Improving Production of Treated and Untreated Verbs in Aphasia:A Meta-Analysis

Background: Demographic and clinical predictors of aphasia recovery have been identified in the literature. However, little attention has been devoted to identifying and distinguishing predictors of improvement for different outcomes, e.g., production of treated vs. untreated materials. These outcomes may rely on different mechanisms, and therefore be predicted by different variables. Furthermore, treatment features are not typically accounted for when studying predictors of aphasia recovery. This is partly due to the small numbers of cases reported in studies, but also to limitations of data analysis techniques usually employed. Method: We reviewed the literature on predictors of aphasia recovery, and conducted a meta-analysis of single-case studies designed to assess the efficacy of treatments for verb production. The contribution of demographic, clinical, and treatment-related variables was assessed by means of Random Forests (a machine-learning technique used in classification and regression). Two outcomes were investigated: production of treated (for 142 patients) and untreated verbs (for 166 patients). Results: Improved production of treated verbs was predicted by a three-way interaction of pre-treatment scores on tests for verb comprehension and word repetition, and the frequency of treatment sessions. Improvement in production of untreated verbs was predicted by an interaction including the use of morphological cues, presence of grammatical impairment, pre-treatment scores on a test for noun comprehension, and frequency of treatment sessions. Conclusion: Improvement in the production of treated verbs occurs frequently. It may depend on restoring access to and/or knowledge of lexeme representations, and requires relative sparing of semantic knowledge (as measured by verb comprehension) and phonological output abilities (including working memory, as measured by word repetition). Improvement in the production of untreated verbs has not been reported very often. It may depend on the nature of impaired language representations, and the type of knowledge engaged by treatment: it is more likely to occur where abstract features (semantic and/or grammatical) are damaged and treated.</p

The 10-Word Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Vocabulary Performance in 4-and 5-Year-Old Children

Background: Understanding the different factors that determine vocabuladevelopment in young children is essential for the diagnosis and rehabilitaof language disorders in children. Language development is closely related other cognitive processes such as auditory verbal learning and memory. research focuses on the development of a novel auditory verbal learning (AVLT) for 4-and 5-year-old children within the Dutch population. This new is an adaptation of the common AVLT for both older children and adults, uincluding a list of 15 words. Considering the lower attention span and liexecutive functioning in young children, the word list of this new instrumereduced to 10 words. Besides, a second recognition form has been develto improve the ability to distinguish between possible underlying learning memory deficits. Method: Ninety-five preschool children (ages 4;0–5;12 [years;months]) wetested with this new AVLT 10-word test for kids (10WT-K), yielding diffmeasures of verbal auditory memory. Forty-eight of 95 children received a ognition task with semantically unrelated items, and 47 of 95 received a renition task with semantically related items. Three additional language skills assessed to establish test validation: receptive and expressive vocabulary formance and nonword repetition. Outcome of the 10WT-K was related scores on the language measures. Results: Positive correlations were found between the total score of the 10Wand all three aforementioned language skills. We found no correlations betwfrequency of error types (intrusions and repetitions) and language measures. thermore, children who were administered the recognition list with semanticrelated items showed fewer correct answers and more false-positive and fanegative responses than children who received a recognition list with semantiunrelated items. Conclusions: The 10WT-K for young children can be used to (a) measure dent aspects of auditory verbal learning and memory, (b) clarify the natupossible verbal learning difficulties, and (c) identify a possible nature of guage disorders. The word recognition task tested with semantically relaitems provides a more accurate measurement of individual differences, namin distinguishing retrieval and storage abilities. The significant relation fobetween auditory verbal short-term memory capacity and vocabulary perfmance in preschool children is a first step toward establishing test validity.</p

Non-fluent aphasia in Ibero-Romance:A review of morphosyntactic deficits

Background: Castilian-Spanish, Catalan, Galician, and European Portuguese are the most widely spoken languages of the Ibero-Romance group. An increasing number of authors have addressed the impact of aphasia on the morphosyntax of these varieties. However, accurate linguistic characterisations are scarce and the different sources of data have not been yet compiled. Aims: To stimulate state-of-the-art research, we provided a comprehensive summary of morphosyntactic aspects of Ibero-Romance and a review of how these are affected in non-fluent aphasia. The topics we dealt with are the use of verb argument structure and morphology, sentential negation and word order, definite articles, personal and reflexive pronouns, passives, topicalised constructions, questions, and relative clauses. Methods & Procedures: An exhaustive fieldwork and search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Medline records were performed to retrieve studies focused on morphosyntactic issues concerning the Ibero-Romance varieties. A total of 27 studies produced by 46 authors of varying background emerged. We did not review studies of category-specific deficits and aspects related to bilingual aphasia, although we assume that most speakers of Galician and Catalan are bilingual. Studies of spontaneous speech were included when no controlled experimental tasks were available. Outcomes & Results: The morphosyntactic commonalities of Ibero-Romance have been tackled from different theoretical perspectives. There exist asymmetries in findings which we explain with the use of different tasks (and task complexity) and individual differences between participants. Conclusions: Discourse-linking factors as well as deviations from the canonical pattern are recurrent answers to these asymmetries. A comprehensive theory of impairments in non-fluent aphasia integrating relevant aspects of both structural and processing accounts seems necessary.26 page(s

The Experiences and Preferences of Speech and Language Therapists Regarding Aphasia Therapy Apps

Using aphasia therapy apps could be a means of meeting clinical recommendations for aphasia therapy related to dose and frequency. We currently know little about speech and language therapists’ (SLTs) experiences and perceptions of using therapy apps. Making use of a survey, the current study therefore aimed to answer three main research questions: 1.  What are SLTs’ current experiences with regards to aphasia therapy apps? 2. What are SLTs’ perceptions of PWA’s smartphone/tablet use and the suitability of online, independent therapy for this target group? 3.  What do SLTs perceive to be facilitators and barriers to the use of aphasia therapy apps? Our survey respondents consisted of 29 Australian (mean age=35.5 years, 28 female) and 35 Dutch (mean age=36.2 years, 32 female) SLTs. Surveyed SLTs were very positive towards aphasia therapy apps. Encouragingly, they report frequent smartphone/tablet use even in their relatively elderly caseloads and were confident in their clients’ abilities to use aphasia therapy apps independently at home. We therefore conclude that there is plenty of support in the SLT community for increasing the use of aphasia therapy apps, and this could be a means of meeting clinical recommendations regarding intensity and dose of treatment. Nevertheless, our respondents also quite clearly indicated some barriers that they had experienced regarding the use of therapy apps. While it is not within researchers’ power to tackle all of these, the onus is on aphasia researchers and app developers to listen and respond to SLTs’ experiences and feedback and to improve the design of their digital therapies accordingly. The extensive feedback that we have received clearly underlines the importance of directly involving clinicians in the aphasia app development process

Developmental language disorder in sequential bilinguals:Characterising word properties in spontaneous speech

The current study sought to investigate whether word properties can facilitate the identification of developmental language disorder (DLD) in sequential bilinguals by analyzing properties in nouns and verbs in L2 spontaneous speech as potential DLD markers. Measures of semantic (imageability, concreteness), lexical (frequency, age of acquisition) and phonological (phonological neighbourhood, word length) properties were computed for nouns and verbs produced by 15 sequential bilinguals (5;7) with DLD and 15 age-matched controls with diverse L1 backgrounds. Linear mixed modelling revealed a significant interaction of group and word category on phonological neighbourhood values but no differences across imageability, concreteness, frequency, age of acquisition, and word length measures in spontaneous speech. Outcomes suggest that group-level differences may not be apparent at the word-level, due to the heterogeneous nature of DLD and potential similarities in production during early L2 acquisition.</p

A educação fiscal como ação preventiva no combate ao contrabando e ao descaminho nas fronteiras da Amazônia

Este trabalho pretendeu mostrar que a educação fiscal pode ser uma alternativa para, através de fatos analisados a luz da racionalidade, reconhecer as diferenças e tratar os indivíduos, no campo da tributação, de acordo com a sua situação econômica, social e educacional; a fim de garantir a verdadeira justiça e preservar a dignidade da pessoa humana, conforme garantidos na nossa Constituição Federal. Para tanto, nosso foco foi analisar a problemática do contrabando e do descaminho nas fronteiras da Amazônia, buscando um novo olhar do ponto de vista social, e não meramente no campo dos direitos penal e tributário. Buscamos também fazer uma ponte entre os julgados pelos tribunais brasileiros, a esses ilícitos, cujos valores, na maioria dos casos são considerados insignificantes, e os procedimentos normatizados pela Receita Federal do Brasil, que determina tratamento igualitário a todos os processos sem a preocupação com esse diferencial, o que ocasiona desestímulo aos seus servidores, por perda da eficácia do seu trabalho. Discutimos ainda a necessidade de capacitação dos servidores do fisco, para que coordenem a realização de parcerias, entre o Estado e suas instituições, mais as entidades comunitárias, empresariais e beneficentes para desenvolver projetos de educação fiscal que possam contribuir efetivamente para transformar a realidade, e suavizar as desigualdades que causam tantos conflitos e sofrimento a toda a humanidade.55 p.Desenvolvimento RegionalFiscalização e ControleOrçamento e FinançasPolíticas Pública

Treating lexical retrieval using letter fluency and tDCS in primary progressive aphasia:a single-case study

Background: In early stages, individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) report language symptoms while scoring within norm in formal language tests. Early intervention is important due to the progressive nature of the disease. Method: We report a single-case study of an individual with logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA). We tested whether letter fluency, used as a therapy task, can improve lexical retrieval when combined with tDCS to either the left inferior-frontal gyrus (IFG) or the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL), administered in two separate therapy phases separated by a wash-out period of 3 months. Outcomes and results: We observed increases in number of words retrieved during a letter fluency task in trained and untrained letters, when letter fluency therapy (LeFT) was administered with anodal tDCS. When LeFT was combined with left IFG stimulation, words produced in a letter fluency task were lower frequency and higher age of acquisition after treatment, compared to before treatment and there was also an increase in accuracy and response times in an untrained picture-naming task. Conclusions: The results indicate that letter fluency therapy combined anodal tDCS is effective in improving lexical retrieval, particularly when left IFG stimulation was used. Effects generalize beyond the trained task, albeit slowing down of responses in picture naming. This task may provide a useful clinical intervention strategy for patients with mild anomia, who are not challenged enough by traditional naming therapies