Speech Intelligibility Outcomes Associated With Treatment for Acquired Apraxia of Speech: Magnitude of Change and Stability of Measurement.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to examine single-word speech intelligibility outcomes following sound production treatment in a group of 22 speakers with chronic acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) and aphasia. Also, the stability of repeated posttreatment intelligibility measures was examined for two scoring methods.

Method: The Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech was administered twice to each participant at pretreatment and twice at 8 weeks posttreatment.

Stability Over Time of Word Syllable Duration for Speakers With Acquired Apraxia of Speech.

Purpose: Neurogenic speech and language disorders-such as acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) and aphasia with phonemic paraphasia (APP)-are often misdiagnosed due to similarities in clinical presentation. Word syllable duration (WSD)-a measure of average syllable length in multisyllabic words-serves as a proxy for speech rate, which is an important and arguably more objective clinical characteristic of AOS and APP. This study reports stability of WSD over time for speakers with AOS (and aphasia).

White Matter Hyperintensities as a Predictor of Aphasia Recovery.

Objective: To examine the relation between baseline white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and change in naming, content production, and efficiency after treatment in subacute aphasia. We hypothesized that more severe baseline WMH would result in less improvement with treatment.

Design: Retrospective analysis of a cohort from a double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Resting-State Connectivity in Acute and Subacute Poststroke Aphasia: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Pilot Study.

Understanding how brain function and language skills change during early (acute and subacute) stroke phases is critical for maximizing patient recovery, yet functional neuroimaging studies of early aphasia are scarce. In this pilot study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate how resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in early aphasia differs from neurologically healthy adults and is related to language deficits. Twenty individuals with aphasia (12 acute and 8 subacute phase) and 15 healthy controls underwent rs-fNIRS imaging with a 46-channel montage centered over bilateral perisylvian language areas.

Location of Hyperintense Vessels on FLAIR Associated with the Location of Perfusion Deficits in PWI.

Perfusion imaging is preferred for identifying hypoperfusion in the management of acute ischemic stroke, but it is not always feasible/available. An alternative method for quantifying hypoperfusion, using FLAIR-hyperintense vessels (FHVs) in various vascular regions, has been proposed, with evidence of a statistical relationship with perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) deficits and behavior. However, additional validation is needed to confirm that areas of suspected hypoperfusion (per the location of FHVs) correspond to the location of perfusion deficits in PWI.

Reversing the Ruin: Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Restoration After Stroke.

Purpose Of Review: Stroke is a common cause of disability in aging adults. A given individual's needs after stroke vary as a function of the stroke extent and location. The purpose of this review was to discuss recent clinical investigations addressing rehabilitation of an array of overlapping functional domains.

No evidence of impediment by three common classes of prescription drugs to post-stroke aphasia recovery in a retrospective longitudinal sample.

A number of pharmaceuticals have been identified as potential adjuvants to speech language therapy following stroke, but it is also important to consider which pharmaceuticals may result in a less robust recovery. Here we examine whether post-stroke language recovery was meaningfully impeded by cholinergic, GABAergic, or dopaminergic medications patients received. Eighty participants with left hemisphere stroke were examined retrospectively to see whether the use of one of these three classes of medication prior to admission for acute stroke, during their inpatient stay, or at discharge was associated with differences in recovery on three common measures of language.

Hyperintense vessels on imaging account for neurological function independent of lesion volume in acute ischemic stroke.

In acute ischemic stroke, reported relationships between lesion metrics and behavior have largely focused on lesion volume and location. However, hypoperfusion has been shown to correlate with deficits in the acute stage. Hypoperfusion is typically identified using perfusion imaging in clinical settings, which requires contrast.

Vascular syndromes: Revisiting classification of poststroke aphasia.

Over 150 years have passed since the first formal description of aphasia associated with localized neurologic damage. In the years since that time, a significant amount of research has been conducted to identify/explain the locations and functions of the brain regions responsible for (or associated with) language as well as to describe the various types of aphasia resulting from injury to these locations. Many of these attempts to associate somewhat predictable patterns of language deficits with damage to specific structures have been confounded by atypical reports and considerable variability in either the behavioral presentation and/or structural damage that directly contradict/oppose some of the proposed theories.

Interrater Reliability and Concurrent Validity for the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale 3.0: Application With Persons With Acquired Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia.

Purpose This investigation was designed to provide interrater reliability data for the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale 3.0 (ASRS 3.0; Strand, Duffy, Clark, & Josephs, 2014 ).

Effect Size Benchmarks for Response Elaboration Training: A Meta-Analysis.

Purpose With a number of single-case experimental design studies reporting the effects of treatment for response (and modified response) elaboration training (RET/M-RET), it is important to consolidate data over multiple participants to allow comparison within/between individuals and across similar treatments. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of single-case experimental design studies of RET/M-RET and to determine effect size (ES) benchmarks to allow comparison to "group" data. Method Database and bibliographical searches identified 20 investigations of RET/M-RET.

Language Changes Following Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment.

Purpose: Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment (CAAST) is a newly developed treatment shown to increase production of accurate content in narrative discourse for persons with aphasia and apraxia of speech. The purpose of this post hoc study was to further describe lexical and morphosyntactic changes associated with changes in content production.

Method: Existing probe data from 8 persons with aphasia who had completed CAAST were used to complete analyses of morphosyntactic production, lexical diversity, and novelty of content.