Using neuroimaging to classify aphasia

The proper classification of aphasia based on clinical symptoms has been debated for well over a century. Much of the early debates centered on relating localized brain damage to a constellation of speech and language impairments. The premise behind much of this work was based on the notion that lesion-symptom mapping could reveal how language was organized in the brain (Broca, 1861, 1865; Dejarine, 1906; Marie, 1906). Although the principle for classifying aphasia based on specific symptoms has been fervently challenged (e.g. Head, 1926) it is still customary to report aphasia types in clinical studies of aphasia. Similar symptoms in sub-groups of patients suggests a similar pattern of brain damage. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if specific aphasia types can be diagnosed simply based on the location of cortical damage. One way to examine this issue would be to relate lesion patterns to aphasia types using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). MVPA of neuroimaging data has been successfully used to diagnose diseases such as dementia, schizophrenia, and Parkinson's disease (Orru et al., 2012). In the present study, we demonstrate how MVPA can be used to predict aphasia type in persons with chronic stroke. Unlike previous studies that perform the analysis on voxels (using MRI scans), we trained a classifier on the proportional damage to brain areas (defined with a brain atlas). In addition, we computed the loadings that reflect the contribution of each brain area to classification

Neural recruitment associated with anomia treatment in aphasia

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the spatial distribution of cortical activity associated with anomia treatment in three persons with aphasia. Participants underwent three fMRI sessions before and after a period of intensive language treatment focused on object naming. The results revealed bilateral hemispheric recruitment associated with improved ability to name items targeted in treatment. This is the first study to employ multiple pre- and post-treatment fMRI sessions in the study of treatment-induced recovery from aphasia and has implications for future studies of brain plasticity in stroke

Neural correlates of phonological and semantic-based anomia treatment in aphasia

Most naming treatments in aphasia either assume a phonological or semantic emphasis or a combination thereof. However, it is unclear whether semantic or phonological treatments recruit the same or different cortical areas in chronic aphasia. Employing three persons with aphasia, two of whom were non-fluent, the present study compared changes in neural recruitment associated with phonologic and semantic-based naming treatments. The participants with non-fluent aphasia were able to name more items following both treatment approaches. Although this was not the case for the participant who had fluent aphasia, her naming errors decreased considerably following treatment. Post-treatment fMRI revealed similar changes in neural activity bilaterally in the precuneus among the two non-fluent participants—increased activity was noted in the right entorhinal cortex and posterior thalamus on post-treatment scans for the third participant. These findings imply that cortical areas not traditionally related to language processing may support anomia recovery in some patients with chronic aphasia

U DriveIT - User-Driven Innovation - Transfer from the IT sector to traditional businesses

In order to realise the unutilised potential in IT based user-driven innovation methods, the project has transferred experiences, methods and practices within user-driven innovation from the IT area to other businesses and fields such as industrial design, production, social services, entertainment, experience economy etc