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PubMed1981

Severity of impairment or specific types of aphasia: an empirical investigation.

This study examined empirical means of clustering aphasic patients into relatively homogenous and identifiable groups. The method included: (1) examining the intercorrelations of the subtests of the Neurosensory Comprehensive Examination for Aphasia by the means of factor analysis; (2) allowing the subjects to group themselves in homogenous subgroups by means of hierarchical cluster analysis; and (3) comparing the profiles of these groups on the derived dimensions. Four factors accounting for 79.3% of their total test variance were derived which reflected attention/memory; reading ability; verbal-naming ability; and elementary writing skills. With five groups the hierarchical grouping analysis indicated that only 21.5% of the total variability could be ascribed to within group variability. An analysis of variance of the four factor scores found that 66%, 93%, 81% and 79% of the between group variance of each of the respective factors was associated with group membership and the accuracy of membership prediction was 94.1%. Four groups appeared to be distributed on the basis of a severity model of impairment. One group representing 6.3% of the total sample demonstrated a pattern of specific impairment involving a mild level of impairment on attention/memory tasks, a moderate level of impairment on verbal naming tasks and writing skills, and a profound level of impairment on measures of reading skills. The high inter-factor correlations indicated the general nature of language functioning. The results were discussed in terms of the concept of aphasia as a general cognitive deficit.

Aphasia↗
PubMed2004

Understanding of thought bubbles as mental representations in children with autism: implications for theory of mind.

Standard false belief tasks indicate that normally developing children do not fully develop a theory of mind until the age of 4 years and that children with autism have an impaired theory of mind. Recent evidence, however, suggests that children as young as 3 years of age understand that thought bubbles depict mental representations and that these can be false. Twelve normally developing children and 11 children with autism were tested on a standard false belief task and a number of tasks that employed thought bubbles to represent mental states. While the majority of normally developing children and children with autism failed the standard false belief task, they understood that (i) thought bubbles represent thought, (ii) thought bubbles can be used to infer an unknown reality, (iii) thoughts can be different, and (iv) thoughts can be false. These results indicate that autistic children with a relatively low verbal mental age may be capable of understanding mental representations.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2002

Dynamic visual speech perception in a patient with visual form agnosia.

To examine the role of dynamic cues in visual speech perception, a patient with visual form agnosia (DF) was tested with a set of static and dynamic visual displays of three vowels. Five conditions were tested: (1) auditory only which provided only vocal pitch information, (2) dynamic visual only, (3) dynamic audiovisual with vocal pitch information, (4) dynamic audiovisual with full voice information and (5) static visual only images of postures during vowel production. DF showed normal performance in all conditions except the static visual only condition in which she scored at chance. Control subjects scored close to ceiling in this condition. The results suggest that spatiotemporal signatures for objects and events are processed separately from static form cues.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

APOE influences on neuropsychological function after mild head injury: within-person comparisons.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between neuropsychological outcome following mild head injury (MHI) and APOE genotype. METHODS: Data from a population-based longitudinal study (n = 3,500) were used to identify 34 adults who experienced MHI during the course of the study. Their pre- and postinjury performances on a battery of nine neuropsychological tests were compared within person, and the postinjury performance was compared with that of age- and gender-matched control subjects. RESULTS: The within-person comparisons showed that participants with at least one APOE epsilon4 allele (n = 11) had a significantly decreased postinjury performance on three of the tests, whereas the postinjury performance for APOE epsilon4-negative participants (n = 23) was unchanged. There was no significant difference in postinjury performance between participants with/without the epsilon4 allele, and neither group was impaired relative to controls. CONCLUSIONS: APOE genotype may influence the outcome following an MHI. Pre/postinjury within-person comparisons seem more sensitive than control group comparisons for detecting injury-related effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Relationship between pictorial interpretation and comprehension of three spatial relations in school-age children.

Effects on spatial term comprehension as the result of transformations in the stimulus dimensions of six pictures containing the same three figures were explored using Piaget's concept of spatial perspective. A Modified Test of Pictorial Space (MTPS), adapted from Hudson's (1960) studies on non-Western pictorial perception strategies, was administered to 200 children, aged 6 yrs 5 mos to 11 yrs 3 mos. The purpose of the investigation was to gather data on (1) pictorial interpretation as a function of variations in perceptual depth cue complexity and transformations in conceptual perspective and (2) order of acquisition in the comprehension of two sets of spatial terms referring to perceptual object knowledge and more advanced conceptual knowledge of object relations. Significant age and IQ, but not sex, interactions were found for MTPS performance. Data analyses also supported predicted orders of acquisition and indicated that transformation of conceptual perspective better differentiated among the age span than did either perceptual depth cue complexity or comprehension of spatial terms. Findings are discussed in terms of their methodological and substantive implications for constructing and interpreting pictorially-based language comprehension tasks.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1984

Semantic memory content in permastore: fifty years of memory for Spanish learned in school.

Retention of Spanish learned in school was tested over a 50-year period for 733 individuals. Tests of reading comprehension, recall, and recognition vocabulary and grammar were administered together with a questionnaire to determine the level of original training, the grades received, and rehearsals during the retention interval in the form of reading, writing, speaking, or listening to Spanish. Multiple regression analysis shows that retention throughout the 50-year period is predictable on the basis of the level of original training. The great majority of subjects rehearse so little that the data reveal no significant rehearsal effects. The analysis yields memory curves which decline exponentially for the first 3-6 years of the retention interval. After that retention remains unchanged for periods of up to 30 years before showing a final decline. Large portions of the originally acquired information remain accessible for over 50 years in spite of the fact the information is not used or rehearsed. This portion of the information in a "permastore" state is a function of the level of original training, the grades received in Spanish courses, and the method of testing (recall vs. recognition), but it appears to be unaffected by ordinary conditions of interference. The life-span frequency distribution of learned responses is discontinuous; one portion of the response distribution has life spans of 0-6 years, the other portion, life spans in excess of 25 years, and no responses have life spans of 6-25 years. This suggests a discrete transition into a permastore state during the extended period of original training. Analysis of successive relearning processes over extended time periods is deemed essential for an understanding of the acquisition of permanent semantic memory content.

Humans↗
PubMed2003

Neural regions essential for writing verbs.

Functional imaging data collected during cognitive tasks show which brain regions are active during those tasks, but do not necessarily indicate which regions are essential for those tasks. Here, in a study of two cases of selectively impaired written naming of verbs after focal brain ischemia, we combined imaging and behavioral testing to unambiguously identify brain regions that are crucial for a specific cognitive process. We used magnetic resonance perfusion imaging to show that the selective impairment in each case was due to hypoperfusion (low blood flow) in left posterior inferior frontal gyrus (PIFG) and precentral gyrus (PrG); the impairment was immediately reversed when blood flow was restored to these regions, indicating that parts of the left frontal lobe are crucial for representing and processing verbs.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Aging and cognition: methodological differences in outcome.

A series of longitudinal and cross sectional studies, collected as part of the Seattle Study, were reanalyzed. A longitudinal sequential analysis (N = 232), wherein subjects were measured every seven years for four time periods, was completed on the Primary Mental Abilities test. Cohort differences were at least as strong as age differences; cohorts were generally relatively stable over the measured periods, showing little cognitive decline. A cross-sectional sequential analysis (N = 2813) was completed for the same time periods; decline with age was more evident than with the longitudinal sequential analysis. A cross-sectional analysis for the fourth time period (N = 611) showed the most marked decline of all. Interpretation of outcome was highly dependent on the analysis used.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[An example of how to measure the relation between developmental dyslexia and illiteracy].

The ability to read and the phonological fitness of 89 youth (average age of 21.3 years) having difficulty with social and professional integration were examined. We observed that 64% of them (n = 57) had difficulty in reading. The results of the phonological and reading tests showed that developmental dyslexia constitutes, for 56% of the subjects (n = 32), or for 36% of the population of youth with difficulties, the explanatory framework for the delay of acquisition of these capacities. Reading difficulties for these youth were significantly linked to an alteration of the phonological treatment that effects: short-term verbal memory, auditory discrimination and meta-phonological fitness. The data tends to validate the hypothesis of the existence of a functional link between developmental dyslexia and illiteracy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Aphasics' sensitivity to contextual appropriateness conditions for pragmatic indicators.

Twenty normal and twenty aphasic subjects were tested for their understanding of implicit meanings of the French adverbs même (even), aussi (also), and surtout (mainly). Their sensitivity to the contextual appropriateness conditions of such items was analyzed in a multiple-choice paradigm requiring them to select from three figures the one which was best described by a sentence like "Show me the figure that is même (aussi, surtout) red." A global quantitative comparison indicates that aphasics' performance was inferior to that of the normal controls. Yet, the analysis of individual responses allowed the identification of three different subgroups of aphasics: the first produced responses identical to the normals' responses; the second seemed to ignore the adverb and systematically selected the figure with the highest amount of the asserted color; and the third produced responses identical to the normals' responses for surtout but had difficulties with même or aussi. As concerns the relationship between aphasics' performance and their scores on literal language comprehension tests, the data favor the dissociation between literal and pragmatic factors in comprehension. Finally, no clear relationship was observed between aphasia type and aphasics' performance, although three points are noted in the discussion: (1) all the conduction aphasics performed like normals, (2) among the Broca's aphasics, the one with the clearest agrammatic verbal output produced responses similar to those of the normals, and (3) there was no anomic patient in the second subgroup.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Improving interpretability: gamma as an alternative to R(2) as a measure of effect size.

A traditional measure of effect size associated with tests for difference between two groups is the variance explained by group membership (R(2)). If exposure to a disease causes a small but long term deficit in performance, however, R(2) does not capture that cumulating effect. We propose an alternative statistic, gamma, based on the probability of an unexposed person outperforming an exposed person. Although gamma is also a point estimate, it more easily conveys what the cumulating effect of a deficit would be. We discuss some of the advantages of this measure.

Child↗
PubMed1983

The use of nonvocal communication techniques with autistic individuals.

Studies reporting the use of sign languages and symbol systems with autistic children and young people are reviewed. The studies suggest that signs and symbols can be used in communication by individuals who are above and below the age of five, mute and mentally handicapped. The communication skills developed may, in some cases, be complex, and speech may develop in the context of sign or symbol programmes. However, problems concerned with the description of subjects, methods and outcome of studies mean that many conclusions can only be supported tentatively by existing data.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Remediation of sentence processing deficits in aphasia using a computer-based microworld.

Byng (1988) has argued that some aphasic patients who show problems in sentence comprehension are unable to "map" a syntactic analysis of the sentence form onto the thematic roles specified by the verb or preposition in the sentence. In Byng's study, therapy aimed at improving the mapping process as applied to sentences containing locative prepositions led to improvements not only in the comprehension of such sentences but also in the comprehension of reversible verb sentences. In the present study, 14 aphasic patients were selected for having problems with sentence-picture matching involving reversible verb and preposition sentences. These problems were shown to be stable across three pre-intervention assessments. All assessments were computer-based and involved the matching of written sentences to pictures. A small vocabulary was used in assessment and therapy which involved a "microworld" of three characters (ball, box, and star) which could engage in a limited number of actions and could occupy a limited set of spatial relationships. Before therapy began, all the patients were given an assessment battery which included a 40-item Verb Test and a 40-item Preposition Test. The patients were then divided into two groups, A and B. Group A received two 1-hr sessions of therapy per week for 3 weeks aimed at improving the comprehension of verb sentences, then a second full assessment, followed by the same amount of therapy aimed at improving the comprehension of preposition sentences, and finally a third assessment. Group B received the preposition therapy first, followed by the verb therapy. The therapy involved the patient and therapist interacting with the computer, either assembling pictures to match written sentences ("picture-building mode") or assembling sentences to match pictures ("sentence-building mode"). Group A showed a classical "cross-over" treatment outcome. Performance on treated verb sentences improved during verb therapy and was retained when therapy switched to preposition sentences. Performance on treated preposition sentences was unaffected by verb therapy but improved when therapy switched to the processing of prepositions. Performance on untreated verb and preposition sentences showed a similar pattern, though the improvements observed were not as great. Improvement was also shown on a paper-based "Real World Test" which involved a wider range of more naturalistic sentences. Performance on a third aspect of sentence comprehension which the patients also had difficulty with, namely the comprehension of morphology, remained unchanged throughout, providing further evidence that the effects obtained were treatment-specific. The results of Group B were less clear cut. Comprehension of both verb and preposition sentences improved during the period that prepositions were being treated then remained static during verb treatment. Comprehension of morphology remained unchanged throughout. At the level of the individual patient, the majority of patients obtained higher scores on both the Verb Test and the Preposition Test after therapy, but only three patients showed improvements on both verbs and prepositions that were statistically significant. Six patients showed significant improvements on verbs but not prepositions while one showed the opposite pattern. Only three patients failed to show so much as a borderline improvement on either verbs or prepositions. Finally, seven of the patients returned for an additional assessment 5 months after completing the therapy. These patients, who had demonstrated significant improvements during the therapy, were shown to have maintained their improved comprehension skills.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Selective processing of gastrointestinal symptom-related stimuli in irritable bowel syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was associated with attentional bias toward symptom-related cues in IBS patients versus healthy controls, using a modified Stroop task to measure selective processing of gastrointestinal symptom-related cues. METHODS: Fifteen patients with a clinical diagnosis of IBS and 15 healthy controls were recruited into the study. All participants attended a single testing session, during which they completed a modified Stroop task using gastrointestinal symptom-related and neutral control words. RESULTS: Results indicated a significant main effect of word type (p = .013), with slower color-naming times for IBS-related compared with neutral words, and a significant main effect of exposure (p = .001), with slower color-naming times in the unmasked condition compared with the masked condition. The group x word type x exposure interaction was significant (p = .048). A series of post hoc tests indicated that among patients there was significant interference of symptom-related words in the masked condition but not in the unmasked condition, whereas among controls, the reverse was true. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that IBS patients selectively process gastrointestinal symptom-related words compared with neutral words when they are presented subliminally but not when they are presented supraliminally. In contrast, healthy controls demonstrate the opposite pattern. Implications for the cognitive mechanisms in IBS, and future research directions, are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

A longitudinal genetic study of vocabulary knowledge in adults.

Vocabulary test scores were obtained from a total of 997 adults, all twins or a sibling of twins in this study. Some (N = 217) individuals were tested twice, around 6 years apart. Heritability varied from 50% at the first test occasion to 63% at the second test occasion. The correlation of scores across time was.74. Structural equation modelling showed that stability in vocabulary knowledge over time can largely (around 76%) be explained by genetic factors. Part of the non-shared environmental variance was stable over time also. Any influence from shared environmental factors could not be detected. Results were similar for the two sexes, except that males generally outperformed females. Results were also similar for two age cohorts, except that the older cohort generally outperformed the younger cohort.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Attention and reading skills.

Attention plays a critical role in information processing. Its adequate functioning is required for correct development of complex cognitive abilities and regular scholastic progress. Children with attention deficits often have difficulties in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The present study investigated interactions among reading skills, overall scholastic performance as rated by teachers, and components of attention: visual reaction time, simple immediate span of attention, and selectivity. The sample was 98 students in the first and second years of public junior high school (age range 11-14 years, M = 12.6, SD = 1.2), i.e., with expected already well-established reading. Reading was evaluated using Comprehension, Accuracy, and Speed tests. Overall scholastic performance was obtained by means of teachers' ratings. Simple Reaction Time, Digit Span, and Color-Word Interference, included in a multitask computerized test, assessed attention. Analysis confirmed the hypothesis that the reading skills are strongly predictive of the Scholastic Assessment rated by the teachers. High scholastic ratings were correlated with Reading Speed and Accuracy rather than Reading Comprehension. Poor readers showed worse performances on the Digit Span test which measures simple immediate span of attention. Good and poor readers obtained a similar score on the Color-Word Interference task. This observation seems to contrast with the more common interpretation of this effect, suggesting that reading is an automatic process and, therefore, the semantic dimension overcomes the controlled perceptual one. According to other studies, an alternative explanation is suggested. In conclusion, present results confirm the hypothesis of a strong link among reading speed and accuracy, scholastic assessment as rated by teachers, simple immediate span of attention, and visual reaction time.

Achievement↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Assessment of word finding skills in the discourse of adolescents].

BACKGROUND: Relation between the abilities of word finding and reading. AIM: Application of a word finding test to the discourse of two groups of adolescents which differed in their abilities to comprehend written texts. METHOD: Application of the Test of Word Finding Discourse in 20 participants (group 1 = 10 e group II = 10). RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups regarding the global word finding index; as for specific behaviors, word substitution was statistically significant and did differentiate the groups; as for the comparison with American standards, the use of unspecific words was statistically significant; the expected linear decrease for all of the behaviors was not observed. CONCLUSION: A linear and reciprocal relation between word finding and difficulties in reading does not exist.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1999

Electrophysiological evidence for two steps in syntactic analysis. Early automatic and late controlled processes.

In this study we examined the properties of the processes involved in the structural analysis of sentences using event-related brain potential measures (ERP). Previous research had shown two ERP components to correlate with phrase structure violations: an early left anterior negativity (ELAN), which is assumed to reflect first-pass parsing processes, and a late parietally distributed positivity (P600), assumed to reflect second-pass parsing processes. We hypothesized that the first-pass parsing processes are highly automatic, whereas second-pass parsing processes are more controlled. To test this hypothesis we varied the proportion of correct sentences and sentences containing phrase structure violations with incorrect sentences being either of a low (20% violation) or a high (80% violation) proportion. Results showed that the early left anterior negativity was elicited and equally pronounced under both proportion conditions. By contrast, the late positivity was elicited for a low proportion of incorrect sentences only. This data pattern suggests that first-pass parsing processes are automatic, whereas second-pass parsing processes are under participants' strategic control.

Acoustic Stimulation↗