Biomedical subjects

J Rönnberg

Publications and source records attributed to J Rönnberg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

What am I doing in Timbuktu: person-environment picture recognition for persons with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of familiarity of depicted persons and environments in recognition of photographs for pupils with different degrees of intellectual disability (ID). METHOD: Forty-five pupils with ID participated. RESULTS: An interaction effect between the two variables, person and environment, was found in addition to main effects for both the variables. Pictures of the test person himself or herself in familiar environments were easier to recognize than in unfamiliar environments, whereas the opposite was found for pictures of other familiar persons. No interaction effects of degree of ID were found. CONCLUSIONS: The interaction pattern is explained in terms of absent, present or implausible semantic associations between the person and the environmental context. The results are discussed in relation to augmentative and alternative communication with photographs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

A review and evaluation of research on the deaf-blind from perceptual, communicative, social and rehabilitative perspectives.

This paper reviews research on deaf-blind individuals, primarily from behavioral and communicative points of view. Inclusion in the population of deaf-blind is qualified by describing a variety of subgroups and genetically based syndromes associated with deaf-blindness. Sensory assessment procedures--based primarily on residual capacities--are appraised. Consequences for everyday life are described briefly. Non-sensory, alternative classificatory schemes and procedures are presented and the results from behavior modification procedures used for correcting maladaptive behaviors are summarized. Methods for communicating tactilely are described and evaluated. Attention is also drawn to some suggestions regarding learning of alphabetic codes and sign acquisition. Finally, suggestions for future research are proposed.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2001

Cognitive correlates of visual speech understanding in hearing-impaired individuals.

This study examined the extent to which different measures of speechreading performance correlated with particular cognitive abilities in a population of hearing-impaired people. Although the three speechreading tasks (isolated word identification, sentence comprehension, and text tracking) were highly intercorrelated, they tapped different cognitive skills. In this population, younger participants were better speechreaders, and, when age was taken into account, speech tracking correlated primarily with (written) lexical decision speed. In contrast, speechreading for sentence comprehension correlated most strongly with performance on a phonological processing task (written pseudohomophone detection) but also on a span measure that may have utilized visual, nonverbal memory for letters. We discuss the implications of this pattern.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Effects of tactile training on visual speechreading: performance changes related to individual differences in cognitive skills.

We report on a follow-up study of the Rönnberg, Andersson, Lyxell, & Spens (1998) speech tracking training study. The purpose was to examine, initially and after training, the effects of different tactile aids on tasks of visual speechreading. We also examined cognitive prerequisites for initial baseline speechreading and posttraining speechreading performance. Compared with speechreading alone, tactile aids impaired sentence-based speechreading at first, although performance improved with training. No effects of vibrotactile aids or training were obtained for visual word-decoding. Initial baseline speechreading performance and posttraining performance correlated with cognitive skills, but the size of the correlations changed. The size of the correlations also varied with the different tactually mediated speechreading conditions.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

The cognitive neuroscience of signed language.

The present article is an assessment of the current state of knowledge in the field of cognitive neuroscience of signed language. Reviewed lesion data show that the left hemisphere is dominant for perception and production of signed language in aphasics, in a fashion similar to spoken language aphasia. Several neuropsychological dissociations support this claim: Non-linguistic visuospatial functions can be dissociated from spatial functions and general motor deficits can be dissociated from execution of signs. Reviewed imaging data corroborate the lesion data in that the importance of the left hemisphere is re-confirmed. The data also establish the role of the right hemisphere in signed language processing. Alternative hypotheses regarding what aspects of signed language processing are handled by the right hemisphere are currently tested. The second section of the paper starts by addressing the role that early acquisition of signed and spoken language play for the neurofunctional activation patterns in the brain. Compensatory cognitive and communicative enhancements have also been documented as a function of early sign language use, suggesting an interesting interaction between language and cognition. Recent behavioural data on sign processing in working memory--a cognitive system important for language perception and production suggest e.g. phonological loop effects analogous to those obtained for speech processing. Neuroimaging studies will have to address this potential communality.

Functional Laterality↗

PubMed2000

Visual cognitive tests, central auditory function and auditory communication.

A cognitive, text-based test battery, presented as text on a computer screen (TIPS), was used to assess properties of central cognitive processing relevant for visual and audiovisual speech comprehension. TIPS was compared and contrasted with another, purely auditory, battery, ACE, aimed at assessing afferent (A), central (C) and efferent (E) auditory communicative functions. The results show that there is no overlap with the 'A' component, but some overlap between TIPS parameters and the 'C' component, especially when the auditory-language tests are used in the C estimate. However, the TIPS parameters show high correlations with the 'E' component (i.e. measuring output and phonological parameters), suggesting that the efferent component may be composed of an interesting central feature. TIPS parameters do not fare as well in the predictions of the auditory ecological test performances, but the ACE parameters do, especially when organized according to a cognitive complexity parameter. In order to optimize the conceptual and practical benefit of the TIPS and ACE concepts, TIPS needs to be adapted auditorily and ACE tests need to be audiovisual. These developments will become important for ecological audiology.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

A speechreading expert: the case of MM.

The present case study of MM, who acquired both sign language and spoken language in her early preschool years-and then reached the normal milestones of development in each language--revealed that her speechreading expertise is associated with cognitive functions such as high working memory capacity and phonological skills. Her cognitive profile is in accord with previous case studies of extremely good speechreading skill. MM's enhanced right prefrontal/frontal cerebral blood flow activation during speechreading seems to be indicative of efficient visual scanning, but it is also possibly due to her strategy for phonological decoding of visual speech.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Monitoring the environment: sound localization equipment for deaf-blind people.

The problems that deaf-blind subjects have with monitoring the environment and the strategies they use were identified using structured interviews. The use of the vibratory sense did not appear to be highly developed, but some individuals indicated that it has great potential. We describe here the design of a computerized laboratory device for sound localization, based on a three-microphone system with a cross correlation algorithm. It was found to have reasonable precision and sufficient reliability to allow the detection and localization of a person approaching a deaf-blind subject in an ordinary room. The next step is to miniaturize the equipment and build a portable prototype.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1999

Communicative ability in an audiological perspective. Theory and application to post-secondary school students.

The underlying assumption in the present study is that the individual's speech and hearing communicative ability is composed of three components, each corresponding to different functional systems of the brain: afferent functions (A) represent the auditory activity and sound perception largely corresponding to activity in the ascending auditory pathways. The central functions (C) include cortical auditory and language abilities controlled in parts of the left temporal lobe and subcortical centres. The efferent functions (E) consist of speech motor processes and articulation. A test battery of 20 tests measuring several aspects of afferent, central and efferent functions was applied to 11 hearing-impaired post-secondary school students and several control groups. All data were normalized with the normal materials as references. Individual communicative profiles were obtained from these primary data, which consisted of audiometric tests (tone and speech audiometry, impedance tests, brainstem response audiometry and phase audiometry), sound environmental tests with hearing aids (directional speech-in-noise, word localization, sound environment identification test), and language tests (reading tests, prosody, auditory memory and recall, phonology and articulation). Since the central functions cannot truly and directly be determined in hearing-imparied subjects, they were assessed under optimal listening conditions. Furthermore, central functions were estimated according to three different models: distributive, parallel model (model 1), multiplicative, serial model (model 2) and compensatory model (model 3). On the basis of these models, a three-component description of the communicative ability consisting of A,C and E functions was obtained. It was found that C and E functions were largely independent of the adult afferent functions, but C functions were negatively correctly to hearing in childhood. A preliminary comparison between the tests and a comparison between the models was performed by predicting benefit of hearing aid. Model 3 gave the best prediction. Beyond the three-component A,C, and E characterization of the students, a total communicative ability score could be calculated giving values from 37% to 79% of the normal mean. On the basis of the conceptual and statistical analyses, the test battery could be reduced to include tone 0-12 years, tone adults, word localization test (afferent); word chain, lecture test (central), articulatory test (efferent) and audiovisual test. The simple algorithm of adding the normalized loss of afferent (peripheral) function to the normalized results of the acoustic central tests seems to be promising for isolation for the central auditory capacity even in cases with peripheral impairment. It is concluded that a wider perspective is desirable in the diagnostic evaluation of the hearing-impaired individual in order to understand his communicative abilities and form a cornerstone in the planning of rehabilitation in conjunction with social and psychological factors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Cognition as a bridge between signal and dialogue: communication in the hearing impaired and deaf.

This paper is an overview of the research we have carried out at Linköping University on cognitive aspects of visual language processing and related communicative forms. In the first section, a cognitive individual difference perspective on speechreading is introduced. In the second, compensatory perceptual mechanisms are discussed on the basis of behavioral and neurophysiological data. The third section addresses further the issue of perceptual versus cognitive compensation, and the fourth and fifth sections apply a set of cognitive tests based on the concept of working memory for poorly specified language input to data on the successes and failures with cochlear implants, tactile aids and hearing aids.

Cognition↗

PubMed1997

Neuropsychological aspects of driving after brain lesion: simulator study and on-road driving.

Twenty-nine patients with brain lesion and 29 matched controls participated in the study. The patients were socially well recovered with a high rate of employment. Compared with the controls, they performed significantly worse on a neuropsychological test battery, especially on executive and cognitive functions. Patients drove as well as controls in predictable situations in the advanced simulator used. In unpredictable situations, they demonstrated longer reaction times and safety margins, as well as difficulties in allocating processing resources to a secondary task. The patients showed significantly less attention, worse traffic behavior, and less risk awareness when driving in real traffic. Forty-one percent of the patients did not pass the driving test. The neuropsychological test battery was factor analyzed into four factors: executive capacity, cognitive capacity, automatic attentional capacity, and simple perceptual-motor capacity. The second factor was the mast significant with a simultaneous capacity test predicting driving performance with 78% confidence.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1997

Signed and spoken language perception studied by positron emission tomography.

Sign and spoken language seem to be localized in the same brain areas. They elicit similar regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) patterns, even though sign language is dependent on spatial information. We investigated sign and spoken language perception in a group of healthy bilingual subjects. Four videotaped activation conditions were used during PET imaging: (1) sign language, (2) spoken language, (3) spoken language with mouth covered, and (4) spoken language on a sound track while showing a motionless face. Spoken language (condition 4) activated significantly the perisylvian cortex (Brodmann areas 22 and 43) bilaterally. Sign language activated the visual association areas (Brodmann areas 37 and 19) but did not selectively activate parietal regions. A reciprocal relationship was observed between the level of activation in visual language perception areas and that in auditory perception areas. We conclude that when healthy bilingual subjects use the visual route for sign language perception, the functional anatomy overlaps that of language processing containing both auditory and visual components.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Memory dysfunction in mild aphasics.

The effect of mild aphasia (n = 9), as a result of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), was evaluated against one matched (sex, age, and education) control group suffering from SAH of unknown origin without aphasia, and against one matched healthy control group. According to aphasia testing (Reinvang & Engvik, 1980), criteria for a classical diagnosis were not met. Therefore, the patients were characterized as mild aphasics: They generally displayed intact audo-verbal comprehension and repetition abilities, and they demonstrated a fluent, spontaneous speech. However, they showed phonemic and semantic paraphasias, with self-corrections; a few patients displayed alexia and agraphia. Memory performance of these three groups was evaluated by a neuropsychological test battery, designed to tap various components of verbal memory function. From the results it was concluded that: (a) Short-term memory is impaired, as regards the phonological loop and the central executive in working memory, whereas maintenance rehearsal is unaffected, given that the demands on phonological coding is minimized, (b) long-term memory is also generally impaired, whereas long-term learning and forgetting by means of subject-performed tasks proceeds within a normal range. Impairments were hypothesized to reflect less efficient central executive functions of working memory, involving generation of less appropriate semantic codes and phonological representations, (c) mildly aphasic patients are not subjectively aware of their own memory deficits, and (d) aphasia classification by means of standard procedures do not sufficiently characterize the nature of a mildy aphasic patient's memory problems.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Speech gestures and facial expression in speechreading.

Two experiments investigated the role of facial expression in speechreading. In Experiment 1 sentences were presented either with only the actor's face shown or with the actor shown in half-size. One happy script with happy, sad and neutral sentences was used, and either a content cue or an emotional cue was presented prior to each sentence. In Experiment 2 happy and sad sentences from one happy and one sad script were first recorded by the actor with a neutral face (face and shoulder shown) and then with a congruent facial expression. The results revealed that there was no difference in performance between half-size and face presentation, but content cues increased performance compared to emotional cues. As expected (Abelson, 1981), happy sentences were easier to speechread than sad in the happy script and vice versa. Also, facial expression raised performance for happy sentences in the happy script. Positive emotions are suggested to be associated with approach behavior in part relying on increased non-pantomimic speech gestures and articulation of the speaker (e.g., Davidson et al., 1990).

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Facial expressions and speechreading performance.

In the present study, the role of facial expressions in visual speechreading (lipreading) was examined. Speechreading was assessed by three different tests: sentence-based speechreading, word-decoding, and word discrimination. Twenty-seven individuals participated as subjects in the study. The results revealed that no general improvement as a function of expression was obtained across all tests. Nevertheless, skilled speechreaders could significantly improve their performance as a function of emotional expression in the word-decoding and word-discrimination conditions. Furthermore, a correlational analysis indicated that there was a significant relationship between the subjects' rating of confidence regarding their responses to each test-item and performance on speechreading tests where lexical analysis is a necessary task-demand. The results are discussed with respect to how information from facial expressions is integrated with the information given by the lip movements in visual speechreading, and also with respect to general models of face-processing (i.e., Bruce & Young, 1986; Young & Bruce, 1991).

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Lipreading with auditory low-frequency information. Contextual constraints.

The present experimental study investigated potential relations among three variables: (1) an audiovisual speech signal (i.e., low-frequency supplemented lipreading as opposed to pure lipreading), (2) typical, as opposed to atypical, sentences in a particular script (e.g., in a restaurant), and (3) the presence/absence of additional context (in the particular script) in 60 normal hearing subjects. All three variables revealed significant main effects, but no interactions were observed. The general facilitatory effect for the audiovisual signal is in line with previous research, but this effect was relatively weak compared to the main effect of typicality, which relies on cognitive activation of scripts. In a separate analysis, the typicality variable was also the only variable that interacted significantly with speechreading skill, typical sentences being perceived relatively easier by the skilled as opposed to the less skilled individual. The clinical implications of cognitive factors in hearing-aid fitting procedures, the construction of speech materials, and selection of individuals for rehabilitation were discussed.

Humans↗

PubMed1996

Audio-visual speechreading in a group of hearing aid users. The effects of onset age, handicap age, and degree of hearing loss.

Speechreading ability was investigated among hearing aid users with different time of onset and different degree of hearing loss. Audio-visual and visual-only performance were assessed. One group of subjects had been hearing-impaired for a large part of their lives, and the impairments appeared early in life. The other group of subjects had been impaired for a fewer number of years, and the impairments appeared later in life. Differences between the groups were obtained. There was no significant difference on the audio-visual test between the groups in spite of the fact that the early onset group scored very poorly auditorily. However, the early-onset group performed significantly better on the visual test. It was concluded that the visual information constituted the dominant coding strategy for the early onset group. An interpretation chiefly in terms of early onset may be the most appropriate, since dB loss variations as such are not related to speechreading skill.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1995

The role of emotionality and typicality in speechreading.

Two experiments were carried out to investigate how emotionality and typicality could influence speechreading performance. Typical and atypical sentences for a certain script, and emotional sentences (happy and sad content, presented with happy, sad or neutral facial expression) were shown without sound on a TV-screen. Two different scripts (restaurant and doctor) were used. In Experiment 1, hearing-impaired subjects participated and in Experiment 2, normal-hearing subjects participated. Experiment 2 also evaluated the effects of tactile information. The results from both experiments showed that typical restaurant sentences were the easiest to speechread of all sentence-types, in line with script-theory (Abelson, 1981; Anderson, 1983; Bellezza & Bower, 1981; Nottenburg & Shoben, 1980; Yekovich & Walker, 1986). For the doctor script, sad sentences were better speechread than happy sentences, also according to script-theory. In addition, perception of emotional content was enhanced by tactile information. Generally, both the cognitive and emotional effects are script-dependent, suggesting important social constraints on speechreading accuracy.

Adult↗