Assessment of linguistic and verbal short-term memory components of language abilities in aphasia.

Some current models of aphasia emphasize a role of short-term memory in the processing of language and propose that the language impairment in aphasia involves impairment to cognitive processes that activate and maintain representations of words over the time-period needed to support single word and multiple word tasks, including verbal span tasks. This paper reports normative data from 39 people with aphasia and 16 age-matched neurotypical controls on a test battery for aphasia that assesses effects of increased short-term/working memory load on word and sentence processing as well as effects of linguistic variations on verbal short-term memory abilities Two concepts are discussed that capture the unique potential of this test battery for research and clinical practice: specificity of diagnosis and sensitivity to all degrees of aphasia severity, including mild aphasia. An analysis is included that shows how the performance of individuals with mild aphasia who achieve normal level of performance on the Western Aphasia Battery (Kertesz, 2006) show a decline in a temporal delay condition that is greater than performance of control participants.

Effects of semantic context on access to words of low imageability in deep-phonological dysphasia: a treatment case study.

Background: Deep dysphasia is a relatively rare subcategory of aphasia, characterised by word repetition impairment and a profound auditory-verbal short-term memory (STM) limitation. Repetition of words is better than nonwords (lexicality effect) and better for high-image than low-image words (imageability effect). Another related language impairment profile is phonological dysphasia, which includes all of the characteristics of deep dysphasia except for the occurrence of semantic errors in single word repetition.

Short-Term Memory and Aphasia: From Theory to Treatment.

This article reviews existing research on the interactions between verbal short-term memory and language processing impairments in aphasia. Theoretical models of short-term memory are reviewed, starting with a model assuming a separation between short-term memory and language, and progressing to models that view verbal short-term memory as a cognitive requirement of language processing. The review highlights a verbal short-term memory model derived from an interactive activation model of word retrieval.

Using Virtual Technology to Promote Functional Communication in Aphasia: Preliminary Evidence From Interactive Dialogues With Human and Virtual Clinicians.

Purpose: We investigated the feasibility of using a virtual clinician (VC) to promote functional communication abilities of persons with aphasia (PWAs). We aimed to determine whether the quantity and quality of verbal output in dialogues with a VC would be the same or greater than those with a human clinician (HC).

Method: Four PWAs practiced dialogues for 2 sessions each with a HC and VC.

Effects of working memory load on processing of sounds and meanings of words in aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Language performance in aphasia can vary depending on several variables such as stimulus characteristics and task demands. This study focuses on the degree of verbal working memory (WM) load inherent in the language task and how this variable affects language performance by individuals with aphasia. AIMS: The first aim was to identify the effects of increased verbal WM load on the performance of judgments of semantic similarity (synonymy) and phonological similarity (rhyming).

Lexicality Effects in Word and Nonword Recall of Semantic Dementia and Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia.

Background: Verbal working memory is an essential component of many language functions, including sentence comprehension and word learning. As such, working memory has emerged as a domain of intense research interest both in aphasiology and in the broader field of cognitive neuroscience. The integrity of verbal working memory encoding relies on a fluid interaction between semantic and phonological processes.

Remediation of language processing in aphasia: Improving activation and maintenance of linguistic representations in (verbal) short-term memory.

BACKGROUND: Verbal short-term memory (STM) impairments are invariably present in aphasia. Word processing involves a minimal form of verbal STM, i.e.

Effects of two lexical retrieval cueing treatments on action naming in aphasia.

The effects of two cueing treatments, Phonological Cueing Treatment (PCT) and Semantic Cueing Treatment (SCT), were examined with three chronic speakers with aphasia. The effects of treatment on action naming were measured with the use of single-subject experimental designs. The participants had received PCT and SCT to improve object naming in a previous investigation and had responded positively to both treatments.