Awake craniotomy and multilingualism: Language testing during anaesthesia for awake craniotomy in a bilingual patient

An awake craniotomy for epilepsy surgery is presented where a bilingual patient post-operatively reported temporary aphasia of his first language (Spanish). This case report discusses the potential causes for this clinical presentation and methods to prevent the occurrence of this in future patients undergoing this form of surgery.     

我国失语症治疗研究的计量学分析

目的对国内失语症治疗研究进行计量学分析,了解失语症治疗的研究前沿和趋势。方法采用文献研究方法,在中国知网(CNKI)数据库中输入检索式:主题词搜索为失语症,主题词下搜索为康复、治疗、干预、疗法、训练,采用Cite Space软件对文献作者、机构、关键词进行计量学分析。结果本研究共检索214篇文献。首篇文章发表于1992年,2004年达到第一高峰期(15篇),其后波动明显,2014年发文量(17篇)最高。暨南大学附属第一医院与首都医科大学宣武医院专业团队在此领域发文最多。脑损伤、meta分析、神经机制、脑卒中、脑卒中后、重复经颅磁刺激、计算机辅助、经颅直流电刺激、运动性失语、语言病理学为失语症治疗研究的热点。脑卒中、重复经颅磁刺激、经颅直流电刺激为失语症治疗的研究前沿与趋势。结论我国失语症治疗研究领域的核心作者群尚未形成,对于失语症研究尚需大量专业人员进行深入探索。     

中文版脑卒中后失语症生活质量量表的信度和效度研究

目的通过编译及心理测量学考评脑卒中失语症生活质量量表,建立脑卒中失语症适合的生活质量专用表。方法应用中文版脑卒中失语症生活质量量表(SAQOL-39g)以问卷形式对2017年1月至2019年1月我院收治的88例脑卒中失语患者及其88名陪护(代评者)进行调查,全面考察该量表信度、效度、可行性及及自评代评量表间一致性。结果量表回收率为100%,其中自评量表和代评量表平均完成时间为(21.61±4.38)min和(13.26±5.70)min。中文版SAQOL-39g Cronbach’s alpha系数内自评量表和代评量表的总体和各维度内在信度范围分别为0.881~0.946和0.884~0.941;重测信度相关系数范围分别为0.803~0.973和0.862~0.986。使用量表结构效度检验因子分析显示提取3个公因子,贡献率为59.7%。中文版SAQOL-39g中自评量表和代评量表之间具有较高一致性(P>0.05)。结论应用中文版SAQOL-39g具有较高的信度、效度及可行性,自评量表和代评量表间具有较好的一致性,可有效评估脑卒中失语症患者的生活质量。     

New factors that affect quality of life in patients with aphasia

BackgroundAphasia severity is known to affect quality of life (QoL) in stroke patients, as is mood disorders, functional limitations, limitations on activities of daily life, economic status and level of education. However, communication limitation or fatigue has not been explored in this specific population.ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate whether these factors were associated with QoL in patients with aphasia after stroke.MethodsPatients with aphasia were included from April 2014 to November 2017 after a first stroke and were followed for 2 years post-stroke. QoL was assessed at follow-up by the French Sickness Impact Profile 65 (SIP-65). We explored predictors such as mood disorders, communication impairment, fatigue, limitations on activities of daily life, and aphasia severity in addition to socio-demographic factors.ResultsWe included 32 individuals (22 men; mean age 60.7 [SD 16.6] years) with aphasia after a first stroke. Poor QoL as assessed by the SIP-65 was significantly associated (Pearson correlations) with increased severity of aphasia initially (P = 0.008) and at follow-up (P = 0.01); increased communication activity limitations at follow-up (P < 0.001); increased limitations on activities of daily life at baseline (P = 0.008) and follow-up (P < 0.001); increased fatigue at follow-up (P = 0.001); and increased depression symptoms at follow-up (P = 0.001). On multivariable analysis, QoL was associated with communication activity limitations, limitations on activities of daily life, fatigue and depression, explaining more than 75% of the variance (linear regression R² = 0.756, P < 0.001). The relative importance in predicting the variance was 32% for limitations on activities of daily life, 21% fatigue, 23% depression and 24% communication activity limitations.ConclusionAphasia severity, mood disorders and functional limitations may have a negative effect on QoL in patients with aphasia. Also, for the first time, we show that fatigue has an important impact on QoL in this population. Specific management of this symptom might be beneficial and should be explored in future studies.     

Altered speech-related cortical network in frontotemporal dementia

BackgroundIn healthy subjects (HS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) demonstrated an increase in motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes during specific linguistic tasks. This finding indicates functional connections between speech-related cortical areas and the dominant primary motor cortex (M1).ObjectiveTo investigate M1 function with TMS and the speech-related cortical network with neuroimaging measures in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), including the non-fluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfv-PPA) and the behavioral variant of FTD (bv-FTD).MethodsM1 excitability changes during specific linguistc tasks were examined using TMS in 24 patients (15 with nfv-PPA and 9 with bv-FTD) and in 18 age-matched HS. In the same patients neuroimaging was used to assess changes in specific white matter (WM) bundles and grey matter (GM) regions involved in language processing, with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM).ResultsDuring the linguistic task, M1 excitability increased in HS, whereas in FTD patients it did not. M1 excitability changes were comparable in nfv-PPA and bv-FTD. DTI revealed decreased fractional anisotropy in the superior and inferior longitudinal and uncinate fasciculi. Moreover, VBM disclosed GM volume loss in the left frontal operculum though not in the parietal operculum or precentral gyrus. Furthermore, WM and GM changes were comparable in nfv-PPA and bv-FTD. There was no correlation between neurophysiological and neuroimaging changes in FTD. Atrophy in the left frontal operculum correlated with linguistic dysfunction, assessed by semantic and phonemic fluency tests.ConclusionWe provide converging neurophysiological and neuroimaging evidence of abnormal speech-related cortical network activation in FTD.     

重复性经颅磁刺激治疗卒中后失语的研究进展

失语是脑卒中后常见的并发症,严重影响患者的生活质量。通常卒中后失语的治疗以药物、语言康复训练和中医理疗为主,但疗效不佳或个体差异大。越来越多的研究证实作为一种非侵入性大脑刺激技术———重复性经颅磁刺激技术（rTMS）可为卒中后失语患者语言功能的康复提供一种新的治疗手段。本文就rTMS治疗卒中后失语的可能性,rTMS治疗卒中后失语的现状以及rTMS治疗卒中后失语的可能机制展开综述。着重阐述了目前国内外开展rTMS治疗卒中后失语的治疗模式、刺激参数和治疗效果,并从神经重塑的角度探讨了双侧半球,特别是非优势半球在接受rTMS治疗后发生的变化及其对卒中后失语患者语言能力的影响。旨在为rTMS治疗卒中后失语的进一步应用及对其作用机制的进一步研究提供参考。     

有关失语症康复实践的几点思考

神经康复是康复医学的重要组成部分。它包括一般神经机能康复和脑高级机能康复两个类别,后者是一个有待探索的新领域。本文是就我们在言语康复的神经语言学应用研究实践中所面临的四个问题展开的讨论。(1)失语症康复的有效性。(2)失语症康复的脑机制。(3)失语症等脑心理功能的康复研究是临床脑科学的前沿课题。(4)失语症康复是个系统工程。     

脑卒中后运动性失语的功能磁共振成像研究

目的：探讨脑卒中后运动性失语症患者的语言功能恢复机制。方法：应用3T MR扫描仪对6例脑卒中患者失语后及康复后分别进行两次图片命名任务的BOLD fMRI扫描。实验采用组块设计方案,利用SPM5软件的总体线性模型（General linear model, GLM）进行后处理产生激活脑区图像。并对所有患者在发病后与康复后的脑内激活分布、大小、强度进行分析与比较。结果：所有患者在失语后左侧大脑半球语言相关脑区激活部分出现激活,其中3例右侧Broca’s镜像区出现激活。而在康复后所有患者的左侧大脑半球语言相关脑区激活增多,激活强度增加,其中左侧Broca’s区均出现激活,右侧Broca’s镜像区激活减弱。结论：失语后优势半球丧失功能的语言区移至对侧镜像区和优势半球未受累语言区的功能重组这两种机制都参与了语言功能恢复的过程,近期以右侧半球为主,远期左侧半球发挥更重要作用。     

Exploring aphasic grammar 1: a single case analysis of conversation

This paper uses the methodology and analytical findings of conversation analysis to investigate the notion that aphasic grammar may be understood at least partly in the context of the demands of turns at talk in conversation. An investigation of the conversation of an English-speaking person with aphasia reveals two distinct grammatical phenomena, and it is suggested that their use may be interactionally motivated by the need to take a relatively unproblematic turn at talk despite the constraints of non-fluent aphasia. The grammatical patterns that are revealed by this analysis look considerably different from those elicited by standard methods of data sampling. The possibility that interactional grammatical phenomena are not visible in the language data elicited by clinical assessments is raised. This question is addressed via an in-depth comparison of the same speaker's interactional and elicited grammar in a linked article. It is suggested that the tool of conversation analysis provides researchers with a new and fruitful approach to the study of grammatical abilities in aphasia.