PO23-TH-14 Nonverbal reasoning and working memory in patients with post-stroke aphasia

Influence of Cognitive Ability on Therapy Outcomes for Anomia in Adults With Chronic Poststroke Aphasia

PURPOSE

The relationship between cognitive abilities and aphasia rehabilitation outcomes is complex and remains poorly understood. This study investigated the influence of language and cognitive abilities on anomia therapy outcomes in adults with aphasia.

METHOD

Thirty-four adults with chronic aphasia participated in Aphasia Language Impairment and Functioning Therapy. A language and cognitive assessment battery, including 3 baseline naming probes, was administered prior to therapy. Naming accuracy for 30 treated and 30 untreated items was collected at posttherapy and 1-month follow-up. Multiple regression models were computed to evaluate the relationship between language and cognitive abilities at baseline and anomia therapy outcomes.

RESULTS

Both language and cognitive variables significantly influenced anomia therapy gains. Verbal short-term memory ability significantly predicted naming gains for treated items at posttherapy (β = -.551, p = .002) and for untreated items at posttherapy (β = .456, p = .014) and 1-month follow-up (β = .455, p = .021). Furthermore, lexical-semantic processing significantly predicted naming gains for treated items at posttherapy (β = -.496, p = .004) and 1-month follow-up (β = .545, p = .012).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that individuals' cognitive ability, specifically verbal short-term memory, affects anomia treatment success. Further research into the relationship between cognitive ability and anomia therapy outcomes may help to optimize treatment techniques.

Attention and other cognitive deficits in aphasia: presence and relation to language and communication measures

PURPOSE

This study was designed to further elucidate the relationship between cognition and aphasia, with a focus on attention. It was hypothesized that individuals with aphasia would display variable deficit patterns on tests of attention and other cognitive functions and that their attention deficits, particularly those of complex attention functions, would be related to their language and communication status.

METHOD

A group of individuals with varying types and severity of aphasia and a group of age- and education-matched adults with no brain damage completed tests of attention, short-term and working memory, and executive functioning.

RESULTS

Overall, the group with aphasia performed significantly more poorly than the control group on the cognitive measures but displayed variability in the presence, types, and severity of their attention and other cognitive deficits. Correlational and regression analyses yielded significant relations between participants' attention deficits and their language and communication status.

CONCLUSION

The findings accorded well with prior research identifying (a) attention and other cognitive deficits in most but not all individuals with aphasia; (b) heterogeneity in the types and severity of attention and other cognitive symptoms among individuals with cognitive impairments; and (c) potent associations among attention, language, and other cognitive domains. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.