Contributions of executive control abilities to perspective-taking in aphasia

 描述（由申请人提供）：在说话或倾听时采用他人观点的能力是成功对话的关键方面。这种能力依赖于几种认知操作，如词汇提取，工作记忆和抑制控制，所有这些都是 在非流利性失语症中会受到不同程度的损害。正因为如此，观点采择困难可能是非流利性失语症患者的一个严重问题，但在认知心理学文献中并没有得到太多的关注。目前的建议的目标是阐明可能的观点采择赤字的生产和理解的个人与非流利的失语症，通过系统的研究的认知架构的观点采择。该项目的具体目标是：1。定义观点采择的认知架构，包括特定执行控制过程的贡献。确定是否可以通过应用阳极经颅直流电刺激（a-tDCS）来改善观点采择第一组实验使用眼动跟踪和行为方法来区分有助于观点采择的几个过程，其损伤可能导致在不同情况下观点采择失败。第二组实验探讨了通过应用a-tDCS来增强其潜在的认知成分来改善观点采择的可能性，a-tDCS是一种安全且非侵入性的程序，先前已被证明可以改善执行控制能力。 这些研究的发现将促进我们对观点采择的认知结构和认知过程的本质的理解，这些认知过程共同促成了 它，并将更广泛地告知语言产生和理解的理论，其目标是解释有效的沟通。此外，这些发现将揭示失语症中观点采择缺陷的起源，并因此有助于失语症研究的最终目标，即增强这一人群的沟通能力。在临床方面，该项目提高了人们对失语症沟通中潜在的重大问题的认识，并提出了使用安全且易于在临床实践中集成的任务和设备来诊断和潜在治疗此类问题的方法。总之，该项目有可能改善非流利性失语症患者的交际效果，同时有助于语言产生和理解的认知心理学文献。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to adopt the perspective of others when speaking or listening is a key aspect of successful conversation. This ability relies on several cognitive operations such as lexical retrieval, working memory and inhibitory control, all of which can be impaired to various degrees in nonfluent aphasia. Because of this, difficulties in perspective-taking could be a serious problem in individuals with nonfluent aphasia, but it has not received much attention in the cognitive psychology literature. The goal of the current proposal is to shed light on the possible perspective-taking deficits in the production and comprehension of individuals with nonfluent aphasia through a systematic study of the cognitive architecture of perspective taking. The Specific Aims of this project are: 1. Defining the cognitiv architecture of perspective-taking, including the contributions of specific executive control processes 2. Determining whether perspective-taking can be improved by the application of anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (a-tDCS) The first set of experiments uses eye-tracking and behavioral methods to distinguish between several processes that contribute to perspective-taking, the impairment of which can cause failure of perspective- taking in different situations. The second set of experiments explores the possibility of improving perspective- taking by enhancing its underlying cognitive components through the application of a-tDCS, a safe and noninvasive procedure that has previously been shown to improve executive control abilities. The findings from these studies will promote our understanding of the cognitive architecture of perspective-taking and the nature of cognitive processes that jointly contribute to it, and will more broadly inform theories of language production and comprehension whose goal is to explain effective communication. Furthermore, the findings will shed light on the origins of perspective-taking deficits in aphasia, and as such contribute to the ultimate goal of aphasia research, which is enhancing communication abilities in this population. On the clinical side, the project raises awareness about a potentially significant problem in aphasic communication, and proposes ways to diagnose and potentially treat such problems using tasks and devices that are safe and easy to integrate in clinical practice. In summary, this project has the potential to improve communicative outcomes for individuals with nonfluent aphasia while at the same time contributing to the cognitive psychology literature on language production and comprehension.