Priming sentence comprehension in aphasia: effects of lexically independent and specific structural priming

Background & Aims: Impaired message-structure mapping results in deficits in both sentence production and comprehension in aphasia. Structural priming has been shown to facilitate syntactic production for persons with aphasia (PWA). However, it remains unknown if structural priming is also effective in sentence comprehension. We examined if PWA show preserved and lasting structural priming effects during interpretation of syntactically ambiguous sentences and if the priming effects occur independently of or in conjunction with lexical (verb) information.

Methods & Procedures: Eighteen PWA and 20 healthy older adults (HOA) completed a written sentence-picture matching task involving the interpretation of prepositional phrases (PP; the chef is poking the solider with an umbrella) that were ambiguous between high (verb modifier) and low attachment (object noun modifier). Only one interpretation was possible for prime sentences, while both interpretations were possible for target sentences. In Experiment 1, the target was presented immediately after the prime (0-lag). In Experiment 2, two filler items intervened between the prime and the target (2-lag). Within each experiment, the verb was repeated for half of the prime-target pairs, while different verbs were used for the other half. Participants’ off-line picture matching choices and response times were measured.

Results: After reading a prime sentence with a particular interpretation, HOA and PWA tended to interpret an ambiguous PP in a target sentence in the same way and with faster response times. Importantly, both groups continued to show this priming effect over a lag (Experiment 2), although the effect was not as reliable in response times. However, neither group showed lexical (verb-specific) boost on priming, deviating from robust lexical boost seen in the young adults of prior studies.

Conclusions: PWA demonstrate abstract (lexically-independent) structural priming in the absence of a lexically-specific boost. Abstract priming is preserved in aphasia, effectively facilitating not only immediate but also longer-lasting structure-message mapping during sentence comprehension.     

Speech — A key function of man reflexions of a neurosurgeon Budapest,February 23, 1991

Summary Man is distinguished and differentiated from other living creatures by possessing less genetically determined characteristics, behaviour and reactions, with fewer features fitting him for a special environment. For this reason he enjoys greater freedom and adaptability.In order to be able to pass on the necessarry lessons for survival, man must have command of his speech, and as a species can only exist within communities. This presupposes an instinctive drive to make rules and regulations for ordered living in society.Speech is not only a means of communication but also the basis and precondition of abstract thinking. Complete aphasia implies the loss of this ability. It would deprive man from the most important of his key functions. Therefore it is inhuman.These reflections have convinced me absolutely, that neurosurgical interventions, which would have the predictable result of total aphasia, must not be performed, even though prolongation of life, but without speech, might thus be bought.     

Deposition of amyloid β protein in non-Alzheimer dementias: evidence for a neuronal origin of parenchymal deposits of β protein in neurodegenerative disease

Summary In two elderly patients with frontal lobe dementia and in two others with progressive aphasia an inverse relationship between the severity of protein deposition and the principal pathology of these disorders was noted. Deposition of protein occurred only in areas of cortex where functional (viable) neurones were still present and was absent where neuronal decimation had taken place. Such findings suggest that the presence of functional neurones is necessary for protein deposition to occur and, therefore, that neurones may be the source of the amyloid protein that is deposited within brain parenchyma not only in these disorders but also in other conditions, particularly Alzheimer's disease.Supported by a grant from the North Western Regional Health Authority (DJ) and a B.Sc Intercalated Studentship from the MRC (PWS)     

Speech suppression without aphasia after bilateral perisylvian softenings (bilateral rolandic operculum damage)

The authors describe a patient who suffered two successive, right and left, strokes that caused bilateral rolandic operculum damage. The clinical picture was characterized by selective impairment of volitional facio-pharyngo-glosso-masticatory movements with sparing of automatic and reflex motor activity (Foix-Chavany-Marie syndrome). Though completely speechless, the patient was not aphasic. This dissociation is discussed in the light of the peculiar localization of lesions evidenced by CT-scan.

---

Sommario Viene descritta una paziente portatrice di due lesioni ischemiche coinvolgenti l'opercolo rolandico in entrambi gli emisferi. Il quadro clinico era caratterizzato da una compromissione selettiva dei movimenti volontari (con integrità di quelli automatici e riflessi) bilateralmente a livello facio-faringo-glosso-masticatorio (sindrome di Foix-Chavany-Marie). La paziente, del tutto incapace di articolazione e fonazione, non risultava afasica ad una valutazione neuropsicologica. Questa dissociazione viene discussa in riferimento alla particolare localizzazione delle lesioni alla T.A.C. cerebrale.

     

肖少卿教授针灸验案3则

从中风失语、鼻渊哮喘、顽固性呃递三验案,介绍了肖少卿教授檀长经穴透刺、针药并角、针灸手法独特的经验。     

Crossed aphasia. An update

The aim of this article is to present an update of a rare but interesting problem: crossed aphasia. This term indicates the presence of aphasia after unilateral cerebral lesion of the hemisphere ipsilateral to the patient's dominant hand. We report two cases, review the most relevant literature, and analyze clinical, neuroanatomical, and neurophysiological aspects, taking in consideration the various interpretations proposed to explain this unusual language disorder.     

综合疗法治疗中风失语临床观察

目的:采用综合疗法改善中风失语患者的语言功能。方法:将100例患者随机分为综合治疗组、中药组、针刺组、语言康复组各25例。采用《汉语失语症检查法》作为诊断和疗效判定依据,观察患者自发谈话、口语理解、复述、命名4项基本言语功能及相关症状的变化及临床疗效观察。结果:综合治疗组治疗中风后引起的失语临床疗效达92%,优于中药组及针刺组(P<0.05),明显优于语言康复组(P<0.01);4组语言功能治疗后均有改善,其中综合治疗组优于其它3组;4组治疗均能兼顾言语功能的各个方面。结论:综合疗法可以明显改善中风失语症患者的语言障碍。     

三级语言指令训练方法在老年脑卒中失语症患者康复中的应用

目的 探讨三级语言指令训练方法对老年脑卒中失语患者语言功能恢复的效果.方法 选择2018年4月-2019年6月复旦大学附属华山医院老年科收治的脑卒中后失语患者100例,采用随机数字表法分为观察组(n=50)和对照组(n=50).对照组采用常规治疗和常规语言干预的方式,观察组在对照组的基础上,遵循循序渐进的康复理念,进行...     

Predicting confrontation naming item difficulty

Background: Item response theory (IRT; Lord & Novick, 1968) is a psychometric framework that can be used to model the likelihood that an individual will respond correctly to an item. Using archival data (Mirman et al., 2010), Fergadiotis, Kellough, and Hula (2015) estimated difficulty parameters for the Philadelphia Naming Test (PNT; Roach, Schwartz, Martin, Grewal, & Brecher, 1996) using the 1-parameter logistic IRT model. Although the use of IRT in test development is advantageous, its reliance on sample sizes exceeding 200 participants make it difficult to implement in aphasiology. Therefore, alternate means of estimating the item difficulty of confrontation naming test items warrant investigation. In a preliminary study aimed at automatic item calibration, Swiderski, Fergadiotis, and Hula (2016) regressed the difficulty parameters from the PNT on word length, age of acquisition (Kuperman, Stadthagen-Gonzalez, & Brysbaert, 2012), lexical frequency as quantified by the Log10CD index (Brysbaert & New, 2009), and naming latency (Székely et al., 2003). Although the model's predictive utility was high, a substantial proportion (20%) of the response time data were missing. Further, only 39% of the picture stimuli from Székely and colleagues (2003) were identical to those on the PNT. Given that the IRT sample size requirements limit traditional calibration approaches in aphasiology and that the initial attempts in predicting IRT difficulty parameters in our pilot study were based on incomplete response time data this study has two specific aims.

Aims: To estimate naming latencies for the 175 items on the PNT, and assess the utility of psycholinguistic variables and naming latencies for predicting item difficulty.

Methods and Procedures: Using a speeded picture naming task we estimated mean naming latencies for the 175 items of the PNT in 44 cognitively healthy adults. We then re-estimated the model reported by Swiderski et al (2016) with the new naming latency data.

Outcomes and Results: The predictor variables described above accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in the item difficulty parameters (Adj. R² = .692).

Conclusions: In this study we demonstrated that word length, age of acquisition, lexical frequency, and naming latency from neurotypical young adults usefully predict picture naming item difficulty in people with aphasia. These variables are readily available or easily obtained and the regression model reported may be useful for estimating confrontation naming item difficulty without the need for collection of response data from large samples of people with aphasia.     

How clerks understand the requests of people living with aphasia in service encounters

ABSTRACT

Aphasia often restricts participation. People living with aphasia (PLWA) engage in fewer activities, which leads to fewer interactions than before aphasia. Analyses of interactions with non-familiar people in activities of daily life could provide knowledge about how to integrate these situations in rehabilitation and facilitate ongoing PLWA participation post-rehabilitation. This qualitative study is the first to examine how PLWA make their requests understood in service encounters despite aphasia. Six people living with moderate or severe aphasia were video-recorded in situations of service encounters, e.g., pharmacies, specialised shops, restaurants, and others. We identified fifty-nine occurrences with one or several difficulties in the formulation of the request. They were examined, including the clerks’ responses and ensuing interaction using multimodal conversation analysis. Results showed that PLWA used nonverbal communication within the physical environment and the context of the interaction to support verbal production. In the majority of situations, the clerks understood the request promptly. In other situations, they both collaborated to achieve a clear understanding of the request. Moreover, the findings attest to the competence of people living with moderate or severe aphasia in engaging in service encounters and add to the knowledge base about interaction and social participation in aphasia.