Remediation of Word Processing and Short-Term Memory Deficits in Aphasia

失语症治疗的研究重点之一是了解失语症治疗的内容 治疗与受损的单词表征相互作用(Nettleton&Lesser，1992)和 如果其内容直接刺激受损的人，治疗是否更有效 表征(例如，针对语义障碍的语义治疗)。这一焦点是 很重要，但没有涉及单词检索的动态过程。我们建议 研究一种治疗失语症的方法，该方法针对以下过程 单词的语义和语音表征在过程中被激活和保持 语言的理解和产生。这种关注是及时的，因为这些激活 过程已被描述和测试为失语症损害的帐户 文字处理模型(例如，Dell、Schwartz、Martin、Saffran&Gagnon，1997)和 失语症患者的言语短期记忆(STM)缺陷(Martin&Gupta，2004)。此外， 最近关于治疗失语症听觉-言语STM缺陷的研究引发了 这些理论模型作为将STM缺陷与理解联系起来的框架 和失语症的生产赤字(Majerus，van der Kaa，Renard，Vander Linden& Poncelet，2005)。因此，按照将两个赤字通过 激活过程的动力学(Martin&Saffran，1997)，我们将扩展这一点 与治疗的联系，重点是提高保持激活的能力 单词表示法。该项目包括两个部分。首先，我们将获得规范性 来自失语症和非失语症患者的数据在诊断电池上评估 激活和维持激活语义和语音表征的能力 单字和多字的发音。第二，我们将测试一种治疗的疗效 提高激活和维护语义和/或激活的能力的计划 短期内单词和多词话语的语音表征 记忆。治疗的疗效将通过获取和检测探针进行检测。 在跨多个刺激设计的多个基线中保持，并进行比较 测试前和测试后

One focus of research in aphasia therapy has been to understand how the content of treatment interacts with impaired word representations (Nettleton & Lesser, 1992) and whether therapy is more effective if its content directly stimulates impaired representations (e.g., semantic therapy for semantic impairments). This focus is important, but does not address the dynamic processes of word retrieval. We propose to investigate an approach to treatment of aphasia that targets the processes by which semantic and phonological representations of words are activated and maintained during comprehension and production of language. This focus is timely, as these activation processes have been described and tested as accounts of aphasic impairment in models of word processing (e.g., Dell, Schwartz, Martin, Saffran & Gagnon, 1997) and verbal short-term memory (STM) deficits in aphasia (Martin & Gupta, 2004). Moreover, recent studies of treatments for auditory-verbal STM deficits in aphasia have invoked these theoretical models as a framework for linking STM deficits with comprehension and production deficits in aphasia (Majerus, van der Kaa, Renard, Vander Linden & Poncelet, 2005). Thus, following models that connect the two deficits by way of the dynamics of activation processes (Martin & Saffran, 1997), we will extend this connection to treatment that focuses on improving the ability to maintain activation of word representations. The project includes two parts. First, we will obtain normative data from aphasic and nonaphasic individuals on a diagnostic battery that assesses the ability to activate and maintain activation of semantic and phonological representations of single and multiple word utterances. Second, we will test the efficacy of a treatment program to improve the ability to activate and maintain activation of semantic and/or phonological representations of single word and multiple word utterances in short-term memory. The efficacy of the treatment will be examined with probes of acquisition and maintenance in a multiple baseline across multiple stimuli design, and with comparisons of pre- and post-test