Word Retrieval Abilities Research Articles

Profiling word retrieval abilities in persons with aphasia - A preliminary study

Various methods are used to elicit the naming responses. The current study aimed to assess different naming abilities in persons with aphasia. Naming abilities were assessed using varied types of naming tasks for PWA. PWA was subjected to eight types of naming tasks [Confrontation Naming (CN), Phonemic Fluency (PF), Semantic Fluency (SF), Serial Naming (SN), Ordinate Naming (ON), Automated Naming (AN), Responsive Naming (RN) and Sentence Completion (SC)] and compared with age, education matched neurotypical individuals (n=15). The assessment was carried out in the Kannada Language. The raw scores obtained for each task were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. On eight naming tasks, neurotypical individuals performed better than persons with post-stroke aphasia. Mann Whitney U test revealed a significant difference in the phonemic fluency task in both groups of participants with a value less than 0.05. Friedman analysis with adjusted Bonferroni showed a significant difference in pairwise comparison for eight naming tasks. Among which pairs with phonemic fluency task had a significant difference in both the groups (p< 0.05). The correlation between language impairment in PWA and types of naming was studied using WAB AQ scores with accuracy scores on different types of naming tasks. A significant correlation was seen between WAB AQ and the Phonemic fluency task. The nature of the task and the factors affecting the naming of each task influence the performance of the individuals. PWA has a difference in brain mechanism for naming compared to NTI. Phonemic fluency is recommended for regular naming assessments as it is simple, easy, and quick to administer. Also, it taps both the cognitive and linguistic abilities of an individual. Language impairment and different types of naming are well related in the current study. The need to assess all types of naming to understand the word production deficit is justified.

Effects of workbook training using editorials and newspaper articles in adults with preclinical stage of dementia

Early detection and intervention in individuals in the pre-clinical stage of dementia are crucial. This study aimed to examine whether there are significant differences in (1) word retrieval, (2) subjective communication ability, (3) intervention satisfaction through the 'Fill-in-the-blanks in editorial and newspaper articles' training in patients with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment corresponding to the pre-clinical stage of dementia. Ninety-nine patients (50 in the intervention group and 49 in the control group) aged 50–84 years were administered pre- and post-test after 6 weeks of intervention (30 sessions). Regarding word retrieval, there were significant intervention effects on confrontation naming, semantic fluency, and phonemic fluency. The majority of participants in the intervention group were highly satisfied with the training. In terms of intervention satisfaction, the majority of the participants in the intervention group showed high satisfaction with all the questions. This result confirmed the improvement of word retrieval ability through mass communication content-based 'Fill-in-the-blanks' training, and ultimately helps to provide a clinical basis for applying this intervention to prevent dementia.

The Effect of Language Dominance on Classic Semantic, Action, Emotional, and Phonemic Fluency in Unbalanced Bilinguals.

Verbal fluency evaluation in bilingual speakers should include dual-language assessment to obtain a comprehensive profile of word retrieval abilities. This study is the first to compare classic semantic, action, emotional, and phonemic fluency in terms of the magnitude of their performance gaps between the dominant and nondominant language in unbalanced bilingual speakers. We also examined the quantitative relationship between language dominance and verbal fluency performance. Twenty-six bilingual adults completed a comprehensive set of classic semantic ("animals," "vegetables"), action ("do"), emotional ("happy," "sad," "afraid"), and phonemic ("F," "A," "S") fluency tasks in their dominant language (English) and nondominant language (Spanish) in two sessions on separate days. Participants also completed subjective and objective measures of language proficiency. All tasks yielded fewer correct responses in the nondominant language. The between-languages performance gap was the largest for "animals" and the smallest for emotional fluency. "Happy" yielded the most balanced performance among all semantic tasks and a positivity bias that was unaffected by language dominance. Finally, language dominance scores computed by a newly developed formula indicated relationships between self-rated proficiency and fluency performance. This study provides preliminary, normative data of classic semantic, action, emotional, and phonemic fluency that could be used to gauge unbalanced bilingual speakers' performance. Significant impacts of language dominance on "animals" demand caution in using this widely used classic semantic category in evaluating bilingual speakers' performance. The data also underscore the robustness of positivity biases in emotional fluency and the validity of using subjective measures to supplement neuropsychological assessment of fluency performance.

A tutorial on discourse analysis in healthy and pathological ageing.

Age is a key factor when dealing with language and speech disorders, as it entails a progressive loss of neuroplasticity even in healthy individuals. Apart from this, ageing also affects our word-retrieval abilities, and thus, our discursive skills, particularly in people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, descriptions and/or measures of communicative performance always need to be interpreted through the lens of variation across the lifespan. This paper's main objective is to create a general tutorial for researchers willing to start delving into discourse analysis, both in healthy and pathological ageing. An eight-step tutorial on discourse analysis in the elderly is presented. Each of these steps starts with general recommendations and progresses to more specific topics that may be relevant when conducting this type of research. All of the steps have been extrapolated from an extensive literature review on discourse analysis. This work presents an easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorial on discourse analysis in the elderly. It is aimed at clinical researchers who are taking their first steps in discourse analysis.It may also be useful for those who are already familiar with the methodology but may be interested in reading a general overview on the topic. Moreover, it offers new insights into the following topics: types of research questions, advantages and disadvantages of the different research methodologies and ethical considerations for data production in clinical linguistics. Discourse analysis in the elderly is a highly complex issue that may require researching from different approaches and disciplines. This implies following a well-planned and thorough process, which we have detailed through the following eight steps: (i) reviewing literature; (ii) formulating the research question; (iii) designing the study; (iv) producing data; (v) selecting technological tools for data treatment; (vi) transcribing the corpus; (vii) annotating the corpus and (viii) analysing and interpreting the results. What is already known on the subject Approaches in discourse analysis in elderly adults, and particularly, in people suffering from dementia have already been analysed by previous researchers and categorised into three main trends: the quantitative-experimental approach, the qualitative-naturalistic approach and an in-between path, the quantitative-naturalistic approach. Also, several handbooks on general discourse analysis have presented comprehensive revisions on potential resources and methodologies that can be applied to researching discourse in elderly populations. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper takes these three main approaches and analyses how the most recent research on language in ageing and dementia fits into them. Furthermore, it reviews the advantages and disadvantages each of them may bring for beginners in the field of discourse analysis. Moreover, it adds some studies that may fit into a fourth approach: the qualitative-experimental. This article also presents information about several of the main steps when analysing data from the pragmatic perspective: the formulation of the research question, data production and the transcription/annotation process. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This work has been devised for linguists who may want to read a systematization of the steps for analysing discourse in elderly populations. It may also be of interest to specialists from different fields such as speech therapy, psychology, gerontology or neurology who desire to start applying methods from discourse analysis in their work and aim to have a comprehensive scope of the main research trends within the field of clinical pragmatics.

Action naming deficits in Parkinson’s disease: the role of semantic complexity

ABSTRACT Background Previous studies have suggested that individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have difficulty retrieving verbs and nouns. Among the factors that have been proposed to contribute to this verb retrieval difficulty is the semantic properties of the verbs. Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the verb and noun naming abilities in Greek speaking individuals with PD. Furthermore, the effect of semantic complexity on verb retrieval ability was explored. Specifically, two verb categories were investigated mainly, instrumental verbs as semantically heavy and non-instrumental verbs that are considered semantically light verbs. Methods and Procedures Participants were 24 non-demented individuals with PD matched for age and education with 15 healthy control participants. Word retrieval abilities for nouns and verbs were evaluated using the Greek Object and Action Test (GOAT), a picture-based assessment of single word retrieval. Outcomes and Results The results revealed that participants with PD performed significantly worse on naming verbs and nouns compared to healthy controls. Specifically, the PD group had a greater difficulty in retrieving verbs compared to nouns. In addition, a positive effect of instrumentality on verb retrieval abilities was observed. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that semantic complexity may play a critical role in verb retrieval abilities in PD. Furthermore, verbs related to upper limb movement with the inclusion of instrumental verbs may have a facilitatory effect on lexical retrieval. This finding emphasizes the need for the inclusion of the evaluation of different verb categories for naming during the initial clinical assessment of cognitive-linguistic abilities of patients with PD.

Age-related reorganization of functional network architecture in semantic cognition.

Cognitive aging is associated with widespread neural reorganization processes in the human brain. However, the behavioral impact of such reorganization is not well understood. The current neuroimaging study investigated age differences in the functional network architecture during semantic word retrieval in young and older adults. Combining task-based functional connectivity, graph theory and cognitive measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, our findings show age-accompanied large-scale network reorganization even when older adults have intact word retrieval abilities. In particular, functional networks of older adults were characterized by reduced decoupling between systems, reduced segregation and efficiency, and a larger number of hub regions relative to young adults. Exploring the predictive utility of these age-related changes in network topology revealed high, albeit less efficient, performance for older adults whose brain graphs showed stronger dedifferentiation and reduced distinctiveness. Our results extend theoretical accounts on neurocognitive aging by revealing the compensational potential of the commonly reported pattern of network dedifferentiation when older adults can rely on their prior knowledge for successful task processing. However, we also demonstrate the limitations of such compensatory reorganization and show that a youth-like network architecture in terms of balanced integration and segregation is associated with more economical processing.

Core lexicon in aphasia: A longitudinal study

ABSTRACT Background General consensus exists between clinicians as to the incorporation of discourse outcome measures into language assessment for persons with aphasia (PWA). The development of core lexicon measures (CoreLex) has enabled clinicians to reduce time and labor intensive preparatory work for discourse analysis, which has been considered as an alternative measure to quantify word retrieval ability in discourse in a clinical context. Although previous studies have investigated the quality of the measure, CoreLex has rarely been longitudinally explored. Aims We aimed to investigate the adequacy of CoreLex to document linguistic changes in PWA over time. Specifically, we examined (1) whether natural language recovery from acute to chronic stages is manifested differentially by tasks and (2) the extent to which the ability to retrieve words in isolation predicts the ability to retrieve words in context. Methods A total of 19 PWA participated in the study. They completed a language assessment including confrontation naming tasks (Boston Naming Test [BNT] and Hopkins Action Naming Assessment [HANA]) and a picture description task using the Cookie Theft picture at acute and chronic stages. Discourse samples from the picture description task were quantified using CoreLex. Results We found significant differences across tasks and time-points by PWA. Moderate correlations between the confrontation naming tasks and CoreLex were found at the acute stage but not at the chronic stage. Additionally, McNemar’s tests demonstrated a significant difference in PWA’s performance in CoreLex from the acute to the chronic stages. Conclusions Our findings show that performance by PWA improves over time on all tasks, but language gains are manifested differentially by tasks. Performance in confrontation naming moderately predicts word retrieval in context acutely. However, lack of correlations between confrontation naming tasks and CoreLex later endorse inadequacy of using confrontation naming tasks as a proxy measure for discourse-level performance and improvement for PWA.

Quality of Measurement in Core Lexicon Measures.

Core lexicon measures have received growing attention in research. They are intended to provide clinicians with a clinician-friendly means to quantify word retrieval ability in discourse based on normal expectations of discourse production for specific discourse elicitation tasks. To date, different criteria have been used to develop core lexicon measures by groups of researchers. The need for statistical guidance in pursuit of the psychologically robust measure has been recognized. This study was to investigate the best criterion for accurate measurement. Specifically, we focused on two criteria (frequency vs. percentage) that have previously been used for the development of core lexicon measures. Core lexicon measures consisting of five different checklists by word class (verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and function words) and developed by the two criteria were applied to language samples produced by 470 cognitively healthy adults. Performance in word retrieval ability at the discourse level was modeled as a latent variable based on the observed proportions of the production of core lexicon items in two different sets of core lexicon measures using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that both criterion for core lexicon measures capture word retrieval ability in discourse. Greater residual variances were found in the core lexicon measure established by the percentage criterion compared to the one established by the frequency criterion. This indicates that the measure based on the percentage criterion is more affected by measurement errors. The findings provide evidence that the frequency criterion is better to use for the development of core lexicon measures for core nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, but not for function words. However, our findings are limited to core lexicon measures based on language samples elicited by wordless picture books. This may not be easily applied to other core lexicon measures that use different discourse elicitation tasks due to the difference in quality and quantity of language samples. Ideally, the same approach should be replicated to evaluate the appropriateness of respective criteria in the development of core lexicon measures. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.20304144.

Differential Associations of White Matter Brain Age With Language-Related Mechanisms in Word-Finding Ability Across the Adult Lifespan.

Research on cognitive aging has established that word-finding ability declines progressively in late adulthood, whereas semantic mechanism in the language system is relatively stable. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations of word-finding ability and language-related components with brain aging status, which was quantified by using the brain age paradigm. A total of 616 healthy participants aged 18–88 years from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience databank were recruited. The picture-naming task was used to test the participants’ language-related word retrieval ability through word-finding and word-generation processes. The naming response time (RT) and accuracy were measured under a baseline condition and two priming conditions, namely phonological and semantic priming. To estimate brain age, we established a brain age prediction model based on white matter (WM) features and estimated the modality-specific predicted age difference (PAD). Mass partial correlation analyses were performed to test the associations of WM-PAD with the cognitive performance measures under the baseline and two priming conditions. We observed that the domain-specific language WM-PAD and domain-general WM-PAD were significantly correlated with general word-finding ability. The phonological mechanism, not the semantic mechanism, in word-finding ability was significantly correlated with the domain-specific WM-PAD. In contrast, all behavioral measures of the conditions in the picture priming task were significantly associated with chronological age. The results suggest that chronological aging and WM aging have differential effects on language-related word retrieval functions, and support that cognitive alterations in word-finding functions involve not only the domain-specific processing within the frontotemporal language network but also the domain-general processing of executive functions in the fronto-parieto-occipital (or multi-demand) network. The findings further indicate that the phonological aspect of word retrieval ability declines as cerebral WM ages, whereas the semantic aspect is relatively resilient or unrelated to WM aging.

Evaluation of treatment effects of semantic feature analysis on mild anomia in multiple sclerosis

ABSTRACT Background : Multiple sclerosis (MS) commonly includes anomia and other communicative deficits that affect communicative participation and quality of life. Anomia treatment in MS is currently unexplored. Owing to the degenerative nature of MS, compensatory treatment might be preferable to restorative treatment. Semantic feature analysis (SFA) has been reported to have a treatment effect in aphasia and traumatic brain injury, and it can also be used as a compensatory word-finding strategy. SFA might therefore be effective on anomia in MS. Aims : The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment effects of SFA on mild anomia in MS. Hypotheses were that, if used as a strategy, SFA may improve word-retrieval ability in connected speech, reduce self-perceived word-finding difficulties and increase communicative participation. Methods & Procedures : Two participants (one with relapsing-remitting MS, one with progressive MS) experiencing anomia and reduced communicative participation took part in this early-phase study with a single-case experimental design (SCED). Outcome measures included accuracy and speed in confrontation naming of treated items, correct information units (CIUs) in a re-telling task, self-reported strategy use in everyday communication, self-reported occurrence of anomia and related nuisance, and self-reported communicative participation. Measurements were carried out before treatment, at the beginning of every third treatment session, once directly after treatment, repeatedly during a maintenance phase, and once at a follow-up session ten weeks after treatment. Outcomes & Results : No treatment effects on confrontation-naming ability, re-telling ability or self-reported measures were evident in either participant after treatment with SFA. Effects of repeated measures appeared as reduced response time in confrontation naming. Conclusions : SFA as the sole element of treatment may not be sufficient to obtain treatment effects on mild anomia in MS. Further research is warranted.

Cognitive and linguistic dysfunction after thalamic stroke and recovery process: possible mechanism.

Thalamic stroke may result in cognitive and linguistic problems, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Especially, it is still a matter of debate why thalamic aphasia occasionally occurs and then mostly recovers to some degree. We begin with a brief overview of the cognitive dysfunction and aphasia, and then review previous hypotheses of the underlying mechanism. We introduced a unique characteristic of relatively transient “word retrieval difficulty” of patients in acute phase of thalamic stroke. Word retrieval ability involves both executive function and speech production. Furthermore, SMA aphasia and thalamic aphasia may resemble in terms of the rapid recovery, thus suggesting a shared neural system. This ability is attributable to the supplementary motor area (SMA) and inferior frontal cortex (IFG) via the frontal aslant tract (FAT). To explore the possible mechanism, we applied unique hybrid neuroimaging techniques: single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (f-NIRS). SPECT can visualize the brain distribution associated with word retrieval difficulty, cognitive disability or aphasia after thalamic stroke, and f-NIRS focuses on SMA and monitors long-term changes in hemodynamic SMA responses during phonemic verbal task. SPECT yielded common perfusion abnormalities not only in the fronto–parieto–cerebellar–thalamic loop, but also in bilateral brain regions such as SMA, IFG and language-relevant regions. f-NIRS demonstrated that thalamic stroke developed significant word retrieval decline, which was intimately linked to posterior SMA responses. Word retrieval difficulty was rapidly recovered with increased bilateral SMA responses at follow-up NIRS. Together, we propose that the cognitive domain affected by thalamic stroke may be related to the fronto–parieto–cerebellar–thalamic loop, while the linguistic region may be attributable to SMA, IFG and language-related brain areas. Especially, bilateral SMA may play a crucial role in the recovery of word retrieval, and right language-related region, including IFG, angular gyrus and supramarginal gyrus may determine recovery from thalamic aphasia.

Effectiveness of Semantic-based Treatment in Persons with Aphasia.

Background:Semantic-based treatment is the salient approach used to remediate word retrieval deficits in persons with aphasia (PWAs). It is deemed to improve semantic attributes around the target word, thus aids in restoring word retrieval abilities. Hence, the present study has developed a semantic-based therapy named semantic cueing of verbs and its thematic role (SCVTr). Also, this therapy uses verbs as a core element accompanied by graded levels of semantic cues.Aim:The current study Semantic Cueing of Verbs and its Thematic role (SCVTr) aimed to evaluate the effect of word retrieval abilities in PWAs.Methods and Procedure:Three participants (n = 3) with aphasia were recruited for the study. All the participants in the study received SCVTr therapy, and the responses were analyzed at three distinct time points. That is pre-therapy assessment (before initiation of therapy), mid-therapy assessment (10th session), and post-therapy assessment (20th session). Nouns, verbs, and discourse abilities of PWAs were evaluated using standardized test batteries.Outcomes and Results:The study results have discerned positive gains across trained conditions and discourse genres across all the participants. However, participants exhibited marginal gains with untrained stimuli. In addition, SCVTr therapy aids in modifying the error pattern exhibited by PWAs. Concurrently, researchers noted that all participants showed ameliorated performance on the standardized language test batteries during post-therapy evaluation.Conclusions:SCVTr therapy has found to be effective in remediating word retrieval deficits in PWAs. This study extends the knowledge about strengthening the semantic network associated with the target word and its effect on generalization.

The Supplementary Motor Area Responsible for Word Retrieval Decline After Acute Thalamic Stroke Revealed by Coupled SPECT and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Damage to the thalamus may affect cognition and language, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In particular, it remains a riddle why thalamic aphasia occasionally occurs and then mostly recovers to some degree. To explore the mechanism of the affected cognition and language, we used two neuroimaging techniques—single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), suitable for viewing the affected brain distribution after acute thalamic stroke, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (f-NIRS), focusing on hemodynamic responses of the supplementary motor area (SMA) responsible for speech production in conjunction with the frontal aslant tract (FAT) pathway. SPECT yielded common perfusion abnormalities not only in the fronto–parieto–cerebellar loop, but also in the SMA, IFG and surrounding language-relevant regions. In NIRS sessions during a phonemic verbal fluency task, we found significant word retrieval decline in acute thalamic patients relative to age-matched healthy volunteers. Further, NIRS showed strong correlation between word retrieval and posterior SMA responses. In addition, follow-up NIRS exhibited increased bilateral SMA responses linked to improving word retrieval ability. The findings suggest that cognitive dysfunction may be related to the fronto–parieto–cerebellar loop, while language dysfunction is attributed to the SMA, IFG and language-related brain areas. SMA may contribute to the recovery of word retrieval difficulty and aphasia after thalamic stroke.

Concurrent Validity and Reliability of the Core Lexicon Measure as a Measure of Word Retrieval Ability in Aphasia Narratives

Purpose General agreement exists in the literature that clinicians struggle with quantifying discourse-level performance in clinical settings. Core lexicon analysis has gained recent attention as an alternative tool that may address difficulties that clinicians face. Although previous studies have demonstrated that core lexicon measures are an efficient means of assessing discourse in persons with aphasia (PWAs), the psychometric properties of core lexicon measures have yet to be investigated. The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the concurrent validity by using microlinguistic and macrolinguistic measures and (b) to demonstrate interrater reliability without transcription by raters with minimal training. Method Eleven language samples collected from PWAs were used in this study. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating performance on the core lexicon measure with microlinguistic and macrolinguistic measures. For interrater reliability, 4 raters used the core lexicon checklists to score audio-recorded discourse samples from 10 PWAs. Results The core lexicon measures significantly correlated with microlinguistic and macrolinguistic measures. Acceptable interrater reliability was obtained among the 4 raters. Conclusions Core lexicon analysis is potentially useful for measuring word retrieval impairments at the discourse level. It may also be a feasible solution because it reduces the amount of preparatory work for discourse assessment.

The relationship between word retrieval, drawing, and semantics in people with aphasia

ABSTRACTBackground: Word retrieval impairments in aphasia can affect a person’s ability to communicate his or her needs and ideas. Treatment for these deficits typically focuses on restorative and/or compensatory strategies. While traditionally used as a compensatory strategy, emerging evidence suggests that drawing may also have restorative effects on word retrieval by providing an alternate route to accessing the semantic system. However, the current understanding of this theoretical relationship between the semantic system, drawing, and word retrieval abilities is limited.Aims: The study purpose was to examine the relationship among naming, drawing, and semantic feature generation. Additionally, we examined the influence of drawing quality and content, as well as different performances based on aphasia severity.Methods & Procedures: Ten participants with chronic aphasia completed a series of sequenced tasks measuring confrontation naming accuracy before and after drawing and a semantic feature cueing task for target nouns.Outcomes & Results: Participants significantly increased confrontation naming accuracy when they named targets after completing semantic feature cueing then drawing. Additionally, there were moderate negative relationships between semantic content present in participant drawings and drawing quality with the amount of semantic features participants produced.Conclusions: Drawing, combined with a semantic cue task may result in more accurate naming as compared to confrontation naming alone; however, future research is needed to better understand this relationship.

Chunk Meets Image

This study investigated the optimal conditions under which foreign language learning takes place using a smartphone. The authors proposed that two factors, chunking and imagery, would increase language learning. On the basis of previous findings, they formulated three hypotheses: (a) the use of images will have a positive effect on learning English sentences; (b) the use of chunks will have a positive effect on learning English sentences; and (c) the combined use of images and chunks will have a greater positive effect on learning English sentences than either feature alone. A total of 92 Korean seventh graders participated in this study. To examine the learning effect of chunking (i.e., sentence segmentation unit) and imagery (i.e., visual aid) in an experimental setting, they produced a smartphone learning application that incorporated the two methods. The authors measured learning effect with respect to lexical memory retention (i.e., word retrieval ability) and word order composition (i.e., ability to arrange words according to standard English syntax). The results show that the main effects of both chunking and imagery were significant and that the interaction effect between the two on lexical memory retention was also significant. The interaction effect was greater in the delayed effect measurement than in the immediate effect measurement. These findings suggest optimal conditions for designing a smartphone-based, self-learning application.

A novel multi-word paradigm to assess semantic context effects in uncompromised and impaired language production

A novel multi-word paradigm to assess semantic context effects in uncompromised and impaired language production

Relationship Between Conversation Skills, Working Memory and Naming Ability in Aging Adults

정상적인 노화과정에서 기억력의 감퇴, 단어인출력 저하에 따른 건망증, 청력 저하 등의 보편적인 이유들로 기능적인 의사소통능력에 제한을 겪게 된다. 이 연구는 언어장애가 없는 노인들을 대상으로 그들의 대화기능을 알아보고, 연령증가에 따른 대화기능과 작업기억력 및 이름대기 능력 간의 관련성을 알아보았다. 만 65세 이상의 건강한 노인 85명이 연구에 참여하였다. 대화 샘플링은 대상자들과 친숙한 주제의 일상적인 대화 상황에서 수집되었다. 대화차례 주고받기의 분석요소로써 대화차례 총 빈도, 개시율, 유지율, 중첩율, 중단율이 포함된다. 작업기억력 평가를 위해 숫자외우기, 암산, 단어 따라말하기 과제를 실시하였고, 이름대기 능력 평가를 위해 한국판 보스턴이름대기 검사(K-BNT)를 실시하였다. 연구 결과 첫째, 성별에 따른 대화기능에서 유의한 차가 없었다. 남성 집단에서 연령별 대화차례 주고받기를 비교해본 결과 유의한 차이가 나타나지 않았으나, 여성 집단에서는 유의한 차이가 나타났다. 그리고 대화기능 중 대화차례 주고받기와 총 발화빈도가 세 개의 연령대별 집단 간 유의한 차이(p<.01)가 있는 것으로 나타났다(80세 이상 집단 제외). 둘째, 대화기능 중에서 대화차례 유지 비율을 이름대기 검사가 예측하는 것으로 나타났다. 이 연구를 통하여 정상노인의 대화차례 주고받기 기술이 노화가 진행되더라도 비교적 손상을 적게 보인다는 사실을 알 수 있다.For knowing the effects of aging on conversational skills in daily communication, this paper studied for the conversational turn-taking skills, working memory and naming ability on healthy elderly adults over 65 ages. 85 elderly adults participated in this study, which divided into four groups by ages. Speech samples were collected in natural conversation. Memorization of numbers, mental calculation, repetition of words were administered for working memory test. K-BNT was used for the naming ability. One-way ANOVA analysis was used for the comparison of conversational turn-taking skills among four groups. We analyzed the correlation between conversational skills, working memory and naming ability. The results were as follows: first, there were a significant difference in conversational turn-taking skills by age, but not by gender. There was a significant difference in ‘Turn-Taking Frequency’ and ‘Total Utterance Frequency’ among four groups. The same results were shown in the scores of females within three groups(exclude groups over 85D)(p<.01). Second, there was a significant correlation between ‘rates of maintenance’ and ‘naming ability’. In addition, it was found that the naming test predicted ‘rates of maintenance’ skills. The results of this study suggest that word-retrieval ability will be helpful to enhance functional communication skills in aging old adults.

The Effect of Word Retrieval Therapy in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Single-Case Study

Background: Anomia is a common symptom that can be detrimental to the everyday communication of patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Studies on the anomia treatment in PPA demonstrate that re-learning is possible, but the maintenance and generalization of improvements are limited. The treatment of word retrieval in PPA has typically centered on the retrieval of single lexical items. Little is known about the effects of word-finding treatments in discourse tasks on lexical retrieval. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to introduce a combined semantic/phonological cueing treatment in the context of narrative discourse as a novel method for the treatment of word retrieval difficulty in a PPA patient and compare its effects with the effect of cueing treatment in the context of single words. Methods: One individual with PPA (FK) participated in this single-subject interventional study. FK was a 56-year-old woman with a one-year history of word finding difficulties following Frontotemporal dementia. She received 16 sessions of naming treatment over an eight-week period. The participant completed three baselines prior to treatment. The treatment used a semantic and phonological cueing hierarchy (four weeks, two times a week), followed by a cueing in a story-retelling context (four weeks, two times a week). The main outcome was the naming ability assessment score administered 10 times in order to examine the effectiveness of the therapy through statistical analysis. Results: The participant showed a significant improvement in the word retrieval ability in all stimuli and each set separately related to the therapies phases (P < 0.001). Nevertheless, no significant differences were observed between the therapies (P = 0.26). Following the integrated therapy, FK showed a slightly significant improvement in untreated words. Conclusions: Generally, without considering the type of therapy during this study, in spite of the progressive nature of the disease, word retrieval ability of the patient improved via both treatment programs. Furthermore, the generalization of untreated items and maintenance of treated items also were occurred to some extents. However, there was no evidence of integrated discourse context in cueing hierarchy protocol to make it elaborated and cause a greater effect in people with PPA. As the first known study to trial this issue in the context of PPA, its findings may warrant further investigations.

Modeling confrontation naming and discourse informativeness using structural equation modeling

ABSTRACTBackground: People with aphasia (PWA) and their families identify as their priority the ability to use language at the discourse level in order to meet their daily communicative needs. However, measuring connected speech can be a challenging task due to the complex and multidimensional nature of discourse. As a result, professionals often depend on confrontation naming tests to identify and measure impaired underlying cognitive mechanisms that are also hypothesized to be important for discourse production.Aims: In the current study, we investigated the validity of making inferences about discourse performance based on scores from confrontation naming tests. Specifically, we investigated the strength of the relationship between word retrieval abilities, and the ability to convey information during discourse production.Method & Procedures: Data from 118 monolingual PWA were retrieved from AphasiaBank and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Performance in confrontation naming tests was modeled as a latent variable based on the Boston Naming Test, the Western Aphasia Battery – R Naming Subtest, and the Verb Naming Test. Performance at the discourse level was modeled based on indices of informativeness in three discourse tasks (free speech, eventcasts, and story re-tell). Informativeness was quantified using the percentage of Correct Information Units.Outcomes and Results: Based on the fit statistics, the model exhibited adequate fit, indicating that the relationship between confrontation picture naming and informativeness was adequately reflected in the model. We found a strong relationship between confrontation naming test performance and discourse informativeness (standardized regression coefficient between the two latent factors = .79).Conclusions: Performance on confrontation naming tests was a strong predictor of the amount of information PWA communicated during discourse production. However, our results also highlight that performance on the latter cannot be predicted solely from the former, as evidenced by the large proportion of unexplained variance in the informativeness latent variable.