Examining attention and cognitive processing in participants with self-reported mild anomia

Background: People who report mild anomia following stroke often score near or within normal limits on traditional assessments of language. Based on evidence of cognitive influences on linguistic production in people with aphasia, this study examined non-linguistic, cognitive function and its potential influence on word retrieval in individuals with mild anomia.

Aims: This study explored the following research questions: Do people with mild anomia have impaired performance on tasks which require (a) automatic vs controlled processing and/or (b) selective attention relative to neurologically typical controls?

Methods & Procedures: A total of 14 participants with mild anomia and 9 neurologically typical controls were tested using Covert Orienting of Visuospatial Attention Test (COVAT), alone and with linguistic interference, at two interstimulus intervals (ISI) representing automatic and controlled processing.

Outcomes & Results: Participants with anomia showed significantly slower responses on COVAT alone at 100 ms ISI (automatic processing) compared with controls. The groups did not differ significantly during COVAT alone at 800 ms ISI (controlled processing). Additionally, similar priming patterns were exhibited by both groups on COVAT alone during both interstimulus intervals, indicating an intact validity effect. However, participants with anomia demonstrated significantly delayed response times during the COVAT with linguistic interference, regardless of ISI.

Conclusions: Overall, participants with mild anomia demonstrated impairments most notably when interfering stimuli were present, indicating deficits in automatic processing and selective attention. Study results support clinical evaluation of non-linguistic cognitive abilities in individuals reporting anomia who score near or within normal limits on language assessments.