Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation as an Adjuvant to Aphasia Treatment Following Stroke: Evidence From Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Purpose: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation tool to amplify neural excitability and enhance outcomes associated with speech-language therapy (SLT). Stimulation currents to the left and right hemispheres vary in applying anodal (excitatory), cathodal (inhibitory), or bihemispheric signals. Several systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) have summarized the large literature examining tDCS for aphasia rehabilitation.

Effectiveness of Constraint-Induced Language Therapy for Aphasia: Evidence From Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Purpose: Constraint-induced language therapy (CILT) is an aphasia treatment that incorporates neuroplasticity principles of forced verbal use and high-intensity training to facilitate language recovery in individuals with stroke-induced aphasia (Pulvermüller et al., 2001). The burgeoning CILT literature has led to systematic reviews (SRs) that summarize treatment results.

Conversation as an Outcome of Aphasia Treatment: A Systematic Scoping Review.

Purpose: Conversation-focused speech-language pathology services are a top priority for people living with aphasia, but little is known about how researchers measure conversation as an outcome of treatment. This scoping review was undertaken to systematically review the evidence regarding the measurement of conversation in aphasia studies and to identify current practices and existing gaps.

Method: A systematic literature search was conducted for studies published between January 1995 and September 2019 in multiple electronic databases.

Applying Appraisal Tools in Aphasia Systematic Reviews: A Tutorial.

Purpose: A systematic review (SR) represents a rigorous process of identifying and summarizing current research to answer specific clinical questions. Not all SRs present high-quality information, because they do not adhere to established standards of conduct or reporting. This tutorial aims to (a) describe two tools developed in epidemiology for reporting (PRISMA 2020; Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and appraising (AMSTAR 2; A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews) SRs and (b) exemplify the use of AMSTAR 2.

Executive Functions and Student Success During Physical Therapist Education: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Clinical reasoning relies on executive functions (EFs) that manage attention, inhibition, organization, and decision-making. Assessment of EFs may help identify students who excel at clinical reasoning, yet data showing this relationship in physical therapy (PT) education programs are lacking. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine EFs in relationship to success in PT educational programs.

Cognitive Assessments for Patients With Neurological Conditions: A Preliminary Survey of Speech-Language Pathology Practice Patterns.

Purpose Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are often responsible for assessing cognitive disorders that affect communication for individuals with diagnosed or suspected acute or degenerative neurological conditions. However, consensus on appropriate assessment tools for various neurological disorders remains elusive. This preliminary survey was conducted to study current practices in the use of published and unpublished tools by SLPs when assessing cognitive-communication impairments across common neurologic conditions.

Neuroplasticity and aphasia treatments: new approaches for an old problem.

Given the profound impact of language impairment after stroke (aphasia), neuroplasticity research is garnering considerable attention as means for eventually improving aphasia treatments and how they are delivered. Functional and structural neuroimaging studies indicate that aphasia treatments can recruit both residual and new neural mechanisms to improve language function and that neuroimaging modalities may hold promise in predicting treatment outcome. In relatively small clinical trials, both non-invasive brain stimulation and behavioural manipulations targeting activation or suppression of specific cortices can improve aphasia treatment outcomes.

Quality Appraisal of Systematic Reviews for Behavioral Treatments of Attention Disorders in Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: This review appraised the quality of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) to summarize research on behavioral interventions for attention disorders in persons with traumatic brain injury.

Methods: A search of 7 databases revealed 15 MAs/SRs reporting outcomes for attention treatments in traumatic brain injury. Two examiners independently coded the quality of reviews with the Critical Appraisal of Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis and the Evidence in Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systematic Review Scale.

Critical appraisal of systematic reviews of executive function treatments in TBI.

Objective: To appraise the quality of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) that summarize the treatment literature for executive function (EF) impairments following traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: We used five data sources (PubMed; PsycINFO; ANCDS.org; Cochrane Collaboration; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Compendium; Psychological Database for Brain Impairment Treatment Efficacy) and identified 19 reviews that met eligibility criteria (adults with TBI; behavioural treatments for EF impairments; no pharmacologic treatments).

Communication Partner Training in Aphasia: An Updated Systematic Review.

Objectives: To update a previous systematic review describing the effect of communication partner training on individuals with aphasia and their communication partners, with clinical questions addressing effects of partner training on language, communication activity/participation, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life.

Data Sources: Twelve electronic databases were searched using 23 search terms. References from relevant articles were hand searched.

An International Perspective on Quality of Life in Aphasia: A Survey of Clinician Views and Practices from Sixteen Countries.

Objective: To gain an insight into speech and language therapists' perspectives on and practices in quality of life in aphasia.

Participants And Methods: The International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics Aphasia Committee developed a survey questionnaire, which was delivered online, anonymously, through SurveyMonkey (November 2012 to April 2013) to clinicians working with people with aphasia in 16 countries across the world.

Results: A large number of speech and language therapists responded to the survey, with 19/21 questions answered by 385-579 participants.

Anomia treatment platform as behavioral engine for use in research on physiological adjuvants to neurorehabilitation.

The purpose of this study was to create a "behavioral treatment engine" for future use in research on physiological adjuvants in aphasia rehabilitation. We chose the behavioral target anomia, which is a feature displayed by many persons who have aphasia. Further, we wished to saturate the treatment approach with many strategies and cues that have been empirically reported to have a positive influence on aphasia outcome, with the goal being to optimize the potential for positive response in most participants.

Effects of noise and audiovisual cues on speech processing in adults with and without ADHD.

Objective: This study examined the interplay among internal (e.g. attention, working memory abilities) and external (e.

Systematic review of communication partner training in aphasia: methodological quality.

Twenty-three studies identified from a previous systematic review examining the effects of communication partner training on persons with aphasia and their communication partners were evaluated for methodological quality. Two reviewers rated the studies on defined methodological quality criteria relevant to each study design. There were 11 group studies, seven single-subject participant design studies, and five qualitative studies.

Psychosocial treatments for ADHD: a systematic appraisal of the evidence.

Objective: Children with learning disabilities often experience comorbid ADHD, impacting on the effectiveness of interventions for those children. In addition to pharmacologic intervention, clinicians and educators employ a variety of psychosocial methods to address the behavioral and social issues that arise in children with ADHD, including those with co-occurring learning disabilities. Numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been conducted examining treatment studies using psychosocial interventions for children with ADHD.

A comparison of intention and pantomime gesture treatment for noun retrieval in people with aphasia.

Purpose: The effects of intention gesture treatment (IGT) and pantomime gesture treatment (PGT) on word retrieval were compared in people with aphasia.

Method: Four individuals with aphasia and word retrieval impairments subsequent to left-hemisphere stroke participated in a single-participant crossover treatment design. Each participant viewed target nouns on a computer screen in 2 counterbalanced training phases.

Contrasting effects of errorless naming treatment and gestural facilitation for word retrieval in aphasia.

We compared the effects of two treatments for aphasic word retrieval impairments, errorless naming treatment (ENT) and gestural facilitation of naming (GES), within the same individuals, anticipating that the use of gesture would enhance the effect of treatment over errorless treatment alone. In addition to picture naming, we evaluated results for other outcome measures that were largely untested in earlier ENT studies. In a single participant crossover treatment design, we examined the effects of ENT and GES in eight individuals with stroke-induced aphasia and word retrieval impairments (three semantic anomia, five phonological anomia) in counterbalanced phases across participants.

Intensity of aphasia therapy: evidence and efficacy.

Determining the optimal amount and intensity of treatment is essential to the design and implementation of any treatment program for aphasia. A growing body of evidence, both behavioral and biological, suggests that intensive therapy positively impacts outcomes. We update a systematic review of treatment studies that directly compares conditions of higher and lower intensity treatment for aphasia.

Communication partner training in aphasia: a systematic review.

Objectives: To describe the effects of communication partner training on persons with aphasia and their communication partners. Specifically the systematic review addressed 3 clinical questions regarding the impact of partner training on language, communication activity and participation, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life for adults with aphasia and their communication partners.

Data Sources: Twenty-three terms were used to search 12 electronic databases (eg, PubMed, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PsychArticles, CSA Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index [Web of Science], SUMSearch, TRIP, EMBASE, REHABDATA, National Library for Health, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) and the journal "Aphasiology.

Sensory-spatial transformations in the left posterior parietal cortex may contribute to reach timing.

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) contains viewer-centered spatial maps important for reaching movements. It is known that spatial reaching deficits emerge when this region is damaged, yet less is known about temporal deficits that may also emerge because of a failure in sensory-spatial transformations. This work introduces a new geometric measure to quantify multimodal sensory transformation and integration deficits affecting the tempo of reaching trajectories that are induced by injury to the left PPC.

Perceived roles and collaboration between neuropsychologists and speech-language pathologists in rehabilitation.

The purpose of the current study was to determine perceptions of neuropsychologists (NPs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) regarding each other's roles in the rehabilitation setting, and to assess the type and extent of collaborations. Participants were 311 SLPs and 77 NPs working in a rehabilitation setting. Results indicated a great deal of overlap between the roles of SLPs and NPs.

Lesion characteristics related to treatment improvement in object and action naming for patients with chronic aphasia.

Unlabelled: Few studies have examined the relationship between degree of lesion in various locations and improvement during treatment in stroke patients with chronic aphasia. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether the degree of lesion in specific brain regions was related to magnitude of improvement over the course of object and action naming treatments.

Participants And Methods: Fifteen left hemisphere stroke patients with aphasia participated in treatments for object and/or action naming.