Serial order short-term memory capacities and specific language impairment: No evidence for a causal association

This study re-explored the nature of verbal short-term memory (STM) deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI), by distinguishing item and serial order STM processes. Recent studies have shown serial order STM capacity to be a critical determinant of language development, relative to item STM. In Experiment 1, 12 children with SLI, 12 age-matched children and 12 language-matched children were administered serial order recognition and reconstruction tasks. Experiment 2 assessed implicit serial learning abilities via a Hebb learning task. The SLI group showed impaired performance for the serial order reconstruction and recognition tasks, relative to language-matched and/or age-matched control groups. However, normal serial position effects were observed in all SLI children in the serial order reconstruction task, suggesting normal coding of serial position information. Similarly, performance on the Hebb serial learning task was at chronological age appropriate levels. Experiment 3 showed that the group differences observed for the serial order STM tasks in Experiment 1 disappeared when the SLI group was compared to a mental age-matched control group. Experiment 4 showed similar performance levels in the SLI group and the mental age-matched control group for a nonword recognition task assessing item STM capacities. This study shows that children with SLI have no specific impairments for serial order and item STM components but that poorer general cognitive efficiency is related to functional limitations in verbal STM tasks. The data are in line with limited information processing accounts of SLI.     

Tracking the status of language development in language-minority kindergartners

As our world becomes increasingly multicultural in nature, multilingual skills constitute an everyday phenomenon in schools. Since most of the second-language research has focused on school-age students, more research had to be conducted with language-minority students at the kindergarten level in order for psychologists and educators to develop effective and efficient systems for evaluating and tracking the developmental status of young language-minority children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential usefulness of a standardized continuous progress measure, the Picture Naming Individual Growth and Development Indicator, to longitudinally assess language development in 23 language-minority children, as well as in 13 native English-speaking children. Results indicated that we could use the Picture Naming Individual Growth and Development Indicator to detect differences in first-language and second-language development in language-minority children, as well as to detect differences between the two groups of children in their expressive English-language skills.     

On language laterality in normal dextrals and sinistrals: Results from the Bilateral Object Naming Latency Task

Rasmussen and Milner [N.Y. Acad. Sci. Vol. 299, pp. 355–379, 1977] published data on late-lesioned (after age 6) epileptic patients who had suffered left hemisphere lesions. They estimated that left hemisphere dominance occurred in 96% of dextrals and 70% of sinistrals. These figures have been regarded as valid estimates for normal dextrals and sinistrals. We administered the Bilateral Object Naming Latency Task, a verbal tachistoscopic task with very good psychometric properties, to 188 dextral and 72 sinistral normals. Results showed that 93.6% of the dextrals and 80.3% of the sinistrals were left hemisphere dominant. A consideration of results from a number of carefully conducted dichotic listening studies suggests, as do present results, that the 70% left-dominance estimate of Rasmussen and Milner for normal sinistrals may be too low by about 10%. It is suggested that ‘bilateral dominance’, present in 15% of the epileptic sinistrals of Rasmussen and Milner, may be much less common in normal sinistrals.     

Magnetic resonance imaging - a method of studying the size and asymmetry of the planum temporale

The planum temporale is a triangular region on the upper surface of the temporal lobe. This area of the brain is important for language processing and shows a left-right asymmetry of size in most brains. Particular interest has been focused on the size and asymmetry of the planum temporale in brains of individuals with developmental dyslexia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a method that produces excellent morphological details of organic structures. We have developed an MRI method of studying the size and asymmetry of the planum temporale in human brains. Because of considerable variation of anatomical landmarks in this cortical region of the brain, an evaluation of asymmetry is not possible in all brains. Furthermore, our experience with this method indicates that any indirect imaging technique of studying asymmetry of the planum temporale must be evaluated with caution. With this in mind, however, MRI may give valuable anatomical information about the planum temporale in individuals with anomalous language function.     

临床护理中语言的应用技巧

随着医学模式的改变 ,病人对护理服务的要求越来越高 ,护士在工作过程中应重视语言艺术 ,掌握语言技巧 ,更好的为病人服务     

影响儿童语言和识字能力的研究进展

现代生活中 ,儿童的语言和识字受家庭认知环境的影响。近年来无论从流行病学的研究 ,还是干预或神经生物的研究 ,均证实儿童早期经验是日后语言和识字能力发展的基础。在早期经验中 ,最关键的是父母与孩子之间的语言交流。通过这样的交流 ,促进儿童早期的语言发育 ,也促进儿童学龄期的阅读理解。儿童保健医生处于独特的位置 ,即在常规保健中指导父母根据不同年龄儿童的发育水平 ,应用有关的技能技巧 ,促进儿童的语言和识字。     

磁源成像在母语为汉语正常人的语言功能定位中的应用

目的 采用脑磁图（magnetoencephalograph，MEG）的等价电流偶极子定位法（Equivalent current dipole，ECD）和合成孔径磁场定位法（SAMSynthetic、Aperture Magnetometry，SAM）定位母语为汉语的健康自愿者的语占中枢，探讨汉字的语言处理过程。方法 对10例母语为汉语的健康受试者给予默读真词、假词的语言任务刺激，记录刺激后产生的诱发磁场，将采集的数据与MRI叠加获得磁源性影像（MSI Magnetic source imaging）语占功能区定位川同样的方法对4例胶质瘤患者进行术前语言功能区定位，术中皮层电刺激所定位语言功能区，明确是否产生言语障碍。结果 所有受试者真词、假词均在双侧大脑半球诱发出明显的晚期磁反应波，左侧大脑半球磁反应波分化较右侧大脑半球好，Broea区俯于额下回后部，Wernicke区位于颞中同、颢上回、缘上回，Wernieke区先于Broca区出现。胶质瘤患者术巾电刺激所定位的Broca区、Wernicke区均产生言语障碍：结论母语为汉语的正常人的Broca区Wernieke区与经典的语言中枢糕本相符，MEG定位语言中枢的技术是可行的。     

医生职业用语中的伦理问题

论述了医生职业语言的基本特征，分析了诊断和治疗过程两个环节中医患语言的基本特征，总结了医生职业用语基本的伦理原则。     

Detecting possible vaccine adverse events in clinical notes of the electronic medical record

The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) is a collaboration between the CDC and eight large HMOs to investigate adverse events following immunization through analyses of clinical data. We modified an existing system, called MediClass, that uses natural language processing to identify clinical events recorded in electronic medical records (EMRs). We customized MediClass so it could detect possible vaccine adverse events (VAEs) generally, and gastrointestinal-related VAEs in particular, in the text clinical notes of encounters recorded in the EMR of a large HMO. Compared to methods that use diagnosis and utilization codes assigned to encounters by clinicians and administrators, the MediClass system can both find more adverse events and improve the positive predictive value for detecting possible VAEs.