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Two outcomes from one assessment process: Analysing language assessment recordings for interactional data
No full textDementia is rapidly becoming a prominent public health issue, with its prevalence in the Australian population predicted to rise by 251% in 2050 (Jorm, Dear & Burgess, 2005). “Dementia” is a generic psychological term used to describe the gradual decline in cognitive functioning which, in turn, causes a decline in many everyday functions (Rabins, Lyketsos & Steele, 2006). This decline in everyday functions includes a decline in language skills and consequently, communication (Thompson, 1987; 2008). There is a growing recognition that many of the everyday difficulties associated with caring for individuals with dementia are linked to these communication difficulties
Structure-function correspondences in Broca’s aphasia: Evidence from MRI and comprehension of verb phrase ellipsis constructions
Get PDFWe describe an effort to map lesion to behavior by studying the comprehension of complex VP-Ellipsis constructions (e.g., The policeman defended the child, and the dedicated fireman did___ too…) in participants with Broca‟s aphasia. We quantified the lesions of our individual participants using cytoarchitectonic probability maps of the human brain. We found that our Broca participants evinced delayed priming of the object in the ellipsis clause, while off-line comprehension was largely spared. Structure-function analyses revealed that lesions in both temporal and frontal areas participated in the behavioral outcomes, though each region seems to have played a distinct role
Visual Reliance and Visual Advantage
No full textVisual input improves speech comprehension when auditory signals are degraded due to background noise (Sumby & Pollack, 1954) or hearing impairments (Walden, Prosek, & Worthington, 1975). Listeners strategically put greater focus on visual information to augment impoverished auditory information. This advantage of visual reliance is routinely utilized at clinical settings for adults with neurogenic communication disorders. Individuals experiencing auditory comprehension deficits are frequently encouraged by clinicians to look at speakers’ faces during daily conversations. Despite the presumed advantage of visual information and the routine recommendation on the use of visual cues, there is a lack of research regarding the way individuals with brain lesions utilize visual information
Form and Function of Narrative Repetition in Aphasia: Clinical Implications
No full textClinical aphasiologists have long recognized that repetition is found in the discourse of speakers with acquired neurogenic communication disorders. Examples of repetition associated with pathology may include echolalia, perseveration, stereotypies, false starts, and recurrent digression. These types of repetition are often interpreted as signs of poor inhibition of undesired responses or poor activation of desired responses, e.g., as associated with anomia. What is typically not addressed in clinical research is the relative degree to which similar categories of performance errors are also found in the discourse productions of non-brain-injured communicators
A resource that aims to make appropriate computerised aphasia treatment software easier to access
Get PDFComputer based treatment is likely to play an increasing role in the rehabilitation of aphasia (Katz 2010). This is reflected in the number of enquiries about what software is suitable and where it can be found, that are being received by the authors via their organisations. These enquiries come not just from clinicians, but also from people with aphasia and from people who care for or about them. Answering these enquiries is by no means straightforward; there is an ever increasing number of programs available (we have found over 40) and each of these programs may or may not be suitable for a particular individual’s needs. Also the response appropriate for a clinician may not be helpful for a lay person or someone with aphasia. Whilst the authors believe that all treatment should be supervised and managed by a qualified clinician (and the resource we have developed clearly states this), there are some people who for whatever reason either have no access to clinical help or prefer to undertake some treatment on their own behalf. We know from direct experience that some of these people are spending money on software that does not help them and are unaware of software that could be more effective. We have also had feedback from clinicians that they are unable to continually scan for new software and do not have the time to evaluate all the products that are available, and so are concerned that they may be missing out on useful tools
A novel pupillometric method for indexing word difficulty in adults with and without aphasia
Get PDFIt is well documented that there are many potential confounds in assessing linguistic abilities individuals with stroke and brain injury. Such individuals often have impairments of attention, vision, and motor function, concurrent with impairments of language (Hallowell, 1999; Heuer & Hallowell, 2007; Heuer & Hallowell, 2009; Hallowell, Wertz, & Kruse, 2002). A set of measures that may aid in reducing these confounds entails task-evoked responses of the pupil (TERPs). TERPs are “a time-locked averaged record of pupillary dilation and constriction occurring during the performance of a mental task” (Ahern & Beatty, 1981, p. 122), which occur after the onset of processing (within 100-200 msec) and subside quickly following the termination of processing (Beatty, 1982). Kahneman (1973) highlighted the validity of pupillometric measures of “mental effort” (p. 18). The notion that greater cognitive or linguistic task difficulty leads to greater intensity of effort that can be captured through pupillometric indices has been affirmed through the results of studies on memory load (Kahneman & Beatty, 1966), mental arithmetic (Hess & Polt, 1964), letter discrimination (Beatty & Wagoner, 1978) , sentence repetition (Piquado, Isaacowitz, & Wingfield, 2010), sentence comprehension (Just & Carpenter, 1993), and cross-linguistic interpretation (Hyönä, Tommola, & Alaja, 1995). When experimenters carefully control participant characteristics, stimulus features, and environmental conditions, TERPs potentially provide valuable information regarding individual differences in cognitive and linguistic abilities
Speaking without emotion: the effect of right brain damage
Get PDFTreatment for people with neurogenic communication disorders commonly concentrates on facilitating the communication of their needs and is in danger of sidelining the expression of attitudes and emotion. Evaluation is intrinsically involved in communication and functions in discourse to express the speaker’s opinions, to build solidarity with the listener and organise the discourse (2000). The expression of emotion is of great significance because it is by sharing feelings that we can belong (Martin, 2004)
Treatment of Working Memory in a Patient with Moderate Aphasia
Get PDFWorking memory (WM) is the cognitive system that functions for the temporary storage, activation, and manipulation of information in support of complex, goal-directed behavior (Baddeley, 2003; Kane, Conway, Hambrick, & Engle, 2007). This system is limited in capacity, and it includes an attentional or central executive component that serves to block interference, resolve conflict, and flexibly manage its capacity limitations (Baddeley, 2003; Just & Carpenter, 1992; Kane et al., 2007). It has been suggested that WM deficits may contribute to language performance impairments in aphasia (Caspari, Parkinson, LaPointe, & Katz, 1998; Friedmann & Gvion, 2003; Wright, Downey, Gravier, Love, & Shapiro, 2007; Wright & Shisler, 2005). Accordingly, clinical researchers have begun to study whether aphasia treatment targeted at WM or related processes may be efficacious
TREATMENT FIDELITY: ITS IMPORTANCE AND REPORTED FREQUENCY IN APHASIA TREATMENT STUDIES
No full textTreatment fidelity is a measure of the reliability of the administration of an intervention in a treatment study, and has important linkages and implications for the ultimate implementation of evidence-supported interventions. In this study, we examined aphasia treatment studies published in the last 10 years for the reporting of treatment fidelity. We found that only 10% of studies over the last 10 years reported treatment fidelity, which is less than other related disciplines. We discuss the means by which we assess fidelity and recommend the consistent reporting of treatment fidelity in all treatment studies
The Comparative Effects of Multi-modality and Constraint-induced Aphasia Therapy-Plus Treatments for Severe Chronic Aphasia
No full textAnomia is a characteristic symptom of aphasia. Impairments in functional communication associated with aphasia have been found to negatively impact upon an individual‟s quality of life (QoL) in a number of areas, including independence and the ability to participate in social and leisure activities (Cruice, Worrall, & Hickson, 2006).
Our review of the literature suggests that measurement of treatment effects has been influenced by treatment type and intensity, the measurement phases applied, the outcome measures used, aphasia severity and type, and the presence of concomitant impairments. It is clear that both constraint-induced and alternative/multi-modality treatments can be effective for reducing anomia. However, the question of which treatments, particularly constraint-induced and alternative/multi-modality treatments, are most efficacious for certain types, severities, and chronicities of aphasia remains unanswered. Only three known studies (Barthel, Meinzer, Djundja, & Rockstroh, 2008; Kurland, Baldwin, & Tauer, 2010; Maher et al., 2006) have involved direct comparisons between constraint-induced and multi-modality interventions. This is a particularly interesting comparison, given the great distinction between the two forms of therapy, and the interpretation that the research underpinning the principle of constraint in aphasia rehabilitation is inconclusive. Further, a number of methodological flaws in the reviewed studies weaken the research findings. Thus, we identified a need for continued study in this area