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PubMed1991

Rehearsal training and short-term free-recall of sign and word labels by severely handicapped children.

An experiment is reported in which eight severely handicapped children were taught to rehearse lists of five manual sign labels or five word labels during the delay periods of a short-term, free-recall task. The results showed that the rehearsal training had an overall facilitatory effect on recall and that this effect was more pronounced for signs than for words, especially in the recency portion of the serial position curve. Follow-up after 3 weeks showed that the differential facilitatory effect for signs was maintained. The findings are discussed in the context both of existing memory studies for signed stimuli and in terms of their implications for the use of signs in educational settings.

Attention↗

PubMed2002

Complex cognitive disruption in motor neuron disease.

We describe 14 patients having been diagnosed as suffering from motor neuron disease (MND). These patients underwent a detailed and sequential neuropsychological evaluation, with particular care of neurolinguistic assessment. Their results have been compared to those obtained by a group of healthy volunteers. The most obvious disclosure was the finding of 4 cases of frontal dementia in the MND group. Apart from that, we demonstrated subtle though evident frontal disruption signs, evidenced by an alteration in language planning, language comprehension, morphosyntactic operations, planning, attention deficit, and abstract reasoning disturbances which got worse during the 15 months of follow-up in all the other subjects. We suggest that a specific and sensitive neurolinguistic and neuropsychological test battery could detect signs of disruption of cognition present even in the sporadic form of MND. We discuss the results with a review of the literature.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Ictal vomiting in association with left temporal lobe seizures in a left hemisphere language-dominant patient.

Ictal vomiting is considered a localizing sign indicating nondominant lateralization in patients with partial seizures of temporal lobe origin. We report a case of ictal vomiting associated with left temporal seizure activity in a left hemisphere language-dominant patient with a left mesial temporal glioma. Bilateral mesial temporal depth electrodes helped verify seizure lateralization. Surgery consisting of tumor resection and a left anterior temporal lobectomy and amygdalohippocampectomy resulted in freedom from seizures and episodes of vomiting. This case indicates that ictal vomiting can occur as a manifestation of left temporal onset seizures in left hemisphere-dominant patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

DC-SIGN: binding receptors for hepatitis C virus.

OBJECTIVE: To review the recent developments in and research into binding receptors of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and especially the role of dendritic cell-specific adhesion receptor (DC-SIGN) in HCV. DATA SOURCES: Both Chinese- and English-language literature was searched using MEDLINE (2000 - 2003) and the databank of Chinese-language literature (2000 - 2003). STUDY SELECTION: Relevant articles on DC-SIGN and HCV binding receptors in recent domestic and foreign literature were selected. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were mainly extracted from 40 articles which are listed in the references section of this review. RESULTS: DC-SIGN, a dendritic cell-specific adhesion receptor and a type II transmembrane mannose-binding C-type lectin, is very important in the function of dendritic cells (DC), both in mediating naïve T cell interactions through ICAM-3 and as a rolling receptor that mediates the DC-specific ICAM-2-dependent migration processes. It can be used by HCV and other viral and bacterial pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Ebola virus, CMV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis to facilitate infection. Both DC-SIGN and DC-SIGNR can act either in cis, by concentrating virus on target cells, or in trans, by transmission of bound virus to a target cell expressing appropriate entry receptors. Recent report showed that DC-SIGN not only plays a role in entry into DC, HCV E2 interaction with DC-SIGN might also be detrimental to the interaction of DC with T cells during antigen presentation. CONCLUSIONS: DC-SIGNs are high-affinity binding receptors for HCV. The clinical strategies that target DC-SIGN may be successful in restricting HCV dissemination and pathogenesis as well as directing the migration of DCs to manipulate appropriate immune responses in autoimmunity and tumorigenic situations.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Development of sign-based perception by deaf children.

In this study the sign-based perceptual abilities of 59 deaf children are investigated. Like many hearing speaking children, deaf signing children appear to perceive isolated lexical items based on the formational parameters of those items. Also, deaf signers show trends similar to those exhibited by hearing speakers for the development of the perceptual ability necessary to distinguish between minimal pairs within their respective language systems.

Child↗

PubMed1979

Communication and language in severely deaf adolescents.

One of the most important psychological effects of early severe or profound deafness is an impairment in natural language-processing ability, with a consequent reduction in communicative skill secondary to the sensory deficit. Prelingual damage blocks the development of certain sequential/syntactical skills necessary for the acquisition of normal linguistic competence. Educators of the deaf in the UK have typically attempted to improve linguistic ability using amplification and intensive training in lip-reading, but evidence from several psychological studies suggests that communication systems based upon manual signing are more productive of both linguistic and basic cognitive skills. This paper reports an experimental study of the communicative characteristics of both oral and total communication systems as a function of language structure. For almost all types of structure investigated, the total system was found to be the more effective method of communication.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

The effects of self-instruction training on a deaf child's semantic and pragmatic production.

Effects of self-instruction training on the communication skills of a profoundly hearing-impaired child were studied. Self-instruction training included modeling a series of problem-solving steps in order to direct communication production. Communication production was operationalized as signed semantic and pragmatic functions. A multiple baseline was used to assess treatment and generalization (treatment variations of person and setting) effects. There was evidence to suggest that self-instruction was immediately effective on pragmatic behaviors but such behaviors were reduced when another person administered treatment. In contrast, self-instruction training had a gradual influence on semantic behaviors and those effects were maintained when treatment included a different person and setting. Implications of the clinical study were discussed.

Behavior Therapy↗

PubMed1997

Comprehension of novel communicative signs by apes and human children.

Forty-eight young children (2.5 and 3.0 years old) and 9 great apes (6 chimpanzees and 3 orangutans) participated in a hiding-finding game. An adult human experimenter (the Hider) hid a reward in 1 of 3 opaque containers aligned on a wooden plank. Another adult experimenter (the Communicator) attempted to help the subject find the reward by giving 1 of 3 types of communicative sign: (1) Pointing, for which she placed her hand directly above the correct container with index finger oriented down; (2) Marker, for which she placed a small wooden block on top of the correct container; and (3) Replica, for which she held up a perceptually identical duplicate of the correct container. At both ages, children were above chance in this finding game with all 3 types of communicative sign, with Pointing being easiest (because they knew it prior to the experiment), Marker being next easiest, and Replica being most difficult. In contrast, no ape was above chance for any of the communicative signs that it did not know before the experiment (some had been trained in the use of the marker previously, and one knew pointing), nor was group performance above chance for any of the signs, despite the fact that apes experienced three times as many trials as children on each sign. Our explanation of these results is that young children understand the communicative intentions of other persons--although they may have more difficulty comprehending the exact nature of those intentions in some cases--whereas apes treat the behavioral signs of others as predictive cues only (signals). This may be because apes do not perceive and understand the communicative intentions of others, at least not in a human-like way.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Language and cognitive impairment: a semiological study into visual naming].

INTRODUCTION: The presence of anomia and/or paraphasias in patients with cognitive impairment suggests an associated deterioration of their language. Visual naming makes it possible to examine these signs in a controlled manner as the target word is already known. AIM. To conduct a semiological study of naming in normal aging, cognitive impairment and language impairment conditions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study consisted in an analysis of nine types of signs (correct response, increased latencies, circumlocutions, absence of response, semantic verbal paraphasias, verbal paraphasias with a similar form, unrelated verbal paraphasias, phonemic paraphasias and neologisms) in a visual naming task (6 items), in two groups with normal language--controls > 70 years and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with onset of amnesia--and two groups with language impairment--vascular aphasia and anomic AD-. RESULTS: Patients failed to perform naming correctly in 4.2% of the responses in controls, 10% in patients with amnesic AD, 30% in patients with vascular aphasia and 50% in patients with anomic AD. Semantic paraphasias were observed in the two groups with normal language abilities (controls and amnesic AD), although frequencies were low. Signs that suggest difficulties in accessing/retrieving lexical items were more frequent in patients with AD and ran parallel to the degree of anomia. One notable finding was the absence of signs of phonological dysfunction in the two groups with AD, regardless of the degree of anomia. CONCLUSIONS: Semiological quantification makes it possible to distinguish differences in the degree of anomia and in the pattern of errors both in controls and in patients with amnesic onset AD and among patients with vascular aphasia and neurodegenerative anomia.

Aged↗

PubMed1986

Retroactive and proactive interference effects in dual learning of blissymbolics and manual sign.

Nonspeech systems can be either aided or unaided. Each system possess its unique learning and memory characteristics. One instructional strategy designed to give learners the advantages of both systems is dual instruction in aided and unaided communication. One problem with this approach, however, might be that of retroactive and proactive interference in learning and memory. The current experiment investigated whether dual instruction in Blissymbolics and manual (ASL) sign would lead to retroactive and proactive interference. Lists of sign/symbol referents in the two systems were taught to nonhandicapped adults in a controlled setting. No effects of retroactive or proactive interference were found. Additionally, a proactive facilitation effect was found for immediate retention. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of the task, the learning memory attributes of the nonspeech systems, and the effects of sign/symbol translucency.

Communication Devices for People with Disabilities↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neurodevelopment after in utero amiodarone exposure.

It is not known whether amiodarone is neurotoxic to the fetus, as it is to adults. We evaluated neurodevelopment of a historical cohort (N = 10) of children exposed transplacentally to amiodarone. Scores on standardized tests of cognitive and language skills were compared (by Wilcoxon signed rank test) between eight toddlers and matched controls. It was not possible to obtain controls for older amiodarone-exposed children (aged 9.7 and 12.0 years), whose test results were compared descriptively with normative data. There was no difference in IQ scores between amiodarone-exposed toddlers and controls. All had favorable temperaments. However, amiodarone-exposed toddlers showed expressive language skills that were relatively poorer than verbal skills, when compared with controls (p = 0.046). One amiodarone-exposed toddler exhibited global developmental delay. The older amiodarone-exposed children had well-developed social competence, favorable global IQ scores, but problems with reading comprehension, written language, and arithmetic. This picture is reminiscent of the Nonverbal Learning Disability Syndrome. There may be neurotoxicity associated with transplacental exposure to amiodarone. Follow-up is warranted, although most mothers were happy with the development of their children.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Visual symbol and manual sign learning by children with phonologic programming deficit syndrome.

A study was done of eight children with phonologic programming deficit syndrome (PPDS) and of eight normally developing children, to evaluate learning and recall of Blissymbols and of Signed English manual signs. The results support the view that children with this syndrome not only have motor speech deficits, but also deficits in symbolic processing. Decisions about intervention for nonverbal children should take account of their probable deficits in symbol learning.

Articulation Disorders↗

PubMed1985

Linguistic environment of the deaf child: a focus on teachers' use of nonliteral language.

Teachers' communication with deaf and hearing children was compared to identify differences in the teachers' use of two types of nonliteral language: idiomatic language and indirect requests. Two groups of teachers of the deaf were observed, one using oral language only and the other using Total Communication. A third group consisted of teachers of normally hearing children. No differences were found in teachers' use of nonliteral language when talking to hearing children as compared to teachers talking to oral deaf children. Reduced use of idiomatic language occurred, in both the oral and signed portions of communication, only when Total Communication was used. No differences were observed in the oral portion of the three groups' use of indirect requests. However, only 55% of these requests were encoded nonliterally in the signed portion of utterances.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2002

The benefit of assessment-based language and reading instruction: perspectives from a case study.

We present a case study of the language and literacy development of a deaf child, Marcy, from preschool through sixth grade. The purpose of the project was to examine the connection between language and reading and to provide insight into the relationships between them. To compile the case study, we analyzed data from nine years of follow-up, including listening, speech articulation, semantic, syntactic, reading, and writing information drawn from a number of informal and formal assessments. Annual evaluation of language and literacy skills was used to select educational placements, as well as instructional methods, strategies, and materials. Given that Marcy began school at 4 years of age, mute and without expressive language of any form (oral or sign), it may at first appear remarkable that she read narrative and expository text as did her hearing peers by sixth grade, because a substantial body of research shows that most deaf students read at the fourth-grade level by high school graduation (review by Paul, 1998). However, those responsible for Marcy's education prevented reading failure by carefully planning, instituting, and monitoring elements of language and literacy instruction. We present Marcy's progress and instruction by grade level and discuss it within the framework of phases/stages of reading development. We hope that the resulting case study may serve as an example of the language-reading connection, an awareness important not only for the literacy instruction of deaf and language-challenged children but for hearing students as well.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1989

Long-term follow-up of biochemical and cognitive functioning in patients with mannosidosis.

Longitudinal assessments of three brothers with alpha-mannosidosis were performed biochemically by determining levels of leukocyte enzyme activity, and neurodevelopmentally by testing of general intelligence, language, visual spatial skills, and overall adaptive abilities. During the follow-up examination, enzyme activity was assessed in fibroblasts to evaluate the uniformity of biochemical deficits. The biochemical findings demonstrated profound deficits of leukocyte alpha-mannosidase that remained remarkably stable over time and were very similar to levels of the same enzyme activity in fibroblasts. The cognitive findings showed that the patients manifested mild cognitive deficits. Cognitive deficits were generally uniform with no signs of progressive deterioration, except receptive language abilities. Suggestions are made for careful follow-up of auditory abilities in patients with mannosidosis.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1983

Acquisition of expressive signing by autistic children: an evaluation of the relative effects of simultaneous communication and sign-alone training.

Two methods of training autistic children to use manual signs were compared. Two children, one mute and one capable of some verbal imitation, were taught to use signs as expressive labels for pictures of objects. Using an alternating treatments design, speed of sign acquisition was compared across two training conditions in which signs were presented either accompanied by, or without, the corresponding verbal label. In both conditions, the training procedure incorporated reinforcement, modeling, prompting, fading, and stimulus rotation. The efficacy of training in both treatment conditions was demonstrated by the use of a multiple baseline control across signs, but no clear differences in acquisition speed across conditions were apparent. Posttests conducted to assess stimulus control of signing, and learning of verbal labels when these were present in training, showed that the behavior of the imitative, but not the mute, child was controlled by the verbal stimuli. The implications of the results both for understanding deficits characteristic of autistic children and for developing appropriate language training procedures are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Evaluation of an intervention program: relation between children's phonology and parents' communicative behavior.

Parents of 9 preschoolers with Down syndrome participated in a training program focusing on phonological skills. Three of the children were producing multiword utterances, but their speech was characterized by jargon and/or inconsistent errors. The remaining 6 children had very few spoken words or were mute; some relied on a Makaton sign vocabulary. Parents attended twelve 3-hour training sessions. Videotapes of parent-child interactions (made before, during, and after the program) were analyzed for number and type of children's phonological errors and rating of parents' therapeutic skills. Results showed that measures of the children's phonological abilities were correlated with their parents' interactional communication skills.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relation of early neuromotor and cranial signs with neuropsychological outcome at 4 years.

The persistence and predictive value at 3-5 years of age of three signs detected within the first 18 months of life were investigated: phasic stretch reflex in one or both gastrocnemius muscles, imbalance in passive axial tone with an excess of dorsal extension, and a ridge on the squamous sutures. Phasic stretch reflex and at least one of the other signs were found in 14 children during repeated assessments within the first 18 months. The progress of these children was compared with that of 14 matched controls who had repeatedly normal neurological assessments during the first 18 months in the same clinic in Paris. At the age 3-5 years all the children were then assessed blindly by the second author from a pediatric neurological viewpoint and by two psychologists and two psychomotor therapists as well. The parents of the affected children reported significantly more problems in motor/praxis skills, language development and attention. Abnormal neurological signs were also significantly more frequent than in the controls. Suboptimal cognition did not reach significance. The neurological inclusion criteria were still present at 3-5 years old in 86% (vs. respectively 100% and 93% during the first 18 months of life) of this small group of children, while the cranial suture sign was still present in only 28% (vs. 64%). Findings of these three signs during the first 18 months of life may help in predicting long-term neurobehavioral or long-term neuropsychological problems.

Age Factors↗