The role of variation in phonological and semantic working memory capacities in sentence comprehension: neural evidence from healthy and brain-damaged individuals.

Research on the role of working memory (WM) in language processing has typically focused on WM for phonological information. However, considerable behavioral evidence supports the existence of a separate semantic WM system that plays a greater role in language processing. We review the neural evidence that supports the distinction between phonological and semantic WM capacities and discuss how individual differences in these capacities relate to sentence processing.

The role of input vs. output phonological working memory in narrative production: Evidence from case series and case study approaches.

Separable input and output phonological working memory (WM) capacities have been proposed, with the input capacity supporting speech recognition and the output capacity supporting production. We examined the role of input vs. output phonological WM in narrative production, examining speech rate and pronoun ratio - two measures with prior evidence of a relation to phonological WM.

Contributions of semantic and phonological working memory to narrative language independent of single word production: Evidence from acute stroke.

Neuropsychological case studies have provided evidence that individuals with semantic, but not phonological, working memory (WM) deficits have difficulty producing phrases containing several content words. These findings supported the claim of a phrasal scope of planning at the grammatical formulation stage of production, where semantic WM supports the maintenance of lexical-semantic representations as they are inserted into slots in phrasal constituents. Recent narrative production results for individuals at the acute stage of stroke supported the role for semantic WM in phrasal elaboration while suggesting a role for phonological WM at a subsequent phonological encoding stage in supporting fluent, rapid speech.

Semantic Working Memory Predicts Sentence Comprehension Performance: A Case Series Approach.

Sentence comprehension involves maintaining and continuously integrating linguistic information and, thus, makes demands on working memory (WM). Past research has demonstrated that semantic WM, but not phonological WM, is critical for integrating word meanings across some distance and resolving semantic interference in sentence comprehension. Here, we examined the relation between phonological and semantic WM and the comprehension of center-embedded relative clause sentences, often argued to make heavy demands on WM.

Applying a Model of Stakeholder Engagement to a Pragmatic Trial for People With Mental Disorders.

Stakeholder engagement is an important component of pragmatic trials seeking to improve mental health care in real-world settings. Models of stakeholder engagement outline the benefits of involving a diverse array of partners in all phases of research. This column describes a stakeholder engagement plan for a comparative-effectiveness pragmatic trial of a care navigator program to increase linkage between emergency departments and outpatient treatment at community mental health centers.