Unveiling the hemispheric specialization of language: Organization and neuroplasticity.

The advancements in understanding hemispheric specialization of language (HSL) have been following two primary avenues: the development of neuroimaging techniques and the study of its reorganizations in patients with various neuropathologic conditions. Hence, the objectives of this chapter are twofold. First, to provide an overview of the key neuroimaging techniques employed to investigate HSL, along with the notable findings derived from them in the healthy population.

Multifactorial interplay on language recovery following left-hemispheric stroke: A retrospective study.

Understanding the relative contribution of various factors influencing initial severity of aphasia and recovery after a stroke is essential for optimising neurorehabilitation programmes. We investigated how various significant sociodemographic, cognitive, clinical, stroke-related and rehabilitation-related factors modulate aphasia severity and language recovery following left-hemispheric stroke. Employing an innovative method, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 96 stroke participants to explore the combined impact of these factors.

Cognitive flexibility in autism: How task predictability and sex influence performances.

While cognitive flexibility challenges are frequently reported in autistic individuals, inconsistencies in the findings prompt further investigation into the factors influencing this flexibility. We suggest that unique aspects of the predictive brain in autistic individuals might contribute to these challenges, potentially varying by sex. Our study aimed to test these hypotheses by examining cognitive flexibility under different predictability conditions in a sample including a similar number of males and females.

Understanding cognitive flexibility in emotional evaluation in autistic males and females: the social context matters.

Background: Autistic individuals often have difficulty flexibly adjusting their behavior. However, laboratory experiments have yielded inconsistent results, potentially due to various influencing factors, which need to be examined in detail. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that the social content of stimuli could play a specific role in some of the flexibility challenges faced by autistic individuals.

Midlife dynamics of white matter architecture in lexical production.

We aimed to examine the white matter changes associated with lexical production difficulties, beginning in midlife with increased naming latencies. To delay lexical production decline, middle-aged adults may rely on domain-general and language-specific compensatory mechanisms proposed by the LARA model (Lexical Access and Retrieval in Aging). However, the white matter changes supporting these mechanisms remains largely unknown.