Effects of inhibition on naming in aging = Efeitos da inibição na nomeação no envelhecimento

Os achados sobre a relação entre nomeação e inibição entre os idosos são limitados. Nós postulamos que o controle inibitório é crucial para a nomeação bem-sucedida e testamos seu papel em idosos, exagerando seus efeitos. Os participantes foram 215 idosos com idades entre 55-89 anos, categorizados como "bons" ou "pobres" nomeadores, com base em pontuações de nomeação. Através de um teste computadorizado de nomeação de imagens (SNT), induzimos intrusões. Determinamos então a distância entre a fonte da palavra intrusa e o item atual. O desempenho em testes neuropsicológicos tradicionais de inibição também foi avaliado. Os resultados revelaram que os mais nomeadores "pobres" tiveram mais intrusões no SNT do que os "bons", e suas intrusões permaneceram através de mais estímulos. Isso sugere que os nomeadores mais pobres experimentaram maiores dificuldades de inibição de recuperação do que os melhores nomeadores. O desempenho em testes neuropsicológicos de inibição também discriminou entre nomeadores melhores e mais pobres. Concluindo, a nomeação bem-sucedida entre os adultos mais velhos parece depender muito da manutenção de habilidades inibitória

Strengthening the semantic verb network in multilingual people with aphasia: within- and cross-language treatment effects

In multilingual people, semantic knowledge is predominantly shared across languages.Providing semantic-focused treatment to people with aphasia has been posited to strengthenconnectivity within association cortices that subserve semantic knowledge. In multilingual people, such treatment should result in within- and cross-language generalisation to all languages, although not equally. We investigated treatment effects in two multilingual participants with aphasia who received verb-based semantic treatment in two pre-stroke highlyproficient languages. We compared within- and cross-language generalisation patterns across languages, finding within- and cross-language generalisation after treatment in the less-impaired, pre-morbidly more-proficient first-acquired language (L1). This observation supports the theory that connectivity is greater between the lexicon of a pre-morbidly more-proficient L1 and the shared semantic system than the lexicon of a pre-morbidly less-proficient later-acquired language. Our findings of within- and cross-language generalisation patterns could also be explained by both the Competing Mechanisms Theory and the theory of lingering suppression

Executive Control Mechanisms in Bilingualism: Beyond Speed of Processing

The question of interest in this study was whether bilingual individuals show superior executive control compared to monolingual participants. Findings are mixed, with studies showing advantage, disadvantage, or no difference between bilingual and monolingual speakers. In this study, we used different experimental conditions to examine implicit learning, resistance to interference, monitoring, and switching, independently. In addition, we matched our monolingual and bilingual participants on baseline response time. Bilingual participants demonstrated faster implicit learning, greater resistance to interference, more efficient switching compared to monolingual participants. The groups did not differ in monitoring. In conclusion, depending on task complexity and on the target executive control component, there are different patterns of bilingual advantage, beyond the global faster processing speed documented in previous studies. Bilingual young adults showed more efficient adjustments of the cognitive system in response to changes in task demands

Demographic Effects on Longitudinal Semantic Processing, Working Memory, and Cognitive Speed

OBJECTIVES To better understand and compare effects of aging and education across domains of language and cognition, we investigated whether 1) these domains show different associations with age and education, 2) these domains show similar patterns of age-related change over time, and 3) education moderates the rate of decline in these domains. METHODS We analyzed data from 306 older adults aged 55-85 at baseline of whom 116 returned for follow-up 4-8 years later. An exploratory factor analysis identified domains of language and cognition across a range of tasks. A confirmatory factor analysis analyzed cross-sectional associations of age and education with these domains. Subsequently, mixed linear models analyzed longitudinal change as a function of age and moderation by education. RESULTS Two language domains, i.e., semantic control and semantic memory efficiency, and two cognitive domains, i.e., working memory and cognitive speed, were identified. Older age negatively affected all domains, but semantic memory efficiency and higher education positively affected all domains except cognitive speed at baseline. In language domains, a steeper age-related decline was observed after age 73-74 compared to younger ages, while cognition declined linearly with age. Greater educational attainment did not protect the rate of decline over time in any domain. DISCUSSION Separate domains show varying effects of age and education at baseline, language versus cognitive domains show dissimilar patterns of age-related change over time, and education does not moderate the rate of decline in these domains. These findings broaden our understanding of age effects on cognitive and language abilities by placing observed age differences in context.Objectives: To better understand and compare effects of aging and education across domains of language and cognition, we investigated whether (a) these domains show different associations with age and education, (b) these do- mains show similar patterns of age-related change over time, and (c) education moderates the rate of decline in these domains. Method: We analyzed data from 306 older adults aged 55–85 at baseline of whom 116 returned for follow-up 4–8 years later. An exploratory factor analysis identified domains of language and cognition across a range of tasks. A confirmatory factor analysis analyzed cross-sectional associations of age and education with these domains. Subsequently, mixed linear models analyzed longitudinal change as a function of age and moderation by education. Results: We identified 2 language domains, that is, semantic control and semantic memory efficiency, and 2 cognitive domains, that is, working memory and cognitive speed. Older age negatively affected all domains except semantic memory efficiency, and higher education positively affected all domains except cognitive speed at baseline. In language domains, a steeper age-related decline was observed after age 73–74 compared to younger ages, while cognition declined linearly with age. Greater educational attainment did not protect the rate of decline over time in any domain. Discussion: Separate domains show varying effects of age and education at baseline, language versus cognitive domains show dissimilar patterns of age-related change over time, and education does not moderate the rate of decline in these domains. These findings broaden our understanding of age effects on cognitive and language abilities by placing observed age differences in context.Peer reviewe

Semantic and lexical features of words dissimilarly affected by non-fluent, logopenic, and semantic primary progressive aphasia

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of three psycholinguistic variables-lexical frequency, age of acquisition (AoA), and neighborhood density (ND)-on lexical-semantic processing in individuals with non-fluent (nfvPPA), logopenic (lvPPA), and semantic primary progressive aphasia (svPPA). Identifying the scope and independence of these features can provide valuable information about the organization of words in our mind and brain. METHOD: We administered a lexical decision task-with words carefully selected to permit distinguishing lexical frequency, AoA, and orthographic ND effects-to 41 individuals with PPA (13 nfvPPA, 14 lvPPA, 14 svPPA) and 25 controls. RESULTS: Of the psycholinguistic variables studied, lexical frequency had the largest influence on lexical-semantic processing, but AoA and ND also played an independent role. The results reflect a brain-language relationship with different proportional effects of frequency, AoA, and ND in the PPA variants, in a pattern that is consistent with the organization of the mental lexicon. Individuals with nfvPPA and lvPPA experienced an ND effect consistent with the role of inferior frontal and temporoparietal regions in lexical analysis and word form processing. By contrast, individuals with svPPA experienced an AoA effect consistent with the role of the anterior temporal lobe in semantic processing. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are in line with a hierarchical mental lexicon structure with a conceptual (semantic) and a lexeme (word-form) level, such that a selective deficit at one of these levels of the mental lexicon manifests differently in lexical-semantic processing performance, consistent with the affected language-specific brain region in each PPA variant

La neuropsychologie du bilinguisme

Obler Loraine K. La neuropsychologie du bilinguisme. In: Langages, 18ᵉ année, n°72, 1983. La neuro-linguistique du bilinguisme, sous la direction de Michel Paradis et Yvan Lebrun. pp. 33-43

Language and the Britain

xiii.206 hal.;ill.;19 c