ResultsNeither the online nor fTCD measures supported the notion of a single language laterality factor. In general, for both online and fTCD measures, tests of language generation were left-lateralised. In contrast, the receptive tasks were at best weakly left-lateralised or, in the case of Word Comprehension, slightly right-lateralised. The online measures were only weakly correlated, if at all, with fTCD measures. Most of the fTCD measures had split-half reliabilities of at least .7, and showed a distinctive pattern of intercorrelation, supporting a modified two-factor model in which Phonological Decision (generation) and Sentence Decision (reception) loaded on both factors. The same factor structure fitted data from left- and right-handers, but mean scores on the two factors were lower (less left-lateralised) in left-handers. ConclusionsThere are at least two factors influencing language lateralization in individuals, but they do not correspond neatly to language generation and comprehension. Future fMRI studies could help clarify how far they reflect activity in specific brain regions.

Linguagem oral, processamento fonológico e memória visuoespacial em crianças com histórico de subnutrição leve na primeira infância

ABSTRACT Purpose To investigate the performance of children with a history of mild malnutrition in early childhood in tasks that assess oral language, phonological processing and visuospatial memory. Methods Thirty-six children participated (mean age 5.3 years; standard deviation = 0.57), with 9 children diagnosed with malnutrition between 0 and 3 years old (G1); 9 eutrophic and with language delay (G2) and; 18 eutrophic children with typical language development (G3). All were submitted to hearing screening procedures, diagnosis of current nutritional status and tests of language, phonological processing and working memory - visuospatial sketch. Statistical analysis was performed using the Test of Equality of Proportions and the Kruskal-Wallis test (α = 5%). Results Differences were observed in the performance in receptive and expressive language tasks of G1 and G2 in relation to G3. Performance on working memory tasks - visuospatial sketch was significantly different between G1 and G3 and G2 and G3. There was no difference between the groups concerning expressivevocabulary, phonological aspect, phonological awareness and phonological working memory. Conclusion Children with a history of mild malnutrition during the critical period of brain development may have language impairments, especially in the receptive area, and restricted performance in other cognitive skills, such as working memory - visuospatial sketch.

Combining Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) With Computerized Working Memory Training to Improve Language Abilities in Chronic Aphasia: A Pilot Case Study

ABSTRACT Background: Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) administered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) has been shown to advance working memory (WM) abilities. At the same time, WM training is widely used to enhance learning associated with low language skills. An emerging area of research is that of applying cortical stimulation as an adjunct to behavioural therapy to improve language abilities in people with aphasia (PWA) after stroke. Aim: The aim of this study was to pilot the efficacy of the iTBS protocol, targeting the LDLPFC in combination with computerized WM training by measuring the near-transfer effects on WM and fluid intelligence (Gf) and far-transfer effects on language functioning and quality of life (QoL) in an individual with stroke-induced chronic aphasia. Methods & Procedures: The participant was a 31-year old female who presented with chronic non-fluent aphasia, following a left-hemisphere stroke involving the left frontoparietal lobes. She showed prominent anomia with frequent occurrences of word-finding difficulties. The assessment battery included a screening measure of WM, a standardized aphasia battery, a non-verbal intelligence test, spontaneous speech samples, a procedural discourse task, and a questionnaire addressing quality of life. All measures were administered once at baseline, immediately after treatment was terminated, and once during follow-up testing, at 3 months post-treatment. The treatment program included 10 consecutive daily sessions of 30-minutes computer-assisted WM training preceded by 3-minutes of iTBS. Outcomes & Results: Statistically significant improvement from baseline to post-treatment was found only for the non-verbal intelligence measure, suggesting near-transfer effects. There was no improvement on the computerized WM screening measure. Although no other measures revealed a statistically significant difference, there was a trend towards better performance on untreated items of receptive and expressive language tasks (far-transfer). Conclusions: The findings revealed a trend for improvement in receptive and expressive language abilities in one individual with chronic aphasia. The iTBS protocol in combination with computerised WM training could be a promising treatment but further studies with larger number of participants are needed to establish its effectiveness for improvement of aphasia after stroke.

Is there a connection between children’s language skills, creativity, and play?

ABSTRACT This study explored the connection between children’s language skills, creativity, and play. The participants were 151 (76 boys and 75 girls) primarily middle-income, European American children. Ages ranged from 4 to 6 years. This project employed mixed methods approaches. Children engaged in several tasks. These included: creating a story about their drawing while completing the Goodenough Harris Draw a Person Task, creating an original story with the opportunity to incorporate props; and completing the TELD- 3 receptive and expressive language task. We also recorded children’s social and cognitive play behaviours using a modified version of Rubin’s (2001) Play Observation Scale (POS). We found positive interactions between story creativity and play behaviours, story creativity and language, creativity (drawing) and language, creativity (drawing) and play behaviours, and play behaviours and language. These findings support the connection between creativity, language, and play and the benefits these skills and abilities have on children’s learning and development.

Evaluating three methods of the presentation of target stimuli when teaching receptive labels

AbstractPractice recommendations related to using discrete trial teaching (DTT) to teach receptive labels (i.e., auditory–visual conditional discriminations) for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have included the use of counterbalancing. Counterbalancing involves two major components: (a) ensuring that each stimulus in the set is targeted an equal number of times within each trial block and (b) rotating the stimuli in the array in a manner that evenly distributes the stimuli within the array in each position across a trial block. The purpose of the present study was to compare three varying approaches to the order and number of presentations of target stimuli (i.e., predetermined, constrained, and unconstrained) during a receptive language task using an adapted alternating treatment design with three individuals diagnosed with ASD. The results indicated that, for the three participants, the unconstrained condition was the most efficacious, followed by the constrained condition, and the predetermined condition was the least efficacious with respect to average sessions to reach the mastery criterion. The implications of the results with respect to best practices using DTT to teach receptive language are discussed.

Conceptual transfer and lexical development in adjectives of space: Evidence from judgments, reaction times, and eye tracking

AbstractThis study investigated conceptual transfer and lexical development for spatial adjectives using participant judgments, reaction times, and eye-tracking measures. The study focused on the Japanese adjectivesemaiand its partially equivalent English translationnarrow. The study presented participants with images depicting two rooms with slight differences in height and width and asked them to identify which room was narrower. The only variation was the language in which the instructions were given: native language (L1) instructions for two L1 control groups, second language (L2) instructions for the experimental group (L1 Japanese speakers of L2 English). The results showed fundamental differences in processing between the control groups in respect to the judgments and reaction times, but not for the eye-tracking measures. Furthermore, the experimental group’s behavior indicated a conceptual understanding ofnarrowthat was in line with developments in proficiency, but also limited to the judgment and reaction time measures. Based on these findings, we conclude that (a) conceptual transfer affects processing on receptive language tasks, and (b) L2 conceptual representations come to resemble those of native speakers as learners develop their lexical knowledge. However, we also suggest that (c) although conceptualizations likely affect cognitive functions, our eye-tracking data were too crude to capture this.

A Comparative Analysis of Social (Pragmatic) Communication Skills in Students with High-Functioning Autism and Pragmatic Language Impairment Using Video-Based Assessments

Social communication deficits are becoming more evident and better understood as our awareness, diagnosis, and treatment advance. Additionally, social language difficulties related to Autism Spectrum Disorder are becoming more distinguished and better understood. The current study aims to evaluate six key pragmatic language constructs introduced by The Clinical Assessment of Pragmatics and comparatively analyse these six constructs in three groups - adolescents who present as: typically developing, present with pragmatic language impairment, and present with high functioning autism. The six constructs analysed include: instrumental performance, social context appraisal, paralinguistic decoding, instrumental performance, affective expression, and paralinguistic signals. Results of the current study revealed significant differences across groups of students on receptive and expressive pragmatic language tasks. Students with HFA and PLI demonstrated adequate performance on instrumental in nature tasks such as, demonstrating politeness and requesting for help. As expected, students with HFA and PLI exhibited significant difficulties on higher order pragmatics tasks, such as the use of affective language, perception of irony, expression of sorrow, and demonstration of support. The key findings of the current study revealed that there are three constructs that could differentiate the understanding, assessment, and treatment of social language in students with PLI vs. HFA. Students with PLI and HFA may differ in their understanding and use of the skills in the following constructs: Social Context Appraisal, Paralinguistic Decoding, and Paralinguistic Cues.

Receptive Language Skills in Slovak-Speaking Children With Intellectual Disability: Understanding Words, Sentences, and Stories.

The study aims to describe receptive language skills in children with intellectual disability (ID) and to contribute to the debate on deviant versus delayed language development. This is the 1st study of receptive skills in children with ID who speak a Slavic language, providing insight into how language development is affected by disability and also language typology. Twenty-eight Slovak-speaking children participated in the study (14 children with ID and 14 typically developing [TD] children matched on nonverbal reasoning abilities). The children were assessed by receptive language tasks targeting words, sentences, and stories, and the groups were compared quantitatively and qualitatively. The groups showed similar language profiles, with a better understanding of words, followed by sentences, with the poorest comprehension for stories. Nouns were comprehended better than verbs; sentence constructions also showed a qualitatively similar picture, although some dissimilarities emerged. Verb comprehension was strongly related to sentence comprehension in both groups and related to story comprehension in the TD group only. The findings appear to support the view that receptive language skills follow the same developmental route in children with ID as seen in younger TD children, suggesting that language development is a robust process and does not seem to be differentially affected by ID even when delayed.

Delay of gratification and time comprehension is impaired in very preterm children at the age of 4 years

BackgroundVery preterm infants more likely exhibit deficient executive functions than term born controls. Delay of gratification, as part of the executive functions, allows for rejecting an immediate in favor of a greater future reward. Time comprehension might help to delay gratification. AimsWe hypothesized that delay of gratification and time comprehension is less developed in preterm children and that time comprehension is associated with the ability to wait for a greater reward. Study designVery preterm children (<32weeks' gestation) and term born controls were tested for receptive language skills, time comprehension and delay of gratification at the (corrected) age of 4years. Subjects25 preterm subjects (12 female; median: gestational age (GA) 28.3weeks, corrected age 4years, 22days) and 26 controls (16 female, median GA: 40.0weeks, age 4years, 25days) participated. Outcome measuresCorrect answers in the time comprehension and receptive language task, waiting time in the delay-of-gratification task were measured. ResultsPreterm subjects had less time comprehension than controls (43% vs. 53%, p=0.017, one-tailed) but receptive language skills were similar. Waiting time in the delay-of-gratification task was 3:42min in preterm subjects, versus 10:09min in controls (p=0.043, one-tailed). Even after controlling for language skills, waiting time correlated positively with time comprehension in both groups (r=0.399, p=0.004, two-tailed). ConclusionsPreterm children's time comprehension and delay of gratification ability is impaired. Future research is warranted to investigate whether training in time comprehension increases the ability to delay gratification.

The relationship of delay of gratification and time comprehension in 4-year-old children

In a typical delay-of-gratification task, children have the choice between eating a small amount of treats immediately and waiting in order to receive a larger number of treats. To date, it has not been investigated whether children’s time comprehension is related to the ability to wait for the larger number of treats. Time comprehension can be tested by presenting children with three hourglasses containing different amounts of sand and asking them about the running time of the hourglasses (e.g., “Which hourglass will finish first?”). In this study, 75 four-year-old children were tested with a delay-of-gratification task, a time comprehension task, and a receptive language task. Children who ate the treat immediately in the delay-of-gratification task did not perform above chance level in the time comprehension task. In contrast, children who waited in the delay-of-gratification task, either for some time or until the end of the task, did perform above chance level. Correlation analyses revealed that performance in the time comprehension task and in the delay-of-gratification task correlated even after controlling for receptive language ability. Thus, children’s time comprehension is related to their ability to delay a prepotent response. The nature of this correlation is discussed.

Corpus-based transitivity biases in individuals with aphasia

ABSTRACTBackground: This study investigated whether individuals with aphasia (IWA) retain verb biases in expressive language. Verb biases refer to the likelihood that a given verb will occur in different sentence structures. We focused on the likelihood of verbs occurring in transitive and intransitive structures.Aims: The main goal of this study was to determine whether IWA and controls show similar verb biases or whether IWA show a preference for transitive or intransitive structures that supersedes individual verb biases. We also investigated whether IWA show a preference for intransitively or transitively biased verbs, whether verb biases differ as a function of aphasia type, and how verb bias affects errors in IWA’s speech production.Methods & Procedures: The current study analysed 236 transcribed interviews of IWA from AphasiaBank. All uses of 54 verbs were coded based on the sentence structure and the presence of errors. We report data from 11 transitively biased and 11 intransitively biased verbs.Outcomes & Results: IWA’s transitivity biases were indistinguishable from controls’ biases. In addition, IWA produced more intransitively biased verbs than transitively biased verbs overall. In ungrammatical productions, IWA’s error rates were higher in sentence structures that conflicted with verb bias and highest when an intransitively biased verb was attempted in a transitive structure.Conclusions: These findings indicate that IWA are sensitive to verb bias and verb complexity within expressive language. The effects are consistent with previous literature concerning IWA’s sensitivity to verb bias in receptive language tasks and to verb complexity in verb retrieval tasks.

Age-related differences in resolving semantic and phonological competition during receptive language tasks

Receptive language (e.g., reading) is largely preserved in the aging brain, and semantic processes in particular may continue to develop throughout the lifespan. We investigated the neural underpinnings of phonological and semantic retrieval in older and younger adults during receptive language tasks (rhyme and semantic similarity judgments). In particular, we were interested in the role of competition on language retrieval and varied the similarities between a cue, target, and distractor that were hypothesized to affect the mental process of competition. Behaviorally, all participants responded faster and more accurately during the rhyme task compared to the semantic task. Moreover, older adults demonstrated higher response accuracy than younger adults during the semantic task. Although there were no overall age-related differences in the neuroimaging results, an Age×Task interaction was found in left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), with older adults producing greater activation than younger adults during the semantic condition. These results suggest that at lower levels of task difficulty, older and younger adults engaged similar neural networks that benefited behavioral performance. As task difficulty increased during the semantic task, older adults relied more heavily on largely left hemisphere language regions, as well as regions involved in perception and internal monitoring. Our results are consistent with the stability of language comprehension across the adult lifespan and illustrate how the preservation of semantic representations with aging may influence performance under conditions of increased task difficulty.