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Angelopoulou G, Kasselimis D, Varkanitsa M, Tsolakopoulos D, Papageorgiou G, Velonakis G, Meier E, Karavassilis E, Pantoleon V, Laskaris N, Kelekis N, Tountopoulou A, Vassilopoulou S, Goutsos D, Kiran S, Weiller C, Rijntjes M, Potagas C. Investigating silent pauses in connected speech: integrating linguistic, neuropsychological, and neuroanatomical perspectives across narrative tasks in post-stroke aphasia. Front Neurol 2024; 15:1347514. [PMID: 38682034 PMCID: PMC11047180 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1347514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Silent pauses are regarded as integral components of the temporal organization of speech. However, it has also been hypothesized that they serve as markers for internal cognitive processes, including word access, monitoring, planning, and memory functions. Although existing evidence across various pathological populations underscores the importance of investigating silent pauses' characteristics, particularly in terms of frequency and duration, there is a scarcity of data within the domain of post-stroke aphasia. Methods The primary objective of the present study is to scrutinize the frequency and duration of silent pauses in two distinct narrative tasks within a cohort of 32 patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia, in comparison with a control group of healthy speakers. Subsequently, we investigate potential correlation patterns between silent pause measures, i.e., frequency and duration, across the two narrative tasks within the patient group, their performance in neuropsychological assessments, and lesion data. Results Our findings showed that patients exhibited a higher frequency of longer-duration pauses in both narrative tasks compared to healthy speakers. Furthermore, within-group comparisons revealed that patients tended to pause more frequently and for longer durations in the picture description task, while healthy participants exhibited the opposite trend. With regard to our second research question, a marginally significant interaction emerged between performance in semantic verbal fluency and the narrative task, in relation to the location of silent pauses-whether between or within clauses-predicting the duration of silent pauses in the patient group. However, no significant results were observed for the frequency of silent pauses. Lastly, our study identified that the duration of silent pauses could be predicted by distinct Regions of Interest (ROIs) in spared tissue within the left hemisphere, as a function of the narrative task. Discussion Overall, this study follows an integrative approach of linguistic, neuropsychological and neuroanatomical data to define silent pauses in connected speech, and illustrates interrelations between cognitive components, temporal aspects of speech, and anatomical indices, while it further highlights the importance of studying connected speech indices using different narrative tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- G. Angelopoulou
- Neuropsychology&Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - D. Kasselimis
- Neuropsychology&Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece
| | - M. Varkanitsa
- Center for Brain Recovery, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - D. Tsolakopoulos
- Neuropsychology&Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - G. Papageorgiou
- Neuropsychology&Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - G. Velonakis
- 2nd Department of Radiology, General University Hospital “Attikon”, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - E. Meier
- The Aphasia Network Lab, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - E. Karavassilis
- 2nd Department of Radiology, General University Hospital “Attikon”, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- School of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - V. Pantoleon
- 2nd Department of Radiology, General University Hospital “Attikon”, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - N. Laskaris
- Neuropsychology&Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Department of Industrial Design and Production Engineering, School of Engineering, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
| | - N. Kelekis
- 2nd Department of Radiology, General University Hospital “Attikon”, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - A. Tountopoulou
- Stroke Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - S. Vassilopoulou
- Stroke Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - D. Goutsos
- Department of Linguistics, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - S. Kiran
- Center for Brain Recovery, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - C. Weiller
- Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - M. Rijntjes
- Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - C. Potagas
- Neuropsychology&Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Falconer I, Varkanitsa M, Kiran S. Resting-state brain network connectivity is an independent predictor of responsiveness to language therapy in chronic post-stroke aphasia. Cortex 2024; 173:296-312. [PMID: 38447266 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Post-stroke aphasia recovery, especially in the chronic phase, is challenging to predict. Functional integrity of the brain and brain network topology have been suggested as biomarkers of language recovery. This study sought to investigate functional connectivity in four predefined brain networks (i.e., language, default mode, dorsal attention, and salience networks), in relation to aphasia severity and response to language therapy. Thirty patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia were recruited and received a treatment targeting word finding. Structural and functional brain scans were acquired at baseline and resting state functional connectivity for each network was calculated. Additionally, graph measures quantifying network properties were calculated for each network. These included global efficiency for all networks and average strength and clustering coefficient for the language network. Linear mixed effects models showed that mean functional connectivity in the default mode, dorsal attention, and salience networks as well as graph measures of all four networks are independent predictors of response to therapy. While greater mean functional connectivity and global efficiency of the dorsal attention and salience networks predicted greater treatment response, greater mean functional connectivity and global efficiency in the default mode network predicted poorer treatment response. Results for the language network were more nuanced with more efficient network configurations (as reflected in graph measures), but not mean functional connectivity, predicting greater treatment response. These findings highlight the prognostic value of resting-state functional connectivity in chronic treatment-induced aphasia recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isaac Falconer
- Center for Brain Recovery, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | | | - Swathi Kiran
- Center for Brain Recovery, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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Varkanitsa M, Kiran S. Insights gained over 60 years on factors shaping post-stroke aphasia recovery: A commentary on Vignolo (1964). Cortex 2024; 170:90-100. [PMID: 38123405 PMCID: PMC10962385 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Aphasia is an acquired language disorder resulting from brain injury, including strokes which is the most common etiology, neurodegenerative diseases, tumors, traumatic brain injury, and resective surgery. Aphasia affects a significant portion of stroke survivors, with approximately one third experiencing its debilitating effects in the long term. Despite its challenges, there is growing evidence that recovery from aphasia is possible, even in the chronic phase of stroke. Sixty years ago, Vignolo (1964) outlined the primary challenges confronted by researchers in this field. These challenges encompassed the absence of an objective evaluation of language difficulties, the scarcity of evidence regarding spontaneous aphasia recovery, and the presence of numerous variables that could potentially influence the process of aphasia recovery. In this paper, we discuss the remarkable progress that has been made in the assessment of language and communication in aphasia as well as in understanding the factors influencing post-stroke aphasia recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Center for Brain Recovery, Boston University, USA
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Varkanitsa M, Peñaloza C, Charidimou A, Kiran S. Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Burden: An Independent Biomarker for Anomia Treatment Responsiveness in Chronic Stroke Patients With Aphasia. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2023; 104:1630-1637. [PMID: 37290492 PMCID: PMC10543408 DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2023.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To determine whether MRI-based cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) burden predicts treatment-induced aphasia recovery in chronic stroke patients above and beyond initial aphasia severity and stroke-lesion volume. DESIGN Retrospective. Four cSVD neuroimaging markers were rated using validated visual scales: white matter hyperintensities, enlarged perivascular spaces, lacunes, and global cortical atrophy. We also calculated a cSVD total score. We employed linear regression models to model treatment response as a function of cSVD burden. We also ran correlation analyses to determine the association among cSVD burden and pre-treatment linguistic and non-linguistic cognition. SETTING Research clinic. PARTICIPANTS The study includes data from 30 chronic stroke patients with aphasia who received treatment for word finding difficulties and completed additional pre-treatment neuroimaging and behavioral assessments (N=30). INTERVENTIONS 120-minute sessions of anomia treatment 2 times per week for up to 12 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Change in accuracy on the treatment probes measured as a percentage (ie, change in accuracy percentage score=post-treatment accuracy percentage minus pre-treatment accuracy percentage). RESULTS Baseline cSVD burden predicted response to anomia treatment independently from demographic and stroke-related factors. Patients with lower cSVD burden exhibited enhanced rehabilitation response compared with those with higher cSVD burden (β=-6.816e-02, P=.019). cSVD burden was highly associated with nonverbal executive function at baseline (r=-0.49, P=.005): patients with lower cSVD burden exhibited higher performance on nonverbal executive function tasks compared with participants with higher cSVD burden. No association was observed among cSVD burden and performance on language tasks at the baseline. CONCLUSIONS cSVD, a marker of brain reserve and a robust risk factor for post-stroke dementia, may be used as a biomarker for distinguishing patients who are more likely to respond to anomia therapy from those who are less likely to do so and for individualizing treatment parameters (eg, targeting both linguistic and nonlinguistic cognition in severe cSVD).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Varkanitsa
- Center for Brain Recovery, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA.
| | - Claudia Peñaloza
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Andreas Charidimou
- Department of Neurology, Boston University Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, MA
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Center for Brain Recovery, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA
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Tsolakopoulos D, Kasselimis D, Laskaris N, Angelopoulou G, Papageorgiou G, Velonakis G, Varkanitsa M, Tountopoulou A, Vassilopoulou S, Goutsos D, Potagas C. Exploring Pragmatic Deficits in Relation to Theory of Mind and Executive Functions: Evidence from Individuals with Right Hemisphere Stroke. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1385. [PMID: 37891754 PMCID: PMC10605575 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13101385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Research investigating pragmatic deficits in individuals with right hemisphere damage focuses on identifying the potential mechanisms responsible for the nature of these impairments. Nonetheless, the presumed shared cognitive mechanisms that could account for these deficits have not yet been established through data-based evidence from lesion studies. This study aimed to examine the co-occurrence of pragmatic language deficits, Theory of Mind impairments, and executive functions while also exploring their associations with brain lesion sites. Twenty-five patients suffering from unilateral right hemisphere stroke and thirty-seven healthy participants were recruited for this study. The two groups were tested in pragmatics, Theory of Mind, and executive function tasks. Structural imaging data were also obtained for the identification of the lesion sites. The findings of this study suggest a potential convergence among the three aforementioned cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, we postulate a hypothesis for a neural circuitry for communication impairments observed in individuals with right hemisphere damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Tsolakopoulos
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
| | - Dimitrios Kasselimis
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
- Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, 17671 Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Laskaris
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
- Department of Industrial Design and Production Engineering, School of Engineering, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgia Angelopoulou
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgios Papageorgiou
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgios Velonakis
- Second Department of Radiology, Attikon General University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Maria Varkanitsa
- Center for Brain Recovery, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Argyro Tountopoulou
- Stroke Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Sofia Vassilopoulou
- Stroke Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Dionysis Goutsos
- Department of Linguistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Constantin Potagas
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
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Abstract
Although language deficits are the primary area of weakness, people with poststroke aphasia often experience challenges with nonlinguistic cognitive skills, including attention processing. The purpose of this review is to synthesize the evidence for the relationship between attention deficits and language deficits in people with poststroke aphasia. Three different types of studies are reviewed: (1) studies exploring whether people with poststroke aphasia exhibit concomitant attention and language deficits, (2) studies explicitly exploring the relationship between attention and language deficits in people with poststroke aphasia, and (3) either language or attention (or both) treatment studies exploring whether treatment gains in one domain generalize to the other. In the last section, we briefly review research evidence for the neural basis of the attention-language relationship in aphasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Varkanitsa
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Erin Godecke
- Edith Cowan University and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation, Boston, MA, USA
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Abstract
Purpose: This paper reviews several studies whose aim was to understand the nature of language recovery in chronic aphasia and identify predictors of how people may recover their language functions after a brain injury.Method: Several studies that mostly draw from data collected within the Centre for Neurobiology of Language Recovery were reviewed and categorised in four aspects of language impairment and recovery in aphasia: (a) neural markers for language impairment and recovery, (b) language and cognitive markers for language impairment and recovery, (c) effective treatments and (d) predictive modelling of treatment-induced rehabilitation.Result: Language impairment and recovery in stroke-induced aphasia is multi-factorial, including patient-specific and treatment-specific factors. A combination of these factors may help us predict treatment responsiveness even before treatment begins.Conclusion: Continued work on this topic will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms that underly language impairment and treatment-induced recovery in aphasia, and, consequently, use this information to predict each person's recovery profile trajectory and provide optimal prescriptions regarding the type and dosage of treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Varkanitsa
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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Billot A, Lai S, Varkanitsa M, Braun EJ, Rapp B, Parrish TB, Higgins J, Kurani AS, Caplan D, Thompson CK, Ishwar P, Betke M, Kiran S. Multimodal Neural and Behavioral Data Predict Response to Rehabilitation in Chronic Poststroke Aphasia. Stroke 2022; 53:1606-1614. [PMID: 35078348 PMCID: PMC9022691 DOI: 10.1161/strokeaha.121.036749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Poststroke recovery depends on multiple factors and varies greatly across individuals. Using machine learning models, this study investigated the independent and complementary prognostic role of different patient-related factors in predicting response to language rehabilitation after a stroke. METHODS Fifty-five individuals with chronic poststroke aphasia underwent a battery of standardized assessments and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, and received 12 weeks of language treatment. Support vector machine and random forest models were constructed to predict responsiveness to treatment using pretreatment behavioral, demographic, and structural and functional neuroimaging data. RESULTS The best prediction performance was achieved by a support vector machine model trained on aphasia severity, demographics, measures of anatomic integrity and resting-state functional connectivity (F1=0.94). This model resulted in a significantly superior prediction performance compared with support vector machine models trained on all feature sets (F1=0.82, P<0.001) or a single feature set (F1 range=0.68-0.84, P<0.001). Across random forest models, training on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity data yielded the best F1 score (F1=0.87). CONCLUSIONS While behavioral, multimodal neuroimaging data and demographic information carry complementary information in predicting response to rehabilitation in chronic poststroke aphasia, functional connectivity of the brain at rest after stroke is a particularly important predictor of responsiveness to treatment, both alone and combined with other patient-related factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Billot
- Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (A.B., M.V., E.J.B., S.K.), Boston University, MA
- School of Medicine (A.B.), Boston University, MA
| | - Sha Lai
- Department of Computer Science (S.L., P.I., M.B.), Boston University, MA
| | - Maria Varkanitsa
- Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (A.B., M.V., E.J.B., S.K.), Boston University, MA
| | - Emily J. Braun
- Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (A.B., M.V., E.J.B., S.K.), Boston University, MA
| | - Brenda Rapp
- Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (B.R.)
| | - Todd B. Parrish
- Department of Radiology (T.B.P., J.H.), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
| | - James Higgins
- Department of Radiology (T.B.P., J.H.), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
| | - Ajay S. Kurani
- Department of Neurology (A.S.K.), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
| | - David Caplan
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston (D.C.)
| | - Cynthia K. Thompson
- Feinberg School of Medicine and Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (C.K.T.), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
| | - Prakash Ishwar
- Department of Computer Science (S.L., P.I., M.B.), Boston University, MA
| | - Margrit Betke
- Department of Computer Science (S.L., P.I., M.B.), Boston University, MA
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (A.B., M.V., E.J.B., S.K.), Boston University, MA
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Varkanitsa M, Peñaloza C, Charidimou A, Caplan D, Kiran S. White Matter Hyperintensities Predict Response to Language Treatment in Poststroke Aphasia. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2020; 34:945-953. [PMID: 32924765 DOI: 10.1177/1545968320952809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are a radiological marker of brain health that has been associated with language status in poststroke aphasia; however, its association with language treatment outcomes remains unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine whether WMH in the right hemisphere (RH) predict response to language therapy independently from demographics and stroke lesion-related factors in poststroke aphasia. METHODS We used the Fazekas scale to rate WMH in the RH in 30 patients with poststroke aphasia who received language treatment. We developed ordinal regression models to examine language treatment effects as a function of WMH severity after controlling for aphasia severity, stroke lesion volume, time post onset, age, and education level. We also evaluated associations between WMH severity and both pre-treatment naming ability and executive function. RESULTS The severity of WMH in the RH predicted treatment response independently from demographic and stroke-related factors such that patients with less severe WMH exhibited better treatment outcome. WMH scores were not significantly correlated with pretreatment language scores, but they were significantly correlated with pretreatment scores of executive function. CONCLUSION We suggest that the severity of WMH in the RH is a clinically relevant predictor of treatment response in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Varkanitsa
- Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.,Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
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Kasselimis D, Varkanitsa M, Angelopoulou G, Evdokimidis I, Goutsos D, Potagas C. Word Error Analysis in Aphasia: Introducing the Greek Aphasia Error Corpus (GRAEC). Front Psychol 2020; 11:1577. [PMID: 32848990 PMCID: PMC7417660 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Kasselimis
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Maria Varkanitsa
- Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Georgia Angelopoulou
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Ioannis Evdokimidis
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Dionysis Goutsos
- Department of Linguistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Constantin Potagas
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Varkanitsa M, Kasselimis D, Boulouis G, Fugard AJB, Evdokimidis I, Druks J, Potagas C, Van de Koot H. Verbal memory and sentence comprehension in aphasia: A case series. Neurocase 2019; 25:169-176. [PMID: 31272279 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2019.1635624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
This case series explores the relationship between verbal memory capacity and sentence comprehension in four patients with aphasia. Two sentence comprehension tasks showed that two patients, P1 and P2, had impaired syntactic comprehension, whereas P3 and P4's sentence comprehension was intact. The memory assessment tasks showed that P1 and P2 had severely impaired short-term memory, whereas P3 and P4 performed within the normal range in the short-term memory tasks. This finding suggests an association between short-term memory deficit and sentence comprehension difficulties. P1 and P3 exhibited impaired comparable working memory deficits, suggesting a dissociation between working memory and sentence comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Varkanitsa
- Research Department of Linguistics, University College London , London , UK
| | - Dimitrios Kasselimis
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens , Athens , Greece.,Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitry of Crete, Voutes Campus , Heraklion, Crete , Greece
| | - Gregoire Boulouis
- Service d'Imagerie Morphologique et Fonctionnelle, Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Université Paris Descartes , Paris , France
| | - Andrew J B Fugard
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University College London , London , UK.,Department of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck , University of London , UK
| | - Ioannis Evdokimidis
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens , Athens , Greece
| | - Judit Druks
- Research Department of Linguistics, University College London , London , UK
| | - Constantin Potagas
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens , Athens , Greece
| | - Hans Van de Koot
- Research Department of Linguistics, University College London , London , UK
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Angelopoulou G, Kiran S, Kasselimis DI, Meier E, Pan Y, Varkanitsa M, Tsolakopoulos D, Papageorgiou G, Goutsos D, Evdokimidis I, Potagas C. Speech errors patterns in post-stroke aphasia: cross-linguistic evidence from two elicitation tasks. Front Hum Neurosci 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.228.00089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Varkanitsa M, Caplan D. New patterns of eye fixations in sentence comprehension in aphasia. Front Hum Neurosci 2017. [DOI: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2017.223.00017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Angelopoulou G, Varkanitsa M, Kasselimis D, Makrydakis G, Tsolakopoulos D, Roussos P, Goutsos D, Evdokimidis I, Potagas C. Let silence speak about aphasia: possible associations between pause and language related cognitive processes. Front Hum Neurosci 2017. [DOI: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2017.223.00127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Charidimou A, Kasselimis D, Varkanitsa M, Selai C, Potagas C, Evdokimidis I. Why is it difficult to predict language impairment and outcome in patients with aphasia after stroke? J Clin Neurol 2014; 10:75-83. [PMID: 24829592 PMCID: PMC4017023 DOI: 10.3988/jcn.2014.10.2.75] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2012] [Revised: 11/26/2013] [Accepted: 11/27/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the most devastating consequences of stroke is aphasia. Communication problems after stroke can severely impair the patient's quality of life and make even simple everyday tasks challenging. Despite intense research in the field of aphasiology, the type of language impairment has not yet been localized and correlated with brain damage, making it difficult to predict the language outcome for stroke patients with aphasia. Our primary objective is to present the available evidence that highlights the difficulties of predicting language impairment after stroke. The different levels of complexity involved in predicting the lesion site from language impairment and ultimately predicting the long-term outcome in stroke patients with aphasia were explored. Future directions and potential implications for research and clinical practice are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Charidimou
- Stroke Research Group, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
| | - Dimitrios Kasselimis
- Department of Psychology, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece
- Department of Neurology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Maria Varkanitsa
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Linguistics, University College London (UCL), London, UK
| | - Caroline Selai
- Institute of Neurology, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London (UCL), London, UK
| | - Constantin Potagas
- Department of Neurology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Ioannis Evdokimidis
- Department of Neurology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Athens, Greece
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