Anomia in left hemisphere stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease - a comparative study.

Purpose: To explore quantitative and qualitative features of anomia in participants with left-hemisphere stroke, Parkinson's disease, or multiple sclerosis.

Materials And Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study compares signs of anomia within and across participants ( = 87), divided into four groups; moderate to severe anomia after stroke (MSAS,  = 19), mild anomia after stroke (MAS,  = 22), PD ( = 19) and MS ( = 27). Aspects analysed include naming accuracy and speed, the nature of incorrect responses, semantic and phonemic verbal fluency, information content in re-telling, and the relationship between test results and self-reports on word-finding difficulties and communicative participation.

Eye Movements during Reading and their Relationship to Reading Assessment Outcomes in Swedish Elementary School Children.

The characteristics of children's eye movements during reading change as they gradually become better readers. However, few eye tracking studies have investigated children's reading and reading development and little is known about the relationship between reading- related eye movement measures and reading assessment outcomes. We recorded and analyzed three basic eye movement measures in an ecologically valid eye-tracking set-up.

Longitudinal changes in functional connectivity in speech motor networks in apraxia of speech after stroke.

Objective: The cerebral substrates of apraxia of speech (AOS) recovery remain unclear. Resting state fMRI post stroke can inform on altered functional connectivity (FC) within cortical language networks. Some initial studies report reduced FC between bilateral premotor cortices in patients with AOS, with lowest FC in patients with the most severe AOS.

Naming vs. non-naming treatment in aphasia in a group setting-A randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Anomia affects numerous persons with aphasia. Treatment effects of anomia group therapy have been reported, but the evidence is not comprehensive. This study aimed to explore treatment effects of a naming treatment compared with a non-naming treatment delivered in a group setting.

Speech feature profiles in Swedish 5-year-olds with speech sound disorder related to suspected childhood apraxia of speech or cleft palate.

To study the occurrence of speech features commonly associated with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) in Swedish children with suspected CAS (sCAS) or Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) related to Cleft Palate and/or Lip (CP ± L). Thirty-four children (4.10-5.

Recovery of Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia in Patients With Hand Motor Impairment After Stroke.

Aphasia and apraxia of speech (AOS) after stroke frequently co-occur with a hand motor impairment but few studies have investigated stroke recovery across motor and speech-language domains. In this study, we set out to test the shared recovery hypothesis. We aimed to (1) describe the prevalence of AOS and aphasia in subacute stroke patients with a hand motor impairment and (2) to compare recovery across speech-language and hand motor domains.

Intra- and Interjudge Reliability of the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale in Early Stroke Patients.

Purpose: There is a recognized need for a reliable assessment instrument for apraxia of speech (AOS) diagnosis for post stroke patients. In 2014, Strand and colleagues reported high to excellent intra- and interjudge reliability of the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale (ASRS) in neurodegenerative speech and language disorders. Excellent interjudge reliability of the ASRS total score has also recently been reported in another study of individuals with chronic AOS after stroke, where the ratings were carried out by two experienced researchers not involved in the development of the instrument.

A prospective study for evaluation of structural and clinical validity of the Eating Assessment Tool.

Background: The Eating Assessment Tool is a self-rating questionnaire developed to assess symptom severity and treatment efficacy in swallowing disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the structural validity of the Eating Assessment Tool and whether individual item scores differed between dysphagia secondary to neurological and structural/esophageal disorders, respectively.

Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional questionnaire study.

High-level language outcomes three and twelve months after awake surgery in low grade glioma and cavernoma patients.

Objective: Knowledge about the long-term outcome of high-level language ability in awake surgery patients with low-grade gliomas or cavernomas in language eloquent regions is limited, particularly regarding subtle changes in high-level language abilities.

Patients And Methods: The study group consisted of 27 patients with LGG or cavernoma which involved language eloquent regions in the left hemisphere. A comprehensive assessment battery was used to target subtle changes in overall high-level language ability as well as in language sub skills.

Prognostic Value of a Test of Central Auditory Function in Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia.

Background/objective: It has been suggested that central auditory processing dysfunction might precede the development of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Dichotic Digits Test (DDT) has been proposed as a test of central auditory function. Our objective was to evaluate the predictive capacity of the DDT in conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia.

Towards an Integrated Curriculum in a Speech and Language Pathology Education Programme: Development and Constituents' Initial Responses.

Background: A traditional curricular structure may challenge integration between foundational and clinical sciences in speech and language pathology (SLP) education. This project aimed to increase curriculum integration at a Swedish SLP education programme.

Methods: Learning outcomes in the existent curriculum were copied from their original courses and re-structured with reference to vertical tracks, in order to address them within and across years of study.

A Longitudinal Study of Peripheral and Central Auditory Function in Alzheimer's Disease and in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Background/aim: Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) might precede the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A method of evaluating CAPD is the dichotic digits test (DDT). The aim was to address this in a longitudinal setting.

Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test: Norms, Clinical Relevance and the Impact of Saliva Secretion.

Screening tests can be performed to identify stroke patients who require further assessment of swallowing function. The Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST) is a screening test during which the patient is asked to swallow saliva as many times as possible for 30 s, while deglutition is counted through palpation of the larynx. This study aimed to establish normative values for three age groups of non-patients (total N = 120) on RSST.

Validation of the Swedish translation of eating assessment tool (S-EAT-10).

Conclusion The Swedish Eating Assessment Tool (S-EAT-10) is a reliable and valid self-administered tool in assessment of dysphagia in adult Swedish patients with high internal consistency, reliability, and discriminative validity. The normative data show that a score of 3 or more is abnormal. S-EAT-10 is recommended to be used in preliminary diagnostics of dysphagia.

The association between childhood autistic traits and adolescent psychotic experiences is explained by general neuropsychiatric problems.

Studies suggest associations between childhood autistic traits and adolescent psychotic experiences. However, recent research suggests that a general neuropsychiatric problems factor predicts adverse outcomes better than specific diagnostic entities. To examine if the alleged association between autistic traits and psychotic experiences could rather be explained by a general neuropsychiatric problems factor comprising symptoms of ADHD, tic disorder, developmental coordination disorder, and learning disorder, we conducted a prospective cohort study based on the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden.

Convergent and diagnostic validity of STAVUX, a word and pseudoword spelling test for adults.

Few comprehensive spelling tests are available in Swedish, and none have been validated in adults with reading and writing disorders. The recently developed STAVUX test includes word and pseudoword spelling subtests with high internal consistency and adult norms stratified by education. This study evaluated the convergent and diagnostic validity of STAVUX in adults with dyslexia.

The association between Darier disease, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia revisited: a population-based family study.

Objectives: Darier disease is an autosomal dominant skin disorder caused by mutations in the ATPase, Ca++ transporting, cardiac muscle, slow twitch 2 (ATP2A2) gene and previously reported to cosegregate with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in occasional pedigrees. It is, however, unknown whether these associations exist also in the general population, and the objective of this study was to examine this question.

Methods: We compared a national sample of individuals with Darier disease and their first-degree relatives with matched unexposed individuals from the general population and their first-degree relatives, respectively.

Memory factors in Rey AVLT: Implications for early staging of cognitive decline.

Supraspan verbal list learning is widely used to assess dementia and related cognitive disorders where declarative memory deficits are a major clinical sign. While the overall learning rate is important for diagnosis, serial position patterns may give insight into more specific memory processes in patients with cognitive impairment. This study explored these patterns in a memory clinic clientele.

Shape analysis of the corpus callosum in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration subtypes.

Morphology of the corpus callosum is a useful biomarker of neuronal loss, as different patterns of cortical atrophy help to distinguish between dementias such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). We used a sophisticated morphometric analysis of the corpus callosum in FTLD subtypes including frontotemporal dementia (FTD), semantic dementia (SD), and progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA), and compared them to AD patients and 27 matched controls. FTLD patient subgroups diverged in their callosal morphology profiles, with FTD patients showing marked widespread differences, PNFA patients with differences largely in the anterior half of the callosum, and SD patients differences in a small segment of the genu.

Late reaction times identify MCI.

A group of 172 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and 79 healthy control participants (HC) were tested on simple reaction time (SRT). There was a significant difference between MCI and HC in mean SRT. The test could be partitioned into five segments of 16 trials each, but RT's were not always available for each partition.

Is the subcallosal medial prefrontal cortex a common site of atrophy in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration?

Regions affected late in neurodegenerative disease are thought to be anatomically connected to regions affected earlier. The subcallosal medial prefrontal cortex (SMPC) has connections with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and hippocampus (HC), which are regions that may become atrophic in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We hypothesized that the SMPC is a common site of frontal atrophy in the FTLD subtypes and in AD.

Hippocampal shape analysis in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration subtypes.

Hippocampal pathology is central to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other forms of dementia such as frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Autopsy studies have shown that certain hippocampal subfields are more vulnerable than others to AD and FTLD pathology, in particular the subiculum and cornu ammonis 1 (CA1). We conducted shape analysis of hippocampi segmented from structural T1 MRI images on clinically diagnosed dementia patients and controls.

Adult norms and test-retest reliability for the Months Backward test: durational and response accuracy measures.

The aim of this study was to present adult norms and to estimate the test-retest reliability for durational and response accuracy measures on the word sequence production test, Months Backward. A total of 216 neurologically intact adults (aged 18-88) stratified by sex, age, and education took the test at maximum speed. Errors and speech duration were recorded.

Shape analysis of the neostriatum in subtypes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration: neuroanatomically significant regional morphologic change.

Frontostriatal circuit mediated cognitive dysfunction has been implicated in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and may differ across subtypes of FTLD. We manually segmented the neostriatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) in FTLD subtypes: behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, FTD, n=12; semantic dementia, SD, n=13; and progressive non-fluent aphasia, PNFA, n=9); in comparison with controls (n=27). Diagnoses were based on international consensus criteria.