The Coaching for Cognition in Alzheimer's (COCOA) trial: Study design.

Unlabelled: Comprehensive treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) requires not only pharmacologic treatment but also management of existing medical conditions and lifestyle modifications including diet, cognitive training, and exercise. We present the design and methodology for the Coaching for Cognition in Alzheimer's (COCOA) trial. AD and other dementias result from the interplay of multiple interacting dysfunctional biological systems.

Two cortical mechanisms support the integration of visual and auditory speech: a hypothesis and preliminary data.

Visual speech (lip-reading) influences the perception of heard speech. The literature suggests at least two possible mechanisms for this influence: "direct" sensory-sensory interaction, whereby sensory signals from auditory and visual modalities are integrated directly, likely in the superior temporal sulcus, and "indirect" sensory-motor interaction, whereby visual speech is first mapped onto motor-speech representations in the frontal lobe, which in turn influences sensory perception via sensory-motor integration networks. We hypothesize that both mechanisms exist, and further that previous demonstrations of lip-reading functional activations in Broca's region and the posterior planum temporale reflect the sensory-motor mechanism.

Who's the "expert"? Amateur and professional judgment of aphasic communication.

Partners of aphasie individuals knew them before they suffered a stroke and have ample opportunity to observe their everyday functional communication. Therefore, at first glance, partners seem to be potentially valid judges of disability assessment. However, the literature depicts the partner mainly as a person in need of support.