Contrasting treatment for word retrieval impairments

由于左大脑半球疾病而导致失语的患者的一个突出症状是难以进行影响名词或动词的单词检索。最近的调查的词检索障碍的治疗受到认知神经心理学模型，认识到词检索涉及一组复杂的词汇过程，包括语义和语音阶段。随后，研究纳入了恢复语义或语音治疗，并在一些人的单词检索能力，特别是名词的显着改善。较少注意检查可能引起其他认知过程的替代词检索治疗的效果，对动词没有治疗效果，以及比较失语症患者的不同治疗方法。在我们的研究中，我们建议开发一个电池的词汇任务评估的理解和生产的名词和动词的规范数据。稍后我们将对失语症患者进行成套测试，以记录单词提取障碍的性质。然后，我们将完成一系列的研究，我们对比两个词检索处理。 恢复性处理会鼓励使用典型的语义和语音词汇提取过程，而替代性言语+手势处理会鼓励使用哑剧来唤起相应的言语反应。我们将比较名词和动词的治疗效果。我们将评估结构词检索任务以及治疗结果的会话和功能措施的表现。在最后一个实验中，我们将使用fMRI研究治疗效果的神经相关性。

A prominent symptom seen in individuals with aphasia due to left cerebral hemisphere disease is difficulty with word retrieval affecting either nouns or verbs. Recent investigation of treatments for word retrieval impairments have been influenced by cognitive neuropsychological models which recognize that word retrieval involves a complex set of lexical processes including semantic and phonologic stages. Subsequently, studies have incorporated restitutive semantic or phonologic treatments and have demonstrative improvements in word retrieval abilities in some individuals, particularly for nouns. Less attention has been given to examining the effects of substitutive word retrieval treatments that might invoke other cognitive processes, no treatment effects for verbs, and to comparing different treatments in the same individuals with aphasia. In our studies, we propose to develop normative data for a battery of lexical tasks assessing comprehension and production of nouns and verbs. We will later administer the battery the battery to patients with aphasia to document the nature of the word retrieval impairments. We then will complete a series of studies in which we contrast two word retrieval treatments. The restitutive treatment will encourage the use of typical semantic and phonologic word retrieval processes, whereas the substitutive verbal+ gestural treatment will encourage the use of pantomimes to evoke a corresponding verbal response. We will compare treatment effects for both nouns and verbs. We will assess performance in structural word retrieval tasks as well as in conversational and functional measures of treatment outcome. In a final experiment, we will study the neural correlates of treatment effects using fMRI.