Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery: evidence of criterion validity from patients with aphasia.

Background: The Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery - Brazilian version (MTL-BR) provides a general description of language processing and related components in adults with brain injury.

Objective: The present study aimed at verifying the criterion-related validity of the Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery - Brazilian version (MTL-BR) by assessing its ability to discriminate between individuals with unilateral brain damage with and without aphasia.

Methods: The investigation was carried out in a Brazilian community-based sample of 104 adults, divided into four groups: 26 participants with left hemisphere damage (LHD) with aphasia, 25 participants with right hemisphere damage (RHD), 28 with LHD non-aphasic, and 25 healthy adults.

Results: There were significant differences between patients with aphasia and the other groups on most total and subtotal scores on MTL-BR tasks.

Conclusions: The results showed strong criterion-related validity evidence for the MTL-BR Battery, and provided important information regarding hemispheric specialization and interhemispheric cooperation. Future research is required to search for additional evidence of sensitivity, specificity and validity of the MTL-BR in samples with different types of aphasia and degrees of language impairment.