Aphasia

We sought to identify the core lexicon of a picture description task using transcripts from the AphasiaBank database, and to determine differences in core lexicon usage between control speakers and persons with aphasia (PWAs). We also investigated the relationship between core lexicon and an established discourse measure, main concept analysis. A core lexicon was developed by identifying lemmas produced by 92 control speakers. 165 control transcripts and 238 PWA transcripts were scored using the core lexicon and a recently developed main concept list. Median tests examined differences between controls, PWAs, and aphasia subtypes. Spearman's correlations assessed the relationship between core lexicon and main concept performance. A 24-item core lexicon was identified. Significant differences were found between control speakers and PWAs, and between aphasia subtypes, for core lexicon and main concept scores. Core lexicon and main concept performance was significantly and positivel...

Resumo: Analises exploratorias de dados Multidimensionais foram usadas para avaliar dois componentes de um teste de nomeacao para o estudo do acesso lexical em pacientes com afasia, ou seja, o acordo de nomeacao de imagens e a idade de aquisicao de nomes relacionados a um teste de origem internacional. Para o estudo ser confiavel as imagens devem ser inequivocamente reconhecidas por qualquer individuo usando a mesma palavra/imagem. Suposicoes teoricas sobre as palavras afirmam que palavras adquiridas mais tarde na aprendizagem tendem a serem as primeiras a serem perdidas devido a um dano cerebral em afasia. Assim, estas duas variaveis sao importantes preditoras da recuperacao de palavras. Primeiro selecionamos as imagens de reconhecimento com juizes normais; entao, as classificamos com relacao a sua primitividade. Estas imagens foram submetidas a dois conjuntos de juizes, que tiveram que responder de acordo com duas diferentes escalas. Os dados foram analisados com tecnicas de Anali...

To estimate the lifetime risk, prevalence, incidence, and mortality of the principal clinical syndromes associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) using revised diagnostic criteria and including intermediate clinical phenotypes. Multisource referral over 2 years to identify all diagnosed or suspected cases of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), or corticobasal syndrome (CBS) in 2 UK counties (population 1.69 million). Diagnostic confirmation used current consensus diagnostic criteria after interview and reexamination. Results were adjusted to the 2013 European standard population. The prevalence of FTD, PSP, and CBS was 10.8/100,000. The incidence and mortality were very similar, at 1.61/100,000 and 1.56/100,000 person-years, respectively. The estimated lifetime risk is 1 in 742. Survival following diagnosis varied widely: from PSP 2.9 years to semantic variant FTD 9.1 years. Age-adjusted prevalence peaked between 65 and 69 years at 42....

Communication is essential for successful rehabilitation, yet few aphasia treatments have been investigated during the acute stroke phase. Alternative modality use including gesturing, writing, or drawing has been shown to increase communicative effectiveness in people with chronic aphasia. Instruction in alternative modality use during acute stroke may increase patient communication and participation, therefore resulting in fewer adverse situations and improved rehabilitation outcomes. The study purpose was to explore a multimodal communication program for aphasia (MCPA) implemented during acute stroke rehabilitation. MCPA aims to improve communication modality production, and to facilitate switching among modalities to resolve communication breakdowns. Two adults with severe aphasia completed MCPA beginning at 2 and 3 weeks post onset a single left-hemisphere stroke. Probes completed during each session allowed for evaluation of modality production and modality switching accuracy....

People with stroke or Parkinson's disease (PD) live with reduced mood, social participation and quality of life (QOL). Communication difficulties affect 90% of people with PD (dysarthria) and over 33% of people with stroke (aphasia). These consequences are disabling in many ways. However, as singing is typically still possible, its therapeutic use is of increasing interest. This article explores the experiences of and factors influencing participation in choral singing therapy (CST) by people with stroke or PD and their significant others. Participants (eight people with stroke, six with PD) were recruited from a community music therapy choir running CST. Significant others (seven for stroke, two for PD) were also recruited. Supported communication methods were used as needed to undertake semi-structured interviews (total N = 23). Thematic analysis indicated participants had many unmet needs associated with their condition, which motivated them to explore self-management options...

I argue that the general epistemological conservatism, typical for the post-socialist “transition,” taken together with the imagined or experienced feeling of radically limited spatial choices, gave rise to a series of interesting symbolic shifts. An urgent search for a “new beginning,” a perceived state of semantic “indeterminacy” and “cognitive vacuum,” a recognition of the loss of all meaningful bearings was often represented as a disintegration of speech, as a deficiency of symbolic forms that could no longer express essential qualities of the current condition. The absence of comprehensive cognitive “maps” capable of representing the trajectory of development led to a pronounced preoccupation with the domain of minutiae, with tangible yet fragmented context. Also, this “being at a dead end” precipitated a move from the symbolism of space to the symbolism of time: “geography” gave place to “history.”

Previous research has shown that word-to-picture matching for targets that cannot be named at pre-test results in improved naming relative to untreated control items for people with aphasia. This paper replicates and extends this finding and investigates its source. Is the effect a result of priming of semantic representations, or of post-semantic mechanisms in word retrieval?The first experiment shows that word-to-picture matching with unrelated distractors improves naming at short (2-3 minutes) and long (up to 25 minute) lags. There was no effect of being made aware of the relationship between word-to- picture matching and picture naming. People who have a semantic impairment improve only with a short lag between word-to-picture matching and naming. Participants with less semantic impairment show larger priming effects that are equal at short and long lags between word-to-picture matching and naming.The second experiment shows that the facilitation effect is just as large for word-to-picture matching with unrelated distractors as with semantically-related distractors. Furthermore, overall there was no difference between matching with coordinate items and with associated items.The results of these experiments show that facilitation of naming by word-to-picture matching in people with aphasia cannot be a result of the priming of semantic representations. Instead they are consistent with two effects: word-to-picture matching results in priming at a lemma level for aphasic people with a semantic impairment that is only found with a short lag between word-to-picture matching and naming. Word-to-picture matching causes priming of the lemma to output lexicon entry mapping that benefits participants with less semantic impairment that is evident at both a short and long lag between word-to-picture matching and naming. These findings fit well with previous research on repetition priming of naming with normal subjects.

by Joanna Moura

The purpοse οf this study is tο map the prοfile οf patients with aphasia in the οral language areas by analyzing the types of paraphasia. Specifically, the speech samples were acquired from the Greek Corpus of Aphasic Discourse, which consists of examination interviews in aphasic patients. All the interviews took place at Athens Eginition Hospital. Of these samples 26 were annotated and transcribed. The interview techniques were based on the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, while the annotation and transcription follow text linguistics conventions. Paraphasias concerning all levels of linguistic analysis in the interviews were identified. The study aims at analyzing and assessing paraphasias of speech of aphasic patients.

Objectives So far, The Persian Aphasia Battery (PAB) has been widely used by clinicians as the first clinical
linguistic test to assess and rehabilitate aphasia and language impairments among adult Iranian brain
damaged aphasic patients (Fluent/Non-Fluent). The first version was provided based on linguistic and
cultural adaptations on healthy Persian speaking adults and has been used by clinicians for more than 20
years. The purpose of this study was to report on the validity and reliability of PAB, based on the results
obtained from aphasic patients.
Methods & Materials In this research we report on data obtained from 57 Persian speaking brain damaged
patients with the age range of 19 to 83 years who were recruited from clinics in Tehran, Mashhad,
Karaj, Yazd, Isfahan, and Shiraz cities, Iran during 2006 to 2011 through purposeful sampling system. The
clinical language profiles of the patients were checked by an experienced speech language pathologist
(SLP) for diagnosis. The internal consistency of the Battery, the subtests and items in each subtest were
assessed based on the Cronbach α index. The internal consistency of the structure of the Battery was
based on the correlation between its subtests and each language skill.
Results The overall measure of internal consistency of the Battery was 0.93 and the internal consistency
of major language skills was significant (r=0.3-0.76, P<0.05). The subtests had high to medium internal
consistencies (r=0.63-0.83, P<0.01). The profiles of different language skills and subtests of PAB are consistent
with the diagnosis of aphasia type by expert SLP clinicians.
Conclusion Based on the obtained validity and reliability measures, the Battery has high internal consistency
and clinical utility and can be used for differential diagnosis and measuring severity of aphasia in
clinical linguistic studies among adult Persian speaking brain damaged patients.