Visual Search for Feature and Conjunction Targets with an Attention Deficit

Brain-damaged subjects who had previously been identified as suffering from a visual attention deficit for contralesional stimulation were tested on a series of visual search tasks. The experiments examined the hypothesis that the processing of single features is preattentive but that feature integration, necessary for the correct perception of conjunctions of features, requires attention (Treisman & Gelade, 1980 Treisman & Sato, 1990). Subjects searched for a feature target (orientation or color) or for a conjunction target (orientation and color) in unilateral displays in which the number of items presented was variable. Ocular fixation was controlled so that trials on which eye movements occurred were cancelled. While brain-damaged subjects with a visual attention disorder (VAD subjects) performed similarly to normal controls in feature search tasks, they showed a marked deficit in conjunction search. Specifically, VAD subjects exhibited an important reduction of their serial search rates for a conjunction target with contralesional displays. In support of Treisman's feature integration theory, a visual attention deficit leads to a marked impairment in feature integration whereas it does not appear to affect feature encoding.Psycholog

Multifactorial approaches to study bilingualism in the aging population: Past, present, future

A better understanding and more reliable classification of bilinguals has been progressively achieved through the fine-tuning methodology and simultaneously optimizing the measurement tools. However, the current understanding is far from generalization to a larger population varying in different measures of bilingualism—L2 Age of acquisition (L2 AOA), L2 usage and exposure, and L2 proficiency. More recent studies have highlighted the importance of modeling bilingualism as a continuous variable. An in-depth look at the role of bilingualism, comparing groups, may be considered a reductionist approach, i.e., grouping based on one measure of bilingualism (e.g., L2 AOA) may not account for variability in other measures of bilingualism (L2 exposure, L2 use or L2 proficiency, amongst others) within and between groups. Similarly, a multifactorial dimension is associated with cognitive performance, where not all domains of cognition and subcomponents are equally influenced by bilingualism. In addition, socio-cultural and demographical factors may add another dimension to the impact of bilingualism on cognitive performance, especially in older adults. Nevertheless, not many studies have controlled or used the multiple socio-cultural and demographical factors as a covariate to understand the role of different aspects of bilingualism that may influence cognitive performance differently. Such an approach would fail to generalize the research findings to a larger group of bilinguals. In the present review paper, we illustrate that considering a multifactorial approach to different dimensions of bilingual study may lead to a better understanding of the role of bilingualism on cognitive performance. With the evolution of various fine-tuned methodological approaches, there is a greater need to study variability in bilingual profiles that can help generalize the result universally

Right Hemisphere and Verbal Communication: Conceptual, Methodological, and Clinical Issues

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Clinical Focus on Prosodic, Discursive and Pragmatic Treatment for Right Hemisphere Damaged Adults: What's Right?

Researchers and clinicians acknowledge today that the contribution of both cerebral hemispheres is necessary to a full and adequate verbal communication. Indeed, it is estimated that at least 50% of right brain damaged individuals display impairments of prosodic, discourse, pragmatics and/or lexical semantics dimensions of communication. Since the 1990's, researchers have focused on the description and the assessment of these impairments and it is only recently that authors have shown interest in planning specific intervention approaches. However, therapists in rehabilitation settings still have very few available tools. This review of recent literature demonstrates that, even though theoretical knowledge needs further methodological investigation, intervention guidelines can be identified to target right hemisphere damage communication impairments in clinical practice. These principles can be incorporated by speech and language pathologists, in a structured intervention framework, aiming at fully addressing prosodic, discursive and pragmatic components of communication

Traumatismo cranioencefálico: avaliação da ocorrência de heminegligência e de déficit atencional por tarefas de cancelamento

Hemineglect (HN) is a widely studied syndrome after unilateral lesions due to stroke. However, although there are some studies with HN rehabilitation of posttraumatic brain injury (TBI), there seems to be no published data about the prevalence of HN in TBI through cancellation tasks. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the occurrence of this syndrome and of attentional deficits in patients with TBI by means of the Bells Test and of a line cancellation task. The sample was comprised of 21 patients with TBI and 21 healthy controls matched by education, age and frequency of written language habits. There was a poorer performance of patients with TBI with a greater number of omissions on the left side and lower speed processing. In addition, suggestive signs of HN were found in 38 % of the sample of TBI patients. More research is needed to characterize clinical syndromes regarding the occurrence of HN after a TBI through the traditionally known cancellation paradigm.La heminegligencia (HN) es un síndrome ampliamenteestudiado después de lesiones unilaterales por accidentecerebral vascular. Sin embargo, a pesar de la existenciade algunos estudios en rehabilitación de HN después deltrauma craneoencefálico (TCE), no parece haber publicacionessobre la prevalencia de HN en TCE a partir detareas de cancelación. De esta forma, el objetivo de esteestudio fue caracterizar la ocurrencia de ese síndrome yde déficits atencionales en pacientes con TCE, a partirdel test de Cancelamento dos Sinos y de una tarea decancelación de líneas. Participaron 21 pacientes conTCE y 21 controles saludables pareados por escolaridad,edad y frecuencia de hábitos de lenguaje escrito. Seencontró un desempeño peor en los pacientes con TCE,con mayor número de omisiones a la izquierda y mayortiempo de ejecución. También se encontró que el 38 %de la población de TCE presentaba señales sugerentesde HN. Son necesarias más investigaciones para caracterizarlos síndromes de subcuadros clínicos de TCE enrelación con la ocurrencia de HN a partir del reconocidoparadigma de cancelaciónHeminegligência (HN) é uma síndrome vastamenteestudada após lesões unilaterais por acidente vascularcerebral. Entretanto, apesar de alguns estudos comreabilitação de HN pós-traumatismo cranioencefálico(TCE), não parece haver publicações sobre a prevalênciade HN em TCE a partir de tarefas de cancelamento.Dessa forma, o objetivo desse estudo foi caracterizar aocorrência dessa síndrome e de déficits atencionais empacientes com TCE a partir do Teste de Cancelamentodos Sinos e de uma tarefa de cancelamento de linhas.Participaram 21 pacientes com TCE e 21 controles saudáveisemparelhados por escolaridade, idade e frequênciade hábitos de linguagem escrita. Verificou-se um piordesempenho de pacientes com TCE com maior númerode omissões à esquerda menos direita e maior tempo deexecução. Encontrou-se, ainda, 38 % da amostra de TCEcom sinais sugestivos de HN. Mais investigações sãonecessárias para caracterizar síndromes de subquadrosclínicos de TCE quanto à ocorrência de HN a partir dojá reconhecido paradigma de cancelamento

Resting-state and vocabulary tasks distinctively inform on age-related differences in the functional brain connectome

Most of the current knowledge about age-related differences in brain neurofunctional organisation stems from neuroimaging studies using either a “resting state” paradigm, or cognitive tasks for which performance decreases with age. However, it remains to be known if comparable age-related differences are found when participants engage in cognitive activities for which performance is maintained with age, such as vocabulary knowledge tasks. A functional connectivity analysis was performed on 286 adults ranging from 18 to 80 years old, based on resting state or vocabulary tasks. Increases in connectivity of regions of the language network were observed during task completion. Conversely, only age-related decreases were observed during resting-state. While vocabulary accuracy increased with age, no interaction was found between functional connectivity, age and task accuracy or proxies of cognitive reserve, suggesting that older individuals typically benefits from semantic knowledge accumulated throughout one's life trajectory, without the need for compensatory mechanisms

Dupla dissociação entre o reconhecimento e a expressão da prosódia em pacientes com acidente cerebrovascular

Objetivo: Presentar el rendimiento de cuatro pacientes (1JB, 2NJ, 3MA y 4SQ) con lesiones isquémicas (ACV) del hemisferio derecho (HD) que muestran disociaciones dobles entre la capacidad para reconocer y expresar prosodia lingüística y emocional. Método: Se evaluó a los pacientes con cuatro pruebas de reconocimiento y producción de prosodia emocional y lingüística y se comparó el rendimiento contra un grupo control sano (n = 15). Se analizaron las disociaciones entre el reconocimiento y la producción con los criterios operacionalizados de Crawford y Garthwaite. Resultados: Respecto de la prosodia emocional, la paciente 3MA mostró alteración del reconocimiento pero no de la expresión, mientras que el paciente 4SQ presentó el patrón opuesto. En cuanto a la prosodia lingüística, el paciente 1JB mostró alteración del reconocimiento pero no de la expresión, mientras que el paciente 2NJ tuvo el patrón inverso. Discusión: Los patrones conjuntos de los pacientes evidencian disociaciones dobles entre la capacidad de reconocer y expresar prosodia emocional y lingüística en pacientes con ACV del HD.Objective: We present four cases of patients (1JB, 2NJ, 3MA and 4SQ) with ischemic strokes of the right hemisphere (HD) with dissociations between the ability to recognize and express prosody. Method: The patients were evaluated with four tests of recognition and expression of emotional and linguistic prosody and the performance was compared against a healthy control group (n = 15). The dissociations between recognition and expression were analyzed with the operationalized Crawford and Garthwaite criteria. Results: Regarding the emotional prosody, the patient 3MA presented alteration in the recognition but not in the expression, while the patient 4SQ presented the opposite pattern. On the other hand, in relation to linguistic prosody, patient 1JB had altered the recognition but not the expression, while patient 2NJ had the inverse pattern. Discussion: Both patterns of the patients showed double dissociations between the ability to recognize and express emotional and linguistic prosody in patients with ischemic stroke of the right hemisphere.Objetivo: Apresentar o rendimento de quatro pacientes (1JB, 2NJ, 3MA e 4 SQ) com lesões isquêmicas (ACV) do hemisfério direito (HD) com dissociações duplas entre a capacidade de reconhecer e expressar prosódia linguística e emocional. Método: Os pacientes foram avaliados com quatro provas de reconhecimento e produção de prosódia emocional e linguística. Os resultados de rendimento foram comparados com os de um grupo de controle saudável (n=15). Com os critérios operacionalizados de Crawford e Garthwaite realizou-se a análise das dissociações entre o reconhecimento e a produção. Resultados: Em relação com a prosódia emocional, o paciente 3MA demonstrou alteração do reconhecimento, mas não da expressão, enquanto ocorreu o padrão oposto no paciente 4SQ. No diz respeito a prosódia linguística, o paciente 1JB apresentou alteração do reconhecimento, porém não da expressão, o padrão inverso foi encontrado no paciente 2NJ. Analise de Resultados: Os padrões conjuntos dos pacientes evidenciam dissociações duplas entre a capacidade de reconhecer e expressar prosódia emocional e linguística em pacientes om ACV do HD.Fil: Difalcis, Micaela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras; ArgentinaFil: Leiva, Samanta Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento; ArgentinaFil: Micciuli, Andrea. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; ArgentinaFil: Abusamra, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Ferreres, Aldo Rodolfo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "Eva Perón"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Yves, Joanette. University of Montreal; Canadá. Centre de Recherche Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montreal; Canad

Processo de adaptação da bateria Montreal de avaliação da comunicação: bateria MAC - ao português brasileiro

O presente estudo tem por objetivo apresentar a adaptação do "Protocole Montréal d'Évaluation de la Communication - Protocole MEC" (Bateria Montreal de Avaliação da Comunicação - Bateria MAC) ao Português Brasileiro. Esta bateria canadense foi construída para avaliar quatro processamentos comunicativos de ativação do hemisfério direito: discursivo, pragmático-inferencial, léxico-semântico e prosódico. Participaram do estudo seis tradutores, três juízes especialistas, 54 juízes não-especialistas e 16 participantes dos estudos piloto. Os procedimentos gerais promovidos foram tradução, análise de critérios psicolingüísticos por juízes e aplicação do instrumento em estudos piloto. As tarefas Interpretação de metáforas, Discurso narrativo e Julgamento semântico exigiram um processo de adaptação mais complexo e rigoroso. Com base em critérios psicolingüísticos, realizaram-se algumas mudanças nos estímulos, com a finalidade principal de manutenção do objetivo de cada tarefa do instrumento original. Este instrumento neuropsicológico pode ser uma ferramenta de avaliação da comunicação de indivíduos com lesão de hemisfério direito, lesão frontal, traumatismo crânio-encefálico e demência.This research aims to present the adaptation of the "Protocole Montréal d'Évaluation de la Communication - Protocole MEC" (Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery - MAC Battery) to Brazilian Portuguese, in accordance with psycholinguistics criteria. MAC Battery is a Canadian instrument constructed to evaluate right hemisphere communicative and linguistic abilities, considering four processing domains: discoursive, pragmatic-inferential, lexical-semantic and prosodic. The participants were six translators, three specialist judges, 54 non-specialist judges and 16 subjects from pilot studies. Adaptation procedures included translation, judge analysis of psycholinguistics criteria and two pilot tests. Some tasks required a harder stimulus adaptation process - Metaphor interpretation, Narrative discourse and Semantic judgement - focusing a main finality: to keep each task's objective as idealized in the original instrument. This neuropsychological test can be used to evaluate communication abilities of patients with right brail damage, frontal lesion, traumatic brain injury and dementia