Type Of Aphasia Research Articles

Moving away from lexicalism in psycho- and neuro-linguistics

In standard models of language production or comprehension, the elements which are retrieved from memory and combined into a syntactic structure are “lemmas” or “lexical items.” Such models implicitly take a “lexicalist” approach, which assumes that lexical items store meaning, syntax, and form together, that syntactic and lexical processes are distinct, and that syntactic structure does not extend below the word level. Across the last several decades, linguistic research examining a typologically diverse set of languages has provided strong evidence against this approach. These findings suggest that syntactic processes apply both above and below the “word” level, and that both meaning and form are partially determined by the syntactic context. This has significant implications for psychological and neurological models of language processing as well as for the way that we understand different types of aphasia and other language disorders. As a consequence of the lexicalist assumptions of these models, many kinds of sentences that speakers produce and comprehend—in a variety of languages, including English—are challenging for them to account for. Here we focus on language production as a case study. In order to move away from lexicalism in psycho- and neuro-linguistics, it is not enough to simply update the syntactic representations of words or phrases; the processing algorithms involved in language production are constrained by the lexicalist representations that they operate on, and thus also need to be reimagined. We provide an overview of the arguments against lexicalism, discuss how lexicalist assumptions are represented in models of language production, and examine the types of phenomena that they struggle to account for as a consequence. We also outline what a non-lexicalist alternative might look like, as a model that does not rely on a lemma representation, but instead represents that knowledge as separate mappings between (a) meaning and syntax and (b) syntax and form, with a single integrated stage for the retrieval and assembly of syntactic structure. By moving away from lexicalist assumptions, this kind of model provides better cross-linguistic coverage and aligns better with contemporary syntactic theory.

A systematic review: Idiom comprehension in aphasia: The effects of stimuli and task type

Idioms differ from other forms of figurative language because of their semantic dimensions of familiarity (frequency of encounter), ambiguity (possibility to have a literal interpretation), decomposability (possibility of the idiom's words to assist in its figurative interpretation) and transparency (possibility to deduce the original metaphorical motivation of an idiomatic phrase from its literal analysis). A variety of approaches have been used to investigate the way idioms are processed in the brain. Studying clinical populations is one of them. Supporting evidence has been drawn from studies examining subjects suffering from aphasia, typically caused by lesions to a complex language network involving the main language areas in the Left Hemisphere (LH) of the brain. Patients with aphasia sometimes show selective impairment in idiom comprehension, implying that there are types of idioms, less impaired in comprehension, which do not depend solely on the LH of the brain. However, recent literature does not seem to agree in terms of when such preference exists and if the types of idioms and tasks employed play a crucial role. This study investigates idiom comprehension in aphasia and seeks to explore (1) the effect of idiomatic stimuli in terms of their semantic dimensions on the patients' language performance (2) a potential effect of the tasks employed on the patients' language performance. A systematic review was done following the PRISMA approach. Starting from an initial find of n = 457, after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 articles were retained for further analysis. Relevant information that was extracted included differences and similarities across studies, especially focusing on patient characteristics (age, type of aphasia, severity of aphasia, post onset period, handedness, type of lesion (i.e., single focal vs. multiple), lesion location, etiology and test used for diagnosis), stimuli (types of stimuli, stimuli's assessment, consistent use of terminology) and task employed (type of task, task options, modality of presentation and response, and types of measurements) and language comprehension patterns. Results indicated that studies in idiom comprehension in aphasia are characterized by great heterogeneity regarding the experimental task and the type of idiomatic stimuli employed. Heterogeneity in these key aspects, results in unclear interpretation of idiom comprehension patterns in aphasia across studies. In addition, the nature of idiomatic stimuli and more specifically their semantic dimensions were insufficiently described, and their descriptions were sometimes accompanied by terminological inconsistencies. Moreover, patient profiles were occasionally incomplete and more importantly, language comprehension patterns were reported after considering patients with aphasia as one homogenous group irrespective of their aphasic syndrome. Last, this review proposes recommendations for future research, focusing on patient profiles, experimental tasks and stimuli as well as the interpretation of language comprehension patterns.

The Resilience of the Phonological Network May Have Implications for Developmental and Acquired Disorders.

A central tenet of network science states that the structure of the network influences processing. In this study of a phonological network of English words we asked: how does damage alter the network structure (Study 1)? How does the damaged structure influence lexical processing (Study 2)? How does the structure of the intact network "protect" processing with a less efficient algorithm (Study 3)? In Study 1, connections in the network were randomly removed to increasingly damage the network. Various measures showed the network remained well-connected (i.e., it is resilient to damage) until ~90% of the connections were removed. In Study 2, computer simulations examined the retrieval of a set of words. The performance of the model was positively correlated with naming accuracy by people with aphasia (PWA) on the Philadelphia Naming Test (PNT) across four types of aphasia. In Study 3, we demonstrated another way to model developmental or acquired disorders by manipulating how efficiently activation spread through the network. We found that the structure of the network "protects" word retrieval despite decreases in processing efficiency; words that are relatively easy to retrieve with efficient transmission of priming remain relatively easy to retrieve with less efficient transmission of priming. Cognitive network science and computer simulations may provide insight to a wide range of speech, language, hearing, and cognitive disorders.

Motor rehabilitation of aphasic stroke patient: the possibility of Rood's approach.

Motor rehabilitation of aphasic stroke patient: the possibility of Rood's approach.

The Semantic Association Test (SAT): normative data from healthy Italian participants and a validation study in aphasic patients.

The Semantic Association Test assesses several aspects of Semantic Memory (Categorical, Encyclopedic, Functional, and Visual Encyclopedic associations: CAs, EAs, FAs and VEAs), using a picture-to-picture matching paradigm. Normative data were collected from a group of 329 healthy participants (178 females) with mean 51.1 (range 20-90) years of age and mean 11.89 (range 5-19) years of education. Raw scores of healthy participants, pre-calculated correction factors for age and educational level, and Equivalent Scores are provided. The SAT was validated in a sample of 139 left brain-damaged persons with aphasia (PWA). Both groups (healthy participants and PWA) scored worse in the CA and EA conditions. The performance of the PWA group was overall defective, and global aphasics scored worse than persons with other types of aphasia. However, several PWA did not show impairments in the SAT. Dissociations were also found, with individual PWA showing defective performance confined to a single category. These results present the SAT as a tool that is useful to detect impairments of visual Semantic Memory, providing normative data from healthy participants and a validation study in PWA.

Temporal Overlap Between Gestures and Speech in Poststroke Aphasia: Is There a Compensatory Effect?

If language production is impaired, will gestures compensate? Evidence in favor of this prediction has often been argued to come from aphasia, but it remains contested. Here, we tested whether thought content not present in speech due to language impairment is manifested in gestures, in 20 people with dysfluent (Broca's) aphasia, 20 people with fluent (Wernicke's) aphasia, and 20 matched neurotypical controls. A new annotation scheme was created distinguishing types of gestures and whether they co-occurred with fluent or dysfluent/absent speech and were temporally aligned in content with coproduced speech. Across both aphasia types, noncontent (beat) gestures, which by their nature cannot compensate for lost speech content, constituted the greatest proportion of all types of gestures produced. Content (i.e., descriptive, referential, and metaphorical) gestures were largely coproduced with fluent rather than dysfluent speech and tended to be aligned with the content conveyed in speech. They also did not differ in quantity depending on whether the dysfluencies were eventually resolved or not. Neither aphasia severity nor comprehension ability had an impact on the total amount of content gesture produced in people with aphasia, which was instead positively correlated with speech fluency. Together, these results suggest that gestures are unlikely to have a role in compensating for linguistic deficits and to serve as a representational system conveying thought content independent of language. Surprisingly, aphasia rather is a model of how gesture and language are inherently integrated and aligned: Even when language is impaired, it remains the essential provider of content.

Aphasia of The Main Character in Documentary Movie My Beautiful Broken Brain

The symptoms of aphasia will vary depending on the type of aphasia. This study examined symptoms to determine the type of aphasia. Qualitative data collection involved observation and documentation. This investigation found that the main character's Broca's aphasia is the most dominant. There are 5 of the 7 symptoms that happened in Lotje's case. The most common symptom is non-fluent (55 data), followed by naming (15 data), agrammatism (10 data), and phonological literal paraphasia and verbal paraphasias (3 data). This study suggests that reading about aphasia can help readers communicate with persons who have it.

Measuring Aphasia-Related Quality of Life: Efficiency and Cost of Change

Purpose:Changes in quality of life (QoL) in persons with aphasia (PWA) has emerged as a key metric of aphasia treatment effectiveness. Several tools have been designed to measure aphasia related QoL and offer the appropriate compensation for communication issues that frequently exclude persons with aphasia (PWA) from participation of such studies. The purpose of this study was to measure post–aphasia treatment change in QoL and calculate the efficiency and cost of QoL change.Method:In this study, we measured change in aphasia-related QoL as a metric of post–aphasia treatment efficiency using the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Quality of Communication Life Scale. We also calculated the associated cost of that change in relationship with the change of aphasia impairment using a sample of PWA who received community-based telerehabilitation. Cost of QoL improvement from the intervention was calculated accounting for differences in age, time post onset, aphasia severity, and aphasia type.Results:PWA that exhibited more severe aphasia impairment experienced larger QoL improvement than those at lower impairment levels. Similarly, the average cost of improvement in QoL was lower for those more severe aphasia.Conclusions:Changes in aphasia-related QoL captures the impact of communication disorders on QoL, and the cost associated with the change. Measurement of aphasia-related QoL will allow clinicians and researchers to measure aphasia treatment outcomes and the cost effectiveness of those treatments using a commonly reported patient outcome—QoL.

Common predictors of spoken and written language performance in aphasia, alexia, and agraphia.

Language performance requires support from central cognitive/linguistic abilities as well as the more peripheral sensorimotor skills to plan and implement spoken and written communication. Both output modalities are vulnerable to impairment following damage to the language-dominant hemisphere, but much of the research to date has focused exclusively on spoken language. In this study we aimed to examine an integrated model of language processing that includes the common cognitive processes that support spoken and written language, as well as modality-specific skills. To do so, we evaluated spoken and written language performance from 87 individuals with acquired language impairment resulting from damage to left perisylvian cortical regions that collectively constitute the dorsal language pathway. Comprehensive behavioral assessment served to characterize the status of central and peripheral components of language processing in relation to neurotypical controls (n = 38). Performance data entered into principal components analyses (with or without control scores) consistently yielded a strong five-factor solution. In line with a primary systems framework, three central cognitive factors emerged: semantics, phonology, and orthography that were distinguished from peripheral processes supporting speech production and allographic skill for handwriting. The central phonology construct reflected performance on phonological awareness and manipulation tasks and showed the greatest deficit of all the derived factors. Importantly, this phonological construct was orthogonal to the speech production factor that reflected repetition of words/non-words. When entered into regression analyses, semantics and phonological skill were common predictors of language performance across spoken and written modalities. The speech production factor was also a strong, distinct predictor of spoken naming and oral reading, in contrast to allographic skills which only predicted written output. As expected, visual orthographic processing contributed more to written than spoken language tasks and reading/spelling performance was strongly reliant on phonological and semantic abilities. Despite the heterogeneity of this cohort regarding aphasia type and severity, the marked impairment of phonological skill was a unifying feature. These findings prompt greater attention to clinical assessment and potential treatment of underlying phonological skill in individuals with left perisylvian damage.

Short-term memory and sentence comprehension in Catalan aphasia.

The main goal of the present study is to investigate visual and verbal short-term memory side to side with sentence comprehension in Catalan-speaking subjects with aphasia in comparison with subjects without brain damage. We aim to examine whether there are any significant correlations between their performance on short-term memory and comprehension tasks in order to evaluate the hypothesis that linguistic and memory deficits in aphasia are the result of a dysfunction of a common mechanism, usually short-term memory. Eigthy-four control subjects and twelve individuals suffering from different types of aphasia were assessed using the Catalan version of the Comprehensive Aphasia Test (CAT-CAT), which includes one recognition task and two digit and word span tests to evaluate visual and verbal short-term memory, respectively, as well as a sentence-to-picture comprehension task. The results showed that the performance of subjects with aphasia was significantly low on all tasks. Yet, the logistic regression analysis revealed that the magnitude of the differences between the control and experimental group varied across subtests, and that visual short-term memory was better preserved than verbal memory. The results also showed that there were no significant correlations between memory and language comprehension, which rules out the hypothesis that the deficits observed are due to a common underlying mechanism. Individual variation was also observed, specially on memory subtests, which suggest that memory impairments cannot explain the comprehension deficit in aphasia.

Adaptation of Melodic Intonation Therapy to a Tone Language: A Pilot Study of Tone-Rhythmic Therapy in Mandarin Chinese

Introduction: Although melodic intonation therapy (MIT) has proven effective in individuals with non-fluent aphasia in a variety of western languages, its application to Mandarin-speaking aphasic patients has not been thoroughly studied. The adaptation is complicated because Mandarin Chinese is a tone language with specific prosodic elements that differ from Indo-European languages. This study developed a Chinese-specific variant of MIT, i.e., tone-rhythmic therapy (TRT), and tested its efficacy in individuals with non-fluent aphasia. Methods: Six non-fluent aphasic patients were recruited; all of them were admitted to the study over 6 months after stroke and had received a standard program of language therapy. In the current research, tone and rhythmic practice were incorporated into the training procedures, and the adaptation was then examined in patients. The TRT treatment lasted 6 weeks, with five 50-min sessions per week. The Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) and the Functional Assessment of Communication Skills for Adults (FACS) tests were used to measure the change in the speech and language skills of patients. Results: The results showed that the patients had increased BDAE and FACS scores after intervention, and the treatment effect lasted for 6 months. Discussion: The modified MIT proved effective for Mandarin-speaking patients with non-fluent aphasia with lasting effects. Further studies evaluating its efficacy are needed for other types of aphasia and other tone languages.

Head Acupuncture Plus Schuell's Language Rehabilitation for Post-Stroke Aphasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 32 Randomized Controlled Trials.

To evaluate the existing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for evidence of the efficacy and safety of head acupuncture (HA) plus Schuell's language rehabilitation (SLR) in post-stroke aphasia. Seven databases including Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Technology Periodical Database, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, SinoMed and Wanfang Data Information Site were searched for RCTs published from database inception until November 14, 2021. RCTs that compared HA plus SLR with sham (or blank) control, acupuncture therapy alone, certain language rehabilitation therapy alone or other therapies for post-stroke aphasia were included. Data were extracted and assessed, and the quality of RCTs was evaluated. Fixed-effects model was used, with meta-inflfluence analysis, meta-regression, and regression-based sub-group analyses applied for exploration of heterogeneity. Publication bias was estimated by funnel plots and Egger's tests. A total of 32 RCTs with 1,968 patients were included and 51 comparisons were conducted classified as types of strokes and aphasia. (1) For patients with aphasia after ischemic stroke, HA plus PSA showed significantly higher accumulative markedly effective rate [relative risk (RR)=1.55, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19-2.02, I2=0%] and accumulative effective rate (RR=1.22, 95% CI: 1.09-1.36, I2=0%). (2) For patients with comprehensive types of stroke, HA plus PSA was more effective in increasing recovery rate (RR=1.89, 95% CI: 1.39-2.56, I2=0%), accumulative markedly effective rate (RR=1.53, 95% CI: 1.36-1.72, I2=9%) and accumulative effective rate (RR=1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.19, I2=34%). (3) For patients with aphasia after stroke, HA plus PSA was superior to PSA alone with statistical significance in increasing recovery rate (RR=2.08, 95% CI: 1.24-3.46, I2=0%), accumulative markedly effective rate (RR=1.49, 95% CI: 1.24-1.78, I2=0%) and accumulative effective rate (RR=1.15, 95% CI: 1.06-1.24, I2=39%). (4) For patients with multiple types of aphasia, HA plus PSA also demonstrated significantly higher recovery rate (RR=1.86, 95% CI: 1.28-2.72, I2=0%), accumulative markedly effective rate (RR=1.55, 95% CI: 1.35-1.78, I2=22%), and accumulative effective rate (RR=1.17, 95% CI: 1.11-1.23, I2=41%). (5) For patients with motor aphasia after ischemic stroke, compared with PSA alone, HA plus PSA showed significantly higher accumulative markedly effective rate (RR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.06-1.79, I2=0%) and accumulative effective rate (RR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.05-1.37, I2=0%). Meta-regression analyses were performed without significant difference, and publication bias was found in some comparisons. HA plus SLR was significantly associated with better language ability and higher effective rate for patients with post-stroke aphasia, and HA should be operated cautiously especially during acupuncture at eye and neck. (Registration No. CRD42020154475).

Speech Fluency, Depression, and Resilience in Chronic Aphasia

ABSTRACT Purpose Aphasia is a language disorder that generally occurs as a result of a stroke or other neurological causes. Depression is a widespread reaction to aphasia, and aphasia-related variables, sociodemographic factors, and psychological aspects such as personality traits have the potential to affect this reaction. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether depression or psychological resilience level varies between aphasia types (fluent or non-fluent) and whether resilience in chronic aphasia affects the level of depression between the two aphasia types. Method Twenty-one people with aphasia (10 non-fluent and 11 fluent) between the ages of 33 and 70 participated in this study. The type and degree of aphasia were assessed using the Test of Language Assessment in Aphasia. The psychological variables in this study were examined with the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia and the Brief Resilience Scale. The rater was blinded to the aphasia type while assessing the participants. Inter-group comparisons were examined with t-test, and inter-variable relationships were examined with both Spearman and covariance analyses. Results There was no significant difference between the fluent and non-fluent aphasic groups in terms of depression and resilience. Among all participants, there was a negative correlation between the total depression score and behavioral disturbances. Covariance analysis indicated that resilience had an effect on depression scores for both fluent and non-fluent aphasic participants. Conclusion The protective role of resilience in depression in a typical population may also be valid for aphasia. It is hence essential to approach depression by considering resilience.

Towards a topic modeling approach to semi-automatically detect self-reported stroke symptoms (FAST symptoms) and their correlation with aphasia types

Towards a topic modeling approach to semi-automatically detect self-reported stroke symptoms (FAST symptoms) and their correlation with aphasia types

INCIDENCE OF VARIOUS APHASIA TYPES IN FIRST EVER ISCHEMIC STROKE (FEIS) PATIENTS AND ITS CLINICO-TOPOGRAPHICAL CORRELATION ON CT BRAIN

Stroke is among the leading causes of disability worldwide and aphasia is one of the common manifestations of stroke. Specic brain areas have been assigned in the literature for various subtypes of aphasia. With the advancement in neuroradiology, it has been observed that lesions at a given cortical or subcortical site may manifest with different aphasia subtypes. Objectives: To assess various aphasia type and probable site of brain lesion by clinical examination and correlating clinical site of lesion with anatomical brain lesion using CT. A prospective cross-sectional study in patients of ≥18 years of age with rst ever acute ischemic (FEIS) stroke andMethod: aphasia were subjected to clinical examination for stroke and aphasia using WAB-Modied and NIHS Score. Statistical analysis was done with χ2 test (p value < 0.05). Out of 68 patients, Global aphasia was the most common aphasia subtype (38.23%) and signicant correlation wasResults: observed in patients with NIHS score ≥15(Severe Stroke) and AQ >15(Severe Aphasia). Global, Wernicke`s, Broca`s, and Anomic aphasics showed signicant correlation between aphasia type and specic lesion on CT scan. A signicant correlation exist between theConclusion: clinical aphasia type and specic brain lesion in CT scan

Phasic disorders and aphasia in geriatrics

Aphasia, resulting from a brain lesion, leads to a partial or total loss of language in the elderly. By affecting communication abilities, it has repercussions on the life of the subject and his family. There are two types of aphasia. The roles of the caregiver andthe speech therapist are in all cases essential. Depending on the communication difficulties encountered by the patient, specific supports can be recommended.

Linguistic characteristics of different types of aphasia: A computer-assisted qualitative analysis using T-LAB

Aphasic disorders are observed in patients with both vascular and neurodegenerative pathology. Although spontaneous speech in the various forms of aphasia has some features that are identifiable on a purely linguistic level, diagnosing the type of aphasia critically relies on the support of clinical and neuroimaging data. To identify some core characteristics of different types of fluent aphasias (i.e., disorders of speech production due to lesions in the posterior regions of the left perisylvian areas not associated with articulatory deficits or apraxia of speech) in spontaneous speech using T-LAB computer-assisted qualitative analyses. This is a mixed-method software that allows exploring narratives by highlighting their key features using linguistic, statistical and graphical tools. We collected samples of spontaneous speech (narratives) from 34 fluent aphasic Italian speakers (i.e.,11 post-stroke aphasic patients, 17 with the logopenic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia and 6 with the semantic variant) during the description of the Cookie Theft Picture of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. Thirty-four healthy control subjects were asked to complete the same task. Analyses of the entire corpus (all of the narratives), specific metadata introduction and tagging were performed by two raters and any conflicts were resolved by a third rater. T-LAB analysis revealed statistically significant differences between both aphasic patients and healthy controls and between vascular and degenerative patients. Although the main distinction emerged between post-stroke and neurodegenerative aphasias, important differences also emerged between the individuals with the logopenic variant and the semantic variant. These findings underline the potential usefulness of a computer-assisted analysis of speech production to identify the core linguistic characteristics of different aphasic disorders, independently of any clinical support.

Correlation of Auditory Comprehension Between Fluent and Non-Fluent Types of Aphasia

Correlation of Auditory Comprehension Between Fluent and Non-Fluent Types of Aphasia

Efficacy of Melodic Intonation Therapy in Patients with Chronic Broca’s Aphasia: Speech Language Pathology Perspective

Aphasia is a linguistic problem that occurs after brain damage. It's a broad term that encompasses everything from modest word retrieval challenges to a complete inability to produce and interpret language. Fluent and non-fluent aphasia are two types of aphasia. Non-fluent aphasia is characterized by sluggish, effortful speaking and is caused by a stroke in the left frontotemporal areas. These patients' language production is mainly limited to one- or two-word utterances. Non-fluent aphasic patients can sing fluently despite their significant language production handicap, which has led to the use of singing and music in aphasia rehabilitation. Objective: To examine the effectiveness of Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) in patients with chronic Broca's aphasia. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted from March 1 to September 30, 2021, at NUR International University to investigate the efficacy of MIT in patients with persistent Broca's aphasia. For this purpose data was collected from almost 50 speech therapists working with chronic Broca's aphasic patients through a self-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was used as a data collecting instrument that was designed by expert opinion and literature review. Results: Results indicated that MIT is effective in patients with chronic Broca's aphasia. On asking the respondent about the efficacy of MIT almost 88% responded that MIT is effective, 8% were not sure about the efficacy of MIT and 4% responded MIT is not effective in chronic aphasic patients. On asking the respondent about the development of expressive language 64 % responded that expressive Language is improved while 36 % were not sure about the development of expressive language development. On asking the respondent whether MIT reduces psychological stress on individuals regarding the necessity to speak correctly, 88 % responded with yes while 12 % responded with No that MIT reduces psychological stress. Conclusions: It is concluded from this study that MIT is effective in patients with chronic Broca’s aphasia.

APHASIA: HOW OUR LANGUAGE SYSTEM CAN "BREAK".

Our brains enable us to learn language. We develop it early on in life and use it effortlessly every day. It is only when the language system breaks down that we fully realize how complicated it is to speak and understand. In this article, we will explore what happens when brain damage leads to a language disorder called aphasia. About 15 million people worldwide and about 2 million in the U.S. alone are affected by aphasia. Sadly, many people still do not know what aphasia is. Here, we will explain different types of aphasia, tell you about the language difficulties people with this disorder encounter, and provide information about how language is processed in the brain.