Tag Archives: Neural
Recovery of naming and discourse production: a bilingual anomic case study
Dai, EYL., Kong, APH. Weekes, B. Recovery of naming and discourse production: a bilingual anomic case study. In Aphasiology, 2012, v. 26 n. 6, p. 737-756
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2011.645013
Abstract:
Differential language recovery in bilingual speakers with aphasia is of interest for theoretical reasons. One issue concerns the interaction between languages (L1-L2), word class (noun versus verb), and language task (naming versus discourse production in recovery). No study has examined this issue in Chinese speakers with aphasia who speak two dialects such as Cantonese and Mandarin that have different phonological and syntactic properties.Aims: We compared the patterns of confrontation naming and discourse production in YF, a Cantonese-Mandarin speaker with a chronic mild anomic aphasia after stroke. Our prediction was that there would be an interaction between the language, word class, and language task.Methods & Procedures: Naming was examined in Cantonese (L1) and Mandarin (L2) with an adaptation of the Object and Action Naming Battery (Druks & Masterson, 2000). Discourse production in L1 and L2 was analysed with the Quantitative Production Analysis (Berndt, Wayland, Rochon, Saffran, & Schwartz, 2000) and Conversation Analysis Profile for People with Aphasia (Whitworth, Perkins, & Lesser, 1997).Outcomes & Results: There were no significant differences in object and action naming or in discourse production between dialects. However there was an effect of word class on naming in L2, with object naming better than action naming in Mandarin, but not in Cantonese (L1).Conclusions: Word class had an effect on recovery in YF’s less-dominant language as in other cases of bilingual aphasia. The interaction between word class and language status in a Cantonese-Mandarin speaker suggests that this pattern of recovery is robust across languages.
Is the left IPS necessary for verbal short-term memory? A TMS study
[speaker]Kligebiel, k.[/speaker]
[speaker]Hutton, S.[/speaker]
[speaker]Majerus, S.[/speaker]
[speaker]Mazzi, C.[/speaker]
Kligebiel, k., Hutton, S., Majerus, S., Mazzi, C., Weekes, B. Is the left IPS necessary for verbal short-term memory? A TMS study. In Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012, v. 61, p. 115-116 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.10.105
Link to HKU Scholars Hub
Abstract:
Studies reveal the importance of verbal short-term memory (STM) to understanding the language problems in aphasia (Martin & Reilly, 2012). STM can be divided into two processes: memory for serial order and memory for item identity. Brain imaging studies show these two processes have different neural loci (Majerus, et al. 2006). Our aim was to test whether disrupting left and right intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) would have different effects on performance in order
and item verbal STM tasks. Ten healthy, monolingual participants took part. A structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan was taken for all participants. Each participant was tested with reference to brain topography via Minibird software. TMS was applied using a Magstim SuperRapid stimulator Figure-of-Eight double 70-mm coil. rTMS was applied over the left anterior IPS, the right anterior IPS or the vertex each applied on separate days. A no-TMS ( Sham ) condition was included as in other studies of disruption to IPS ( Hutton & Weekes, 2007). Participants performed serial order and an item identity memory tasks ( Majerus et al.2007).
Acquired dyslexia in a transparent orthography: An analysis of acquired disorders of reading in the Slovak language
[speaker]Hricová, M.[/speaker]
[speaker]Weekes, B.[/speaker]
Hricová, M., Weekes, B. Acquired dyslexia in a transparent orthography: An analysis of acquired disorders of reading in the Slovak language. Behavioural Neurology, 2012, v. 25 n. 3, p. 205-213. DOI: 10.3233/BEN-2012-119005
Abstract:
The first reports of phonological, surface and deep dyslexia come from orthographies containing quasi-regular mappings between orthography and phonology including English and French. Slovakian is a language with a relatively transparent orthography and hence a mostly regular script. The aim of this study was to investigate impaired oral reading in Slovakian. A novel diagnostic procedure was devised to determine whether disorders of Slovakian reading resemble characteristics in other languages. Slovakian speaking aphasics showed symptoms similar to phonological dyslexia and deep dyslexia in English and French, but there was no evidence of surface dyslexia. The findings are discussed in terms of the orthographic depth hypothesis.
Progressive dyslexia: Evidence from Hungarian and English
[speaker]Druks, J[/speaker]
[speaker]Aydelott, J[/speaker]
[speaker]Genethliou, M[/speaker]
[speaker]Jacobs, H[/speaker]
Druks, J., Aydelott, J., Genethliou, M., Jacobs, H., & Weekes, B. (2012).Progressive dyslexia: Evidence from Hungarian and English. Behavioural Neurology, 25(3), 185-191.DOI: 10.3233/ben-2012-119003
Link to HKU Scholars Hub
Abstract:
We report a patient with non-fluent Primary Progressive Aphasia who was premorbidly literate in two alphabetic scripts, Hungarian (L1) and English (L2). Testing was performed over a two-year period to assess the impact of progressive illness on oral reading and repetition of single words. Results showed significant decline in oral reading in both languages, and an effect of language status in favour of oral reading in L1. Phonological complexity was a significant predictor of oral reading decline in both languages. Of interest, we observed an effect of language status on task performance whereby repetition was better in L2 than L1 but oral reading was better in L1 than L2. We conclude that language status has an effect on repetition and oral reading abilities for bilingual speakers with non-fluent Primary Progressive Aphasia.
Acquired dyslexia and dysgraphia across scripts
[speaker]Professor Weekes, Brendan Stuart [/speaker]
Weekes, B. S. (2012). Acquired dyslexia and dysgraphia across scripts. Behavioural Neurology, 25(3), 159-163. doi: 10.3233/ben-2012-119000
Link to HKU Scholars Hub
Abstract:
Many studies have investigated the cognitive processes used to read and to spell in English. Much of our knowledge about these processes comes from reports of patients with acquired dyslexia and dysgraphia, first identified in the behavioral neurology clinic. As in all clinical studies, the detail in these reports includes description of preserved and impaired abilities of the patient, usually with reference to a cognitive neuropsychological model of reading and spelling [6,12,13,26, 28,29]. The beauty of these reports is the insight provided to the clinician and to theorist about the topography of cognitive processing, allowing science to ‘carve nature at its joints’.
One criticism of this research is the emphasis on European languages. However, a review of acquired dyslexia and dysgraphia in languages other than English reveals an interesting fact. Many cases are reported in Behavioral Neurology – a revelation that reflects the global reach and sophistication of this readership. It is therefore a great privilege to present this Special Issue on the topic of Reading and Writing Disorders.
Executive and language control in the multilingual brain
[speaker]Kong, PH[/speaker]
Kong, A. P.-H., Abutalebi, J., Lam, K. S.-Y., & Weekes, B. Executive and language control in the multilingual brain. Behavioural Neurology. 2013 DOI: 10.3233/ben-120331
Abstract:
Neuro imaging studies suggest that the neural network involved in language control may not be specific to bi-/multilingualism but part of a domain general executive control system. We report a trilingual case of a Cantonese (L1), English (L2), and Mandarin (L3) speaker, Dr. T, who sustained a brain injury at the age of 77-years causing lesions in the left frontal lobe and in the left temporo-parietal areas resulting in fluent aphasia. Dr. T’s executive functions were impaired according to a modified version of the Stroop color-word test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance was characterized by frequent perseveration errors. Dr. T demonstrated pathological language switching and mixing across her three languages. Code switching in Cantonese was more prominent in discourse production than confrontation naming. Our case suggests that voluntary control of spoken word production in trilingual speakers shares neural substrata in the frontal-basal ganglia system with domain-general executive control mechanisms. One prediction is that lesions to such a system would give rise to both pathological switching and impairments of executive functions in trilingual speakers.