Contributions of executive control abilities to perspective-taking in aphasia

 描述(由申请人提供)：在说或听时采用他人观点的能力是成功对话的一个关键方面。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 不流利的失语症会有不同程度的损害。正因为如此，在非流利性失语症患者中，视角选择困难可能是一个严重的问题，但在认知心理学文献中，它并没有得到太多的关注。本研究的目的是通过对观点采择认知结构的系统研究，揭示非流利性失语症患者在产生和理解过程中可能存在的观点采择缺陷。本项目的具体目标是：1.确定视角采择的认知结构，包括特定执行控制过程的贡献2.确定是否可以通过应用阳极式经颅直流电刺激(a-tDC)来改善视角采择。第一组实验使用眼球跟踪和行为方法来区分有助于视角采择的几个过程，这些过程的损害会在不同的情况下导致视角采择的失败。第二组实验探索了通过应用a-tdcs增强其潜在的认知成分来改善观点采择的可能性，a-tdcs是一种安全和非侵入性的程序，此前已被证明可以提高执行控制能力。这些研究的发现将促进我们对采取观点的认知架构的理解，以及共同促进 它，并将更广泛地提供语言产生和理解的理论，其目标是解释有效的交流。此外，这些发现将有助于阐明失语症患者视角选择缺陷的根源，从而有助于实现失语症研究的最终目标，即提高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重大问题的认识，并提出了使用安全且易于集成到临床实践中的任务和设备来诊断和潜在治疗此类问题的方法。总之，这个项目有可能改善非流利性失语症患者的交际效果，同时也为认知心理学关于语言产生和理解的文献做出了贡献。

 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.