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Aveni K, Ahmed J, Borovsky A, McRae K, Jenkins ME, Sprengel K, Fraser JA, Orange JB, Knowles T, Roberts AC. Predictive language comprehension in Parkinson's disease. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0262504. [PMID: 36753529 PMCID: PMC9907838 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Verb and action knowledge deficits are reported in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD), even in the absence of dementia or mild cognitive impairment. However, the impact of these deficits on combinatorial semantic processing is less well understood. Following on previous verb and action knowledge findings, we tested the hypothesis that PD impairs the ability to integrate event-based thematic fit information during online sentence processing. Specifically, we anticipated persons with PD with age-typical cognitive abilities would perform more poorly than healthy controls during a visual world paradigm task requiring participants to predict a target object constrained by the thematic fit of the agent-verb combination. Twenty-four PD and 24 healthy age-matched participants completed comprehensive neuropsychological assessments. We recorded participants' eye movements as they heard predictive sentences (The fisherman rocks the boat) alongside target, agent-related, verb-related, and unrelated images. We tested effects of group (PD/control) on gaze using growth curve models. There were no significant differences between PD and control participants, suggesting that PD participants successfully and rapidly use combinatory thematic fit information to predict upcoming language. Baseline sentences with no predictive information (e.g., Look at the drum) confirmed that groups showed equivalent sentence processing and eye movement patterns. Additionally, we conducted an exploratory analysis contrasting PD and controls' performance on low-motion-content versus high-motion-content verbs. This analysis revealed fewer predictive fixations in high-motion sentences only for healthy older adults. PD participants may adapt to their disease by relying on spared, non-action-simulation-based language processing mechanisms, although this conclusion is speculative, as the analyses of high- vs. low-motion items was highly limited by the study design. These findings provide novel evidence that individuals with PD match healthy adults in their ability to use verb meaning to predict upcoming nouns despite previous findings of verb semantic impairment in PD across a variety of tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharine Aveni
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of America
| | - Juweiriya Ahmed
- Department of Psychology, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Arielle Borovsky
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Ken McRae
- Department of Psychology, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Mary E. Jenkins
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Katherine Sprengel
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of America
| | - J. Alexander Fraser
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Ophthalmology, Western University, St. Jo122seph’s Health Care, London, ON, Canada
| | - Joseph B. Orange
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Thea Knowles
- Department of Psychology, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Angela C. Roberts
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of America
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Specific pattern of linguistic impairment in Parkinson's disease patients with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment predicts dementia. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2022:1-9. [PMID: 36226685 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617722000571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Parkinson's disease patients with subjective cognitive decline (PD-SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) have an increased risk of dementia (PDD). Thus, the identification of early cognitive changes that can be useful predictors of PDD is a highly relevant challenge. Posterior cortically based functions, including linguistic processes, have been associated with PDD. However, investigations that have focused on linguistic functions in PD-MCI are scarce and none of them include PD-SCD patients. Our aim was to study language performance in PD-SCD and PD-MCI. Moreover, language subcomponents were considered as predictors of PDD. METHOD Forty-six PD patients and twenty controls were evaluated with a neuropsychological protocol. Patients were classified as PD-SCD and PD-MCI. Language production and comprehension was assessed. Follow-up assessment was conducted to a mean of 7.5 years after the baseline. RESULTS PD-MCI patients showed a poor performance in naming (actions and nouns), action generation, anaphora resolution and sentence comprehension (with and without center-embedded relative clause). PD-SCD showed a poor performance in action naming and action generation. Deficit in action naming was an independent risk factor for PDD during the follow-up. Moreover, the combination of deficit in action words and sentence comprehension without a center-embedded relative clause was associated with a greater risk. CONCLUSIONS The results are of relevance because they suggest that a specific pattern of linguistic dysfunctions, that can be present even in the early stages of the disease, can predict future dementia, reinforcing the importance of advancing in the knowledge of linguistic dysfunctions in predementia stages of PD.
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Asano R, Boeckx C, Seifert U. Hierarchical control as a shared neurocognitive mechanism for language and music. Cognition 2021; 216:104847. [PMID: 34311153 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Although comparative research has made substantial progress in clarifying the relationship between language and music as neurocognitive systems from both a theoretical and empirical perspective, there is still no consensus about which mechanisms, if any, are shared and how they bring about different neurocognitive systems. In this paper, we tackle these two questions by focusing on hierarchical control as a neurocognitive mechanism underlying syntax in language and music. We put forward the Coordinated Hierarchical Control (CHC) hypothesis: linguistic and musical syntax rely on hierarchical control, but engage this shared mechanism differently depending on the current control demand. While linguistic syntax preferably engages the abstract rule-based control circuit, musical syntax rather employs the coordination of the abstract rule-based and the more concrete motor-based control circuits. We provide evidence for our hypothesis by reviewing neuroimaging as well as neuropsychological studies on linguistic and musical syntax. The CHC hypothesis makes a set of novel testable predictions to guide future work on the relationship between language and music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rie Asano
- Systematic Musicology, Institute of Musicology, University of Cologne, Germany.
| | - Cedric Boeckx
- Section of General Linguistics, University of Barcelona, Spain; University of Barcelona Institute for Complex Systems (UBICS), Spain; Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies and Research (ICREA), Spain
| | - Uwe Seifert
- Systematic Musicology, Institute of Musicology, University of Cologne, Germany
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Reifegerste J, Estabrooke IV, Russell LE, Veríssimo J, Johari K, Wilmarth B, Pagan FL, Moussa C, Ullman MT. Can sex influence the neurocognition of language? Evidence from Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia 2020; 148:107633. [PMID: 32971096 PMCID: PMC8613481 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD), which involves basal ganglia degeneration, affects language as well as motor function. However, which aspects of language are impaired in PD and under what circumstances remains unclear. We examined whether lexical and grammatical aspects of language are differentially affected in PD, and whether this dissociation is moderated by sex as well as the degree of basal ganglia degeneration. Our predictions were based on the declarative/procedural model of language. The model posits that grammatical composition, including in regular inflection, depends importantly on left basal ganglia procedural memory circuits, whereas irregular and other lexicalized forms are memorized in declarative memory. Since females tend to show declarative memory advantages as compared to males, the model further posits that females should tend to rely on this system for regulars, which can be stored as lexicalized chunks. We tested non-demented male and female PD patients and healthy control participants on the intensively studied paradigm of English regular and irregular past-tense production. Mixed-effects regression revealed PD deficits only at regular inflection, only in male patients. The degree of left basal ganglia degeneration, as reflected by right-side hypokinesia, predicted only regular inflection, and only in male patients. Left-side hypokinesia did not show this pattern. Past-tense frequency effects suggested that the female patients retrieved regular as well as irregular past-tense forms from declarative memory, whereas the males retrieved only irregulars. Sensitivity analyses showed that the pattern of findings was robust. The results, which are consistent with the declarative/procedural model, suggest a grammatical deficit in PD due to left basal ganglia degeneration, with a relative sparing of lexical retrieval. Female patients appear to compensate for this deficit by relying on chunks stored in declarative memory. More generally, the study elucidates the neurocognition of inflectional morphology and provides evidence that sex can influence how language is computed in the mind and brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jana Reifegerste
- Department of Psychology, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany; Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; Potsdam Research Institute for Multilingualism, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Ivy V Estabrooke
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; Center for Science and Technology Policy, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Lauren E Russell
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - João Veríssimo
- Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Karim Johari
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Barbara Wilmarth
- Translational Neurotherapeutics Program, Laboratory for Dementia and Parkinsonism, Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA; Movement Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Fernando L Pagan
- Translational Neurotherapeutics Program, Laboratory for Dementia and Parkinsonism, Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA; Movement Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Charbel Moussa
- Translational Neurotherapeutics Program, Laboratory for Dementia and Parkinsonism, Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michael T Ullman
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
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Eyigoz E, Courson M, Sedeño L, Rogg K, Orozco-Arroyave JR, Nöth E, Skodda S, Trujillo N, Rodríguez M, Rusz J, Muñoz E, Cardona JF, Herrera E, Hesse E, Ibáñez A, Cecchi G, García AM. From discourse to pathology: Automatic identification of Parkinson's disease patients via morphological measures across three languages. Cortex 2020; 132:191-205. [PMID: 32992069 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2019] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Embodied cognition research on Parkinson's disease (PD) points to disruptions of frontostriatal language functions as sensitive targets for clinical assessment. However, no existing approach has been tested for crosslinguistic validity, let alone by combining naturalistic tasks with machine-learning tools. To address these issues, we conducted the first classifier-based examination of morphological processing (a core frontostriatal function) in spontaneous monologues from PD patients across three typologically different languages. The study comprised 330 participants, encompassing speakers of Spanish (61 patients, 57 matched controls), German (88 patients, 88 matched controls), and Czech (20 patients, 16 matched controls). All subjects described the activities they perform during a regular day, and their monologues were automatically coded via morphological tagging, a computerized method that labels each word with a part-of-speech tag (e.g., noun, verb) and specific morphological tags (e.g., person, gender, number, tense). The ensuing data were subjected to machine-learning analyses to assess whether differential morphological patterns could classify between patients and controls and reflect the former's degree of motor impairment. Results showed robust classification rates, with over 80% of patients being discriminated from controls in each language separately. Moreover, the most discriminative morphological features were associated with the patients' motor compromise (as indicated by Pearson r correlations between predicted and collected motor impairment scores that ranged from moderate to moderate-to-strong across languages). Taken together, our results suggest that morphological patterning, an embodied frontostriatal domain, may be distinctively affected in PD across languages and even under ecological testing conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elif Eyigoz
- IBM Research, T. J. Watson Research Center, New York, USA
| | - Melody Courson
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, CRIUGM Research Center, Montréal, Canada
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Katharina Rogg
- Department of Social Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Juan Rafael Orozco-Arroyave
- Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany; GITA Lab, Faculty of Engineering, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Medellín, Colombia
| | - Elmar Nöth
- Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Skodda
- Department of Neurology, Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany
| | - Natalia Trujillo
- Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Medellín, Colombia; School of Public Health, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Medellín, Colombia
| | - Mabel Rodríguez
- National Institute of Mental Health, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Rusz
- Department of Circuit Theory, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Edinson Muñoz
- Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan F Cardona
- Instituto de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - Eduar Herrera
- Departamento de Estudios Psicológicos, Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States
| | | | - Adolfo M García
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States; Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina.
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Johari K, Walenski M, Reifegerste J, Ashrafi F, Behroozmand R, Daemi M, Ullman MT. A dissociation between syntactic and lexical processing in Parkinson's disease. JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS 2019; 51:221-235. [PMID: 31777416 PMCID: PMC6880793 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2019.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD), which involves the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia, has long been associated with motor deficits. Increasing evidence suggests that language can also be impaired, including aspects of syntactic and lexical processing. However, the exact pattern of these impairments remains somewhat unclear, for several reasons. Few studies have examined and compared syntactic and lexical processing within subjects, so their relative deficits remain to be elucidated. Studies have focused on earlier stages of PD, so syntactic and lexical processing in later stages are less well understood. Research has largely probed English and a handful of other European languages, and it is unclear whether findings generalize more broadly. Finally, few studies have examined links between syntactic/lexical impairments and their neurocognitive substrates, such as measures of basal ganglia degeneration or dopaminergic processes. We addressed these gaps by investigating multiple aspects of Farsi syntactic and lexical processing in 40 Farsi native-speaking moderate-to-severe non-demented PD patients, and 40 healthy controls. Analyses revealed equivalent impairments of syntactic comprehension and syntactic judgment, across different syntactic structures. Lexical processing was impaired only for motor function-related objects (e.g., naming 'hammer', but not 'mountain'), in line with findings of PD deficits at naming action verbs as compared to objects, without the verb/noun confound. In direct comparisons between lexical and syntactic tasks, patients were better at naming words like 'mountain' (but not words like 'hammer') than at syntactic comprehension and syntactic judgment. Performance at syntactic comprehension correlated with the last levodopa equivalent dose. No other correlations were found between syntactic/lexical processing measures and either levodopa equivalent dose or hypokinesia, which reflects degeneration of basal ganglia motor-related circuits. All critical significant main effects, interactions, and correlations yielded large effect sizes. The findings elucidate the nature of syntactic and lexical processing impairments in PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karim Johari
- Speech Neuroscience Lab, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, USA
- Department of Speech and Language Pathology, School of Rehabilitation, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Washington DC, USA
| | - Matthew Walenski
- Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory, School of Communication, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Jana Reifegerste
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Washington DC, USA
- Department of Psychology, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany, University of Muenster, Germany
| | - Farzad Ashrafi
- Department of Neurology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Roozbeh Behroozmand
- Speech Neuroscience Lab, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, USA
| | - Mostafa Daemi
- Department of Speech Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Michael T. Ullman
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Washington DC, USA
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Smith KM, Ash S, Xie SX, Grossman M. Evaluation of Linguistic Markers of Word-Finding Difficulty and Cognition in Parkinson's Disease. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2018; 61:1691-1699. [PMID: 29955824 PMCID: PMC6195062 DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-l-17-0304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 03/05/2018] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Early cognitive symptoms such as word-finding difficulty (WFD) in daily conversation are common in Parkinson's disease (PD), but studies have been limited by a lack of feasible, quantitative measures. Linguistic analysis, focused on pauses in speech, may yield markers of impairment of cognition and communication in PD. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship of linguistic markers in semistructured speech to WFD symptoms and cognitive function in PD. METHOD Speech recordings of description of the Cookie Theft picture in 53 patients with PD without dementia and 23 elderly controls were analyzed with Praat software. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nasreddine et al., 2005), category naming fluency, and confrontation naming tests were administered. Questionnaires rating WFD symptoms and cognitive instrumental activities of daily living were completed. We determined the relationships between (a) pause length and location, (b) MoCA score, and (c) WFD symptoms, using Pearson's correlations and multivariate regression models. RESULTS Compared with controls, patients with PD had more pauses within utterances as well as fewer words per minute and a lower percentage of well-formed sentences. Pauses within utterances differed significantly between PD-mild cognitive impairment and normal cognition (p < .001). Words per minute and percentage of well-formed sentences were predictive of MoCA in multivariate regression models. Pauses before verbs were associated with patient-reported severity of WFD symptoms (p = .006). CONCLUSIONS Linguistic markers including pauses within utterances distinguish patients with PD with mild cognitive symptoms from elderly controls. These markers are associated with global cognitive function before the onset of dementia. Pauses before verbs and grammatical markers may index early cognitive symptoms such as WFD that may interfere with functional communication. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6615401.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara M. Smith
- Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center/UMass Medical School, Worcester
| | - Sharon Ash
- Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degenerative Center, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Sharon X. Xie
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Murray Grossman
- Department of Neurology and the Penn Frontotemporal Degenerative Center, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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8
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Abstract
Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic and other neurons, leading to motor and non-motor deficits. Abnormal eye movements in PD, including fixations, saccades, and convergence, are well described. However, saccadic reading, which requires serial and alternating saccades and fixations, is not well studied, despite its obvious impact on the quality of life. In this study, we assessed saccadic reading using variations of the King-Devick (KD) test, a rapid single digit number naming test, as a way to assess the ability to make serial left-to-right ocular motor movements necessary for reading. We recruited 42 treated PD patients and 80 age-matched controls and compared their reading times with a variety of measures, including age, duration of disease, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25), and Montreal Cognitive assessment (MoCA) test. The subjects performed 4 trials of reading 120 single digit numbers aloud as fast as possible without making errors. In each trial, they read 3 pages (KD1, KD2, and KD3), and each page contained 40 numbers per page in 8 lines with 5 numbers/line. We found that PD patients read about 20% slower than controls on all tests (KD1, 2, and 3 tests) (p < 0.02), and both groups read irregularly spaced numbers slower than regularly spaced numbers. Having lines between numbers to guide reading (KD1 tests) did not impact reading time in both PD and controls, but increased visual crowding as a result of decreased spacing between numbers (KD3 tests) was associated with significantly slower reading times in both PD and control groups. Our study revealed that saccadic reading is slower in PD, but controls and PD patients are both impacted by visuospatial planning challenges posed by increased visual crowding and irregularity of number spacing. Reading time did not correlate with UPDRS or MoCA scores in PD patients but significantly correlated with age, duration of disease, and VFQ-25 scores. The presence of convergence insufficiency did not significantly correlate with reading time in PD patients, although on average there was slower reading time in those with convergence insufficiency by 8 s (p = 0.2613). We propose that a simple reading task using 120 single-digit numbers can be used as a screening tool in the clinical setting to assess functional ocular motor difficulties in Parkinson's disease that can have a profound impact on quality of life.
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9
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Ash S, Jester C, York C, Kofman OL, Langey R, Halpin A, Firn K, Dominguez Perez S, Chahine L, Spindler M, Dahodwala N, Irwin DJ, McMillan C, Weintraub D, Grossman M. Longitudinal decline in speech production in Parkinson's disease spectrum disorders. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2017; 171:42-51. [PMID: 28527315 PMCID: PMC5512868 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2017.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Revised: 05/05/2017] [Accepted: 05/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
We examined narrative speech production longitudinally in non-demented (n=15) and mildly demented (n=8) patients with Parkinson's disease spectrum disorder (PDSD), and we related increasing impairment to structural brain changes in specific language and motor regions. Patients provided semi-structured speech samples, describing a standardized picture at two time points (mean±SD interval=38±24months). The recorded speech samples were analyzed for fluency, grammar, and informativeness. PDSD patients with dementia exhibited significant decline in their speech, unrelated to changes in overall cognitive or motor functioning. Regression analysis in a subset of patients with MRI scans (n=11) revealed that impaired language performance at Time 2 was associated with reduced gray matter (GM) volume at Time 1 in regions of interest important for language functioning but not with reduced GM volume in motor brain areas. These results dissociate language and motor systems and highlight the importance of non-motor brain regions for declining language in PDSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Ash
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States.
| | - Charles Jester
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Collin York
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Olga L Kofman
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Rachel Langey
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Amy Halpin
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Kim Firn
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Sophia Dominguez Perez
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Lama Chahine
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Meredith Spindler
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Nabila Dahodwala
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - David J Irwin
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Corey McMillan
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Daniel Weintraub
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Murray Grossman
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
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10
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Boschi V, Catricalà E, Consonni M, Chesi C, Moro A, Cappa SF. Connected Speech in Neurodegenerative Language Disorders: A Review. Front Psychol 2017; 8:269. [PMID: 28321196 PMCID: PMC5337522 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2016] [Accepted: 02/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Language assessment has a crucial role in the clinical diagnosis of several neurodegenerative diseases. The analysis of extended speech production is a precious source of information encompassing the phonetic, phonological, lexico-semantic, morpho-syntactic, and pragmatic levels of language organization. The knowledge about the distinctive linguistic variables identifying language deficits associated to different neurodegenerative diseases has progressively improved in the last years. However, the heterogeneity of such variables and of the way they are measured and classified limits any generalization and makes the comparison among studies difficult. Here we present an exhaustive review of the studies focusing on the linguistic variables derived from the analysis of connected speech samples, with the aim of characterizing the language disorders of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases, including primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer's disease, movement disorders, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A total of 61 studies have been included, considering only those reporting group analysis and comparisons with a group of healthy persons. This review first analyzes the differences in the tasks used to elicit connected speech, namely picture description, story narration, and interview, considering the possible different contributions to the assessment of different linguistic domains. This is followed by an analysis of the terminologies and of the methods of measurements of the variables, indicating the need for harmonization and standardization. The final section reviews the linguistic domains affected by each different neurodegenerative disease, indicating the variables most consistently impaired at each level and suggesting the key variables helping in the differential diagnosis among diseases. While a large amount of valuable information is already available, the review highlights the need of further work, including the development of automated methods, to take advantage of the richness of connected speech analysis for both research and clinical purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Boschi
- NETS, Center for Neurocognition, Epistemology and Theoretical Syntax, Institute for Advanced Study-Pavia Pavia, Italy
| | - Eleonora Catricalà
- NETS, Center for Neurocognition, Epistemology and Theoretical Syntax, Institute for Advanced Study-Pavia Pavia, Italy
| | - Monica Consonni
- Third Neurology Unit and Motor Neuron Diseases Center, IRCCS Foundation "Carlo Besta" Neurological Institute Milan, Italy
| | - Cristiano Chesi
- NETS, Center for Neurocognition, Epistemology and Theoretical Syntax, Institute for Advanced Study-Pavia Pavia, Italy
| | - Andrea Moro
- NETS, Center for Neurocognition, Epistemology and Theoretical Syntax, Institute for Advanced Study-Pavia Pavia, Italy
| | - Stefano F Cappa
- NETS, Center for Neurocognition, Epistemology and Theoretical Syntax, Institute for Advanced Study-PaviaPavia, Italy; IRCCS S. Giovanni di Dio FatebenefratelliBrescia, Italy
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11
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Murakami H, Momma Y, Nohara T, Mori Y, Futamura A, Sugita T, Ishigaki S, Katoh H, Kezuka M, Ono K, Miller MW, Kawamura M. Improvement in Language Function Correlates with Gait Improvement in Drug-naïve Parkinson's Disease Patients Taking Dopaminergic Medication. JOURNAL OF PARKINSONS DISEASE 2017; 6:209-17. [PMID: 26889633 DOI: 10.3233/jpd-150702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dopaminergic drugs, the gold standard for motor symptoms, are known to affect cognitive function in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of dopaminergic treatment on motor and cognitive function in drug-naïve patients. METHODS Dopaminergic medication (levodopa, dopamine agonist, selegiline) was given to 27 drug-naïve PD patients and increased to a dose optimal for improved motor symptoms. Patients were tested prior to, and 4-7 months after, drug initiation. Motor function was assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Cognitive function was assessed using both the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J) and the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (COGNISTAT-J). Improvements from baseline for both motor and cognitive assessment were compared. RESULTS Mean score of all motor assessments (UPDRS total score of Parts II and III, and sub-scores of tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, gait, and postural instability) and certain cognitive assessments (MoCA-J total score and subscore of delayed recall) significantly improved with dopaminergic medication. Gait score improvement showed significant positive correlation with improvement in MoCA-J language domain and in language-comprehension subtests of COGNISTAT-J using Spearman's correlation coefficients. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed gait score improvement significantly correlated with improvements in the subtests of language-comprehension in COGNISTAT-J. CONCLUSION There is correlated improvement in both gait and language function in de novo PD patients in response to dopaminergic drugs. Gait and language dysfunction in these patients may share a common pathophysiology linked to dopamine deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hidetomo Murakami
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yutaro Momma
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tetsuhito Nohara
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yukiko Mori
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akinori Futamura
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshihisa Sugita
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Seiichiro Ishigaki
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Katoh
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Machiko Kezuka
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kenjiro Ono
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
| | - Michael W Miller
- Medical Sciences Training Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Kawamura
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Showa University Tokyo, Japan
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12
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Whitwell JL, Duffy JR, Machulda MM, Clark HM, Strand EA, Senjem ML, Gunter JL, Spychalla AJ, Petersen RC, Jack CR, Josephs KA. Tracking the development of agrammatic aphasia: A tensor-based morphometry study. Cortex 2016; 90:138-148. [PMID: 27771043 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2016] [Revised: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Agrammatic aphasia can be observed in neurodegenerative disorders and has been traditionally linked with damage to Broca's area, although there have been disagreements concerning whether damage to Broca's area is necessary or sufficient for the development of agrammatism. We aimed to investigate the neuroanatomical correlates of the emergence of agrammatic aphasia utilizing a unique cohort of patients with primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) that did not have agrammatism at baseline but developed agrammatic aphasia over time. Twenty PPAOS patients were recruited and underwent detailed speech/language assessments and 3T MRI at two visits, approximately two years apart. None of the patients showed evidence of agrammatism in writing or speech at baseline. Eight patients developed aphasia at follow-up (progressors) and 12 did not (non-progressors). Tensor-based morphometry utilizing symmetric normalization (SyN) was used to assess patterns of grey matter atrophy and voxel-based morphometry was used to assess patterns of grey matter loss at baseline. The progressors were younger at onset and more likely to show distorted sound substitutions or additions compared to non-progressors. Both groups showed change over time in premotor and motor cortices, posterior frontal lobe, basal ganglia, thalamus and midbrain, but the progressors showed greater rates of atrophy in left pars triangularis, thalamus and putamen compared to non-progressors. The progressors also showed greater grey matter loss in pars triangularis and putamen at baseline. This cohort provided a unique opportunity to assess the anatomical changes that accompany the development of agrammatic aphasia. The results suggest that damage to a network of regions including Broca's area, thalamus and basal ganglia are responsible for the development of agrammatic aphasia in PPAOS. Clinical and neuroimaging abnormalities were also present before the onset of agrammatism that could help improve prognosis in these subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joseph R Duffy
- Department of Neurology (Speech Pathology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Mary M Machulda
- Department of Psychiatry & Psychology (Neuropsychology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Heather M Clark
- Department of Neurology (Speech Pathology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Edythe A Strand
- Department of Neurology (Speech Pathology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Matthew L Senjem
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Information Technology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Jeffrey L Gunter
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Information Technology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | - Ronald C Petersen
- Department of Neurology (Behavioral Neurology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | - Keith A Josephs
- Department of Neurology (Behavioral Neurology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Neurology (Movement Disorders), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
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13
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Galtier I, Nieto A, Lorenzo JN, Barroso J. Mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease: Diagnosis and progression to dementia. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2015; 38:40-50. [DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2015.1087465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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14
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Syntax, action verbs, action semantics, and object semantics in Parkinson's disease: Dissociability, progression, and executive influences. Cortex 2015; 69:237-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2014] [Revised: 03/25/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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15
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Lee JC, Tomblin JB. Procedural Learning and Individual Differences in Language. LANGUAGE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 2015; 11:215-236. [PMID: 26190949 PMCID: PMC4504686 DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2014.904168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to examine different aspects of procedural memory in young adults who varied with regard to their language abilities. We selected a sample of procedural memory tasks, each of which represented a unique type of procedural learning, and has been linked, at least partially, to the functionality of the corticostriatal system. The findings showed that variance in language abilities is associated with performance on different domains of procedural memory, including the motor domain (as shown in the pursuit rotor task), the cognitive domain (as shown in the weather prediction task), and the linguistic domain (as shown in the nonword repetition priming task). These results implicate the corticostriatal system in individual differences in language.
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16
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Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease: More than a Frontostriatal Dysfunction. SPANISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2014; 17:E68. [DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2014.69] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
AbstractCognitive deficit in Parkinson’s disease has been traditionally considered as being mainly related to executive dysfunction secondary to frontostriatal affectation. However, this traditional consideration has recently been challenged. Forty-three nondemented PD patients (mean age = 59.19; SD = 9.64) and twenty control group subjects (mean age = 60.85; SD = 12.26) were studied. They were assessed on a wide range of cognitive functions. Patients showed motor slowing (p = .012), along with alterations in visuoperceptive (p = .001), visuospatial (p = .007) and visuoconstructive functions (p = .017), as well as in visual span (direct: p = .008; inverse: p = .037). Regarding executive functions, differences were not observed in classical measures for verbal fluency (phonetic: p = .28; semantic: p = .27) or in response inhibition (Stroop test: p = .30), while execution was altered in other prefrontal tasks (Wisconsin Test: p = .003; action fluency: p = .039). Patients showed altered performance in verbal learning processes (p = .005) and delayed memory (free: p = .032; cued: p = .006), visuospatial learning (p = .016) and linguistic functions (naming: p < .001; comprehension: p = .007). Poor performance in visuospatial memory is predicted by deficits in working memory and visuospatial perception. Taken together, the observed alterations not only suggest prefrontal affectation, but also temporal and parietal systems impairment. Thus, cognitive dysfunction in nondemented PD patients cannot be exclusively explained by frontostriatal circuit affectation and the resulting executive dysfunction.
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17
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Boeckx C, Benítez-Burraco A. The shape of the human language-ready brain. Front Psychol 2014; 5:282. [PMID: 24772099 PMCID: PMC3983487 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2013] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Our core hypothesis is that the emergence of our species-specific language-ready brain ought to be understood in light of the developmental changes expressed at the levels of brain morphology and neural connectivity that occurred in our species after the split from Neanderthals–Denisovans and that gave us a more globular braincase configuration. In addition to changes at the cortical level, we hypothesize that the anatomical shift that led to globularity also entailed significant changes at the subcortical level. We claim that the functional consequences of such changes must also be taken into account to gain a fuller understanding of our linguistic capacity. Here we focus on the thalamus, which we argue is central to language and human cognition, as it modulates fronto-parietal activity. With this new neurobiological perspective in place, we examine its possible molecular basis. We construct a candidate gene set whose members are involved in the development and connectivity of the thalamus, in the evolution of the human head, and are known to give rise to language-associated cognitive disorders. We submit that the new gene candidate set opens up new windows into our understanding of the genetic basis of our linguistic capacity. Thus, our hypothesis aims at generating new testing grounds concerning core aspects of language ontogeny and phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cedric Boeckx
- Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies and Research (ICREA) Barcelona, Spain ; Department of Linguistics, Universitat de Barcelona Barcelona, Spain
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18
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Barbas H, García-Cabezas MÁ, Zikopoulos B. Frontal-thalamic circuits associated with language. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2013; 126:49-61. [PMID: 23211411 PMCID: PMC3615046 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2012.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2011] [Revised: 09/20/2012] [Accepted: 10/18/2012] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Thalamic nuclei associated with language including the ventral lateral, ventral anterior, intralaminar and mediodorsal form a hub that uniquely receives the output of the basal ganglia and cerebellum, and is connected with frontal (premotor and prefrontal) cortices through two parallel circuits: a thalamic pathway targets the middle frontal cortical layers focally, and the other innervates widely cortical layer 1, poised to recruit other cortices and thalamic nuclei for complex cognitive operations. Return frontal pathways to the thalamus originate from cortical layers 6 and 5. Information through this integrated thalamo-cortical system is gated by the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus and modulated by dopamine, representing a specialization in primates. The intricate dialogue of distinct thalamic nuclei with the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and specific dorsolateral prefrontal and premotor cortices associated with language, suggests synergistic roles in the complex but seemingly effortless sequential transformation of cognitive operations for speech production in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Barbas
- Neural Systems Laboratory, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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19
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Péran P, Nemmi F, Méligne D, Cardebat D, Peppe A, Rascol O, Caltagirone C, Demonet JF, Sabatini U. Effect of levodopa on both verbal and motor representations of action in Parkinson's disease: a fMRI study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2013; 125:324-329. [PMID: 22841350 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2012.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2010] [Revised: 04/13/2012] [Accepted: 06/14/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have a specific impairment of verb production compared with noun generation. One interpretation of this deficit suggested the influence of striato-frontal dysfunction on action-related verb processing. The aim of our study was to investigate cerebral changes after motor improvement due to dopaminergic medication on the neural circuitry supporting action representation in the brain as mediated by verb generation and motor imagery in PD patients. Functional magnetic resonance imaging on 8 PD patients in "ON" dopaminergic treatment state (DTS) and in "OFF" DTS was used to explore the brain activity during three different tasks: Object Naming (ObjN), Generation of Action Verbs (GenA) in which patients were asked to overtly say an action associated with a picture and mental simulation of action (MSoA) was investigated by asking subjects to mentally simulate an action related to a depicted object. The distribution of brain activities associated with these tasks whatever DTS was very similar to results of previous studies. The results showed that brain activity related to semantics of action is modified by dopaminergic treatment in PD patients. This cerebral reorganisation concerns mainly motor and premotor cortex suggesting an involvement of the putaminal motor loop according to the "motor" theory of verb processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Péran
- Inserm, Imagerie Cérébrale et Handicaps Neurologiques, UMR 825, 31059 Toulouse, France.
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20
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Moore AB, Li Z, Tyner CE, Hu X, Crosson B. Bilateral basal ganglia activity in verbal working memory. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2013; 125:316-323. [PMID: 22854261 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2012.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2010] [Revised: 03/31/2012] [Accepted: 05/19/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Although the cortical substrates of verbal working memory are reasonably well understood, less is known about the relative contribution of subcortical structures to verbal working memory. Therefore, in addition to elaboration of a model of verbal working memory by including a specific focus on basal ganglia, the purpose of this study also was to examine potential differences in neural function across the complete process of verbal working memory, from encoding through retrieval. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to observe regions of brain activation in neurologically normal participants during a task of verbal working memory. The expected frontal-parietal network was found to be active over the course of the verbal working memory task. The encoding portion of the task engaged left inferior frontal regions and bilateral caudate and thalamus. Bilateral medial thalamus and posterior cingulate regions were engaged during the maintenance phase of the task. Retrieval activated the left inferior frontal sulcus and posterior parietal/occipital regions. Findings are considered in light of current models of verbal working memory and subcortical structures.
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21
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Vanhoutte S, De Letter M, Corthals P, Van Borsel J, Santens P. Quantitative analysis of language production in Parkinson's disease using a cued sentence generation task. CLINICAL LINGUISTICS & PHONETICS 2012; 26:863-881. [PMID: 22954366 DOI: 10.3109/02699206.2012.711420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The present study examined language production skills in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. A unique cued sentence generation task was created in order to reduce demands on memory and attention. Differences in sentence production abilities according to disease severity and cognitive impairments were assessed. Language samples were obtained from 20 PD patients and 20 healthy control participants matched for age, sex and educational level. In addition, a cognitive test for verbal memory and resistance to cognitive interference was administered. Statistical comparisons revealed significant language changes in an advanced stage of the disease. Advanced PD patients showed a reduction in lexical diversity in notional verbs, which was absent in nouns. Cognitive dysfunctions such as impaired verbal memory are suggested to contribute to the typical noun/verb dissociation in PD patients. In addition, advanced PD patients produced more semantic perseverations, which may be related to set-switching problems. In conclusion, whether language disturbances in PD are the result of non-linguistic cognitive dysfunctions or reflect pure language deficits exacerbated by cognitive impairments, remains a matter of debate. However, the negative impact of cognitive dysfunctions may be important.
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22
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Phillips L, Litcofsky KA, Pelster M, Gelfand M, Ullman MT, Charles PD. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation impacts language in early Parkinson's disease. PLoS One 2012; 7:e42829. [PMID: 22880117 PMCID: PMC3413674 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2011] [Accepted: 07/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the basal ganglia improves motor outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD), its effects on cognition, including language, remain unclear. This study examined the impact of subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS on two fundamental capacities of language, grammatical and lexical functions. These functions were tested with the production of regular and irregular past-tenses, which contrast aspects of grammatical (regulars) and lexical (irregulars) processing while controlling for multiple potentially confounding factors. Aspects of the motor system were tested by contrasting the naming of manipulated (motor) and non-manipulated (non-motor) objects. Performance was compared between healthy controls and early-stage PD patients treated with either DBS/medications or medications alone. Patients were assessed on and off treatment, with controls following a parallel testing schedule. STN-DBS improved naming of manipulated (motor) but not non-manipulated (non-motor) objects, as compared to both controls and patients with just medications, who did not differ from each other across assessment sessions. In contrast, STN-DBS led to worse performance at regulars (grammar) but not irregulars (lexicon), as compared to the other two subject groups, who again did not differ. The results suggest that STN-DBS negatively impacts language in early PD, but may be specific in depressing aspects of grammatical and not lexical processing. The finding that STN-DBS affects both motor and grammar (but not lexical) functions strengthens the view that both depend on basal ganglia circuitry, although the mechanisms for its differential impact on the two (improved motor, impaired grammar) remain to be elucidated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Phillips
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- * E-mail: (LP); (MU); (PDC)
| | - Kaitlyn A. Litcofsky
- Brain and Language Lab, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, Center for Language Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Michael Pelster
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Matthew Gelfand
- Brain and Language Lab, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
| | - Michael T. Ullman
- Brain and Language Lab, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
- * E-mail: (LP); (MU); (PDC)
| | - P. David Charles
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- * E-mail: (LP); (MU); (PDC)
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Sambin S, Teichmann M, de Diego Balaguer R, Giavazzi M, Sportiche D, Schlenker P, Bachoud-Lévi AC. The role of the striatum in sentence processing: disentangling syntax from working memory in Huntington's disease. Neuropsychologia 2012; 50:2625-35. [PMID: 22820633 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2011] [Revised: 06/29/2012] [Accepted: 07/10/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The role of sub-cortical structures in language processing remains controversial. In particular, it is unclear whether the striatum subserves language-specific processes such as syntax or whether it solely affects language performance via its significant role in executive functioning and/or working memory. Here, in order to address this issue, we attempted to equalize working memory constraints while varying syntactic complexity, to study sentence comprehension in 15 patients with striatal damage, namely Huntington's disease at early stage, and in 15 healthy controls. More particularly, we manipulated the syntactic relation between a name and a pronoun while holding the distance between them constant. We exploited a formal principle of syntactic theory called Principle C. This principle states that whereas in a sentence such as "Paul smiled when he entered" Paul and he can be a single person, this interpretation is blocked in sentences such as "He smiled when Paul entered". In a second experiment we varied working memory load using noun-adjective gender agreement in center-embedded and right-branching relatives (e.g., "the girl who watches the dog is green" vs. "the girl watches the dog which is green"). The results show that HD patients correctly establish name-pronoun co-reference but they fail to block it when Principle C should apply. Furthermore, they have good performance with both center-embedded and right-branching relatives, suggesting that their difficulties in sentence comprehension do not arise from memory load impairment during sentence processing. Taken together, our findings indicate that the striatum holds a genuine role in syntactic processing, which cannot be reduced to its involvement in working memory. However, it only impacts on particular aspects of syntax that may relate to complex computations whereas other operations appear to be preserved. Hypotheses about the role of the striatum in syntactic processing are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Sambin
- INSERM U955, Equipe 1, Neuropsychologie Interventionnelle, IMRB, Créteil, France
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24
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Ye Z, Milenkova M, Mohammadi B, Kollewe K, Schrader C, Dengler R, Samii A, Münte TF. Impaired comprehension of temporal connectives in Parkinson’s disease—A neuroimaging study. Neuropsychologia 2012; 50:1794-800. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2011] [Revised: 03/29/2012] [Accepted: 04/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Ash S, Xie SX, Gross RG, Dreyfuss M, Boller A, Camp E, Morgan B, O'Shea J, Grossman M. The organization and anatomy of narrative comprehension and expression in Lewy body spectrum disorders. Neuropsychology 2012; 26:368-84. [PMID: 22309984 PMCID: PMC3348419 DOI: 10.1037/a0027115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Patients with Lewy body spectrum disorders (LBSD) such as Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's disease with dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies exhibit deficits in both narrative comprehension and narrative expression. The present research examines the hypothesis that these impairments are due to a material-neutral deficit in organizational executive resources rather than to impairments of language per se. We predicted that comprehension and expression of narrative would be similarly affected and that deficits in both expression and comprehension of narrative would be related to the same anatomic distribution of prefrontal disease. METHOD We examined 29 LBSD patients and 26 healthy seniors on their comprehension and expression of narrative discourse. For comprehension, we measured accuracy and latency in judging events with high and low associativity from familiar scripts such as "going fishing." The expression task involved maintaining the connectedness of events while narrating a story from a wordless picture book. RESULTS LBSD patients were impaired on measures of narrative organization during both comprehension and expression relative to healthy seniors. Measures of organization during narrative expression and comprehension were significantly correlated with each other. These measures both correlated with executive measures but not with neuropsychological measures of lexical semantics or grammar. Voxel-based morphometry revealed overlapping regressions relating frontal atrophy to narrative comprehension, narrative expression, and measures of executive control. CONCLUSIONS Difficulty with narrative discourse in LBSD stems in part from a deficit of organization common to comprehension and expression. This deficit is related to prefrontal cortical atrophy in LBSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Ash
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Ibáñez A, Cardona JF, Dos Santos YV, Blenkmann A, Aravena P, Roca M, Hurtado E, Nerguizian M, Amoruso L, Gómez-Arévalo G, Chade A, Dubrovsky A, Gershanik O, Kochen S, Glenberg A, Manes F, Bekinschtein T. Motor-language coupling: direct evidence from early Parkinson's disease and intracranial cortical recordings. Cortex 2012; 49:968-84. [PMID: 22482695 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2012] [Revised: 02/28/2012] [Accepted: 02/28/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Language and action systems are functionally coupled in the brain as demonstrated by converging evidence using Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and lesion studies. In particular, this coupling has been demonstrated using the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) in which motor activity and language interact. The ACE task requires participants to listen to sentences that described actions typically performed with an open hand (e.g., clapping), a closed hand (e.g., hammering), or without any hand action (neutral); and to press a large button with either an open hand position or closed hand position immediately upon comprehending each sentence. The ACE is defined as a longer reaction time (RT) in the action-sentence incompatible conditions than in the compatible conditions. Here we investigated direct motor-language coupling in two novel and uniquely informative ways. First, we measured the behavioural ACE in patients with motor impairment (early Parkinson's disease - EPD), and second, in epileptic patients with direct electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings. In experiment 1, EPD participants with preserved general cognitive repertoire, showed a much diminished ACE relative to non-EPD volunteers. Moreover, a correlation between ACE performance and action-verb processing (kissing and dancing test - KDT) was observed. Direct cortical recordings (ECoG) in motor and language areas (experiment 2) demonstrated simultaneous bidirectional effects: motor preparation affected language processing (N400 at left inferior frontal gyrus and middle/superior temporal gyrus), and language processing affected activity in movement-related areas (motor potential at premotor and M1). Our findings show that the ACE paradigm requires ongoing integration of preserved motor and language coupling (abolished in EPD) and engages motor-temporal cortices in a bidirectional way. In addition, both experiments suggest the presence of a motor-language network which is not restricted to somatotopically defined brain areas. These results open new pathways in the fields of motor diseases, theoretical approaches to language understanding, and models of action-perception coupling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO); Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Ash S, McMillan C, Gross RG, Cook P, Gunawardena D, Morgan B, Boller A, Siderowf A, Grossman M. Impairments of speech fluency in Lewy body spectrum disorder. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2012; 120:290-302. [PMID: 22099969 PMCID: PMC3299896 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2011.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2011] [Revised: 08/08/2011] [Accepted: 09/16/2011] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Few studies have examined connected speech in demented and non-demented patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We assessed the speech production of 35 patients with Lewy body spectrum disorder (LBSD), including non-demented PD patients, patients with PD dementia (PDD), and patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), in a semi-structured narrative speech sample in order to characterize impairments of speech fluency and to determine the factors contributing to reduced speech fluency in these patients. Both demented and non-demented PD patients exhibited reduced speech fluency, characterized by reduced overall speech rate and long pauses between sentences. Reduced speech rate in LBSD correlated with measures of between-utterance pauses, executive functioning, and grammatical comprehension. Regression analyses related non-fluent speech, grammatical difficulty, and executive difficulty to atrophy in frontal brain regions. These findings indicate that multiple factors contribute to slowed speech in LBSD, and this is mediated in part by disease in frontal brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Ash
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, United States.
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Gross RG, McMillan CT, Chandrasekaran K, Dreyfuss M, Ash S, Avants B, Cook P, Moore P, Libon DJ, Siderowf A, Grossman M. Sentence processing in Lewy body spectrum disorder: the role of working memory. Brain Cogn 2012; 78:85-93. [PMID: 22218297 PMCID: PMC3265703 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2011] [Revised: 10/06/2011] [Accepted: 12/09/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Prior work has related sentence processing to executive deficits in non-demented patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We extended this investigation to patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and PD dementia (PDD) by examining grammatical and working memory components of sentence processing in the full range of patients with Lewy body spectrum disorder (LBSD). Thirty-three patients with LBSD were given a two-alternative, forced-choice sentence-picture matching task. Sentence type, working memory, and grammatical structure were systematically manipulated in the sentences. We found that patients with PDD and DLB were significantly impaired relative to non-demented PD patients and healthy controls. The deficit in PDD/DLB was most pronounced for sentences lengthened by the strategic placement of an additional prepositional phrase and for sentences with an additional proposition due to a center-embedded clause. However, there was no effect for subject-relative versus object-relative grammatical structure. An MRI voxel-based morphometry analysis in a subset of patients showed significant gray matter thinning in the frontal lobe bilaterally, and this extended to temporal, parietal and occipital regions. A regression analysis related sentence processing difficulty in LBSD to frontal neocortex, including inferior prefrontal, premotor, and dorsolateral prefrontal regions, as well as right superior temporal cortex. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that patients with PDD and DLB have difficulty processing sentences with increased working memory demands and that this deficit is related in part to their frontal disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel G Gross
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, United States
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Grossman M, Gross RG, Moore P, Dreyfuss M, McMillan CT, Cook PA, Ash S, Siderowf A. Difficulty processing temporary syntactic ambiguities in Lewy body spectrum disorder. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2012; 120:52-60. [PMID: 21962945 PMCID: PMC3253921 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2011.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2011] [Revised: 08/02/2011] [Accepted: 08/26/2011] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
While grammatical aspects of language are preserved, executive deficits are prominent in Lewy body spectrum disorder (LBSD), including Parkinson's disease (PD), Parkinson's dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We examined executive control during sentence processing in LBSD by assessing temporary structural ambiguities. Using an on-line word detection procedure, patients heard sentences with a syntactic structure that has high-compatibility or low-compatibility with the main verb's statistically preferred syntactic structure, and half of the sentences were lengthened strategically between the onset of the ambiguity and its resolution. We found selectively slowed processing of lengthened ambiguous sentences in the PDD/DLB subgroup. This correlated with impairments on measures of executive control. Regression analyses related the working memory deficit during ambiguous sentence processing to significant cortical thinning in frontal and parietal regions. These findings emphasize the role of prefrontal disease in the executive limitations that interfere with processing ambiguous sentences in LBSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murray Grossman
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, United States.
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Colman KSF, Koerts J, Stowe LA, Leenders KL, Bastiaanse R. Sentence comprehension and its association with executive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease. PARKINSONS DISEASE 2011; 2011:213983. [PMID: 22135760 PMCID: PMC3202107 DOI: 10.4061/2011/213983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2011] [Revised: 06/16/2011] [Accepted: 07/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Coexistent impairments in executive functions and language comprehension in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been repeatedly observed. In this study, the aim was to provide insights into the interaction between linguistic representation and processing and executive functioning. Therefore, sentence comprehension and executive functions were assessed in 28 Dutch-speaking PD patients and 28 healthy control subjects. Three aspects of the sentence materials were varied: (1) phrase structure complexity, (2) sentence length, and (3) picture congruence. PD patients with mild-to-moderate disease severity showed decreased sentence comprehension compared to healthy control subjects. The difficulties encountered by PD patients were not limited to one aspect of the sentence materials. The same pattern of results was present in healthy control subjects. Deficits in set-switching were specifically associated with the comprehension of passive sentences. Generally, our study confirms that there does not appear to be a language faculty encapsulated from the influence of executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrien S F Colman
- Department of Neurolinguistics, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 716, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
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31
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Ash S, McMillan C, Gross RG, Cook P, Morgan B, Boller A, Dreyfuss M, Siderowf A, Grossman M. The organization of narrative discourse in Lewy body spectrum disorder. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2011; 119:30-41. [PMID: 21689852 PMCID: PMC3163000 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2011.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2010] [Revised: 05/19/2011] [Accepted: 05/23/2011] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Narrative discourse is an essential component of day-to-day communication, but little is known about narrative in Lewy body spectrum disorder (LBSD), including Parkinson's disease (PD), Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We performed a detailed analysis of a semi-structured speech sample in 32 non-aphasic patients with LBSD, and we related their narrative impairments to gray matter (GM) atrophy using voxel-based morphometry. We found that patients with PDD and DLB have significant difficulty organizing their narrative speech. This was correlated with deficits on measures of executive functioning and speech fluency. Regression analyses associated this deficit with reduced cortical volume in inferior frontal and anterior cingulate regions. These findings are consistent with a model of narrative discourse that includes executive as well as language components and with an impairment of the organizational component of narrative discourse in patients with PDD and DLB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Ash
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, USA.
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32
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Walsh B, Smith A. Linguistic complexity, speech production, and comprehension in Parkinson's disease: behavioral and physiological indices. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2011; 54:787-802. [PMID: 21060141 PMCID: PMC3418801 DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0085)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate the effects of increased syntactic complexity and utterance length demands on speech production and comprehension in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) using behavioral and physiological measures. METHOD Speech response latency, interarticulatory coordinative consistency, accuracy of speech production, and response latency and accuracy on a receptive language task were analyzed in 16 individuals with PD and 16 matched control participants. RESULTS Individuals with PD had higher oral motor coordination variability, took a longer time to initiate speech, and made more errors on the speaking task compared with the control group. They also received lower scores on the 2 complex conditions of the receptive language task. Increased length and syntactic complexity negatively affected performance in both groups of speakers. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide a novel window into the speech deficits associated with PD by examining performance on longer, sentence-level utterances in contrast to earlier investigations of single-word or nonword productions. Speech motor control processes and language comprehension were adversely affected in the majority of our participants with mild to moderate PD compared to the control group. Finally, increased syntactic complexity and sentence length affected both the healthy aging and PD groups' speech production performance at the behavioral and kinematic levels.
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33
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del Río D, Maestú F, López-Higes R, Moratti S, Gutiérrez R, Maestú C, del-Pozo F. Conflict and cognitive control during sentence comprehension: Recruitment of a frontal network during the processing of Spanish object-first sentences. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:382-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2010] [Revised: 07/26/2010] [Accepted: 12/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Simard F, Joanette Y, Petrides M, Jubault T, Madjar C, Monchi O. Fronto-striatal Contribution to Lexical Set-Shifting. Cereb Cortex 2010; 21:1084-93. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhq182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Abstract
Recognizing the specific speech act (Searle, 1969) that a speaker performs with an utterance is a fundamental feature of pragmatic competence. However, little is known about neurocognitive mediation of speech act comprehension. The present research examined the extent to which people with Parkinson's disease (PD) comprehend specific speech acts. In the first experiment, participants read conversational utterances and then performed a lexical decision task (decide whether a target string of letters was a word). Consistent with past research, nonimpaired participants performed this task more quickly when the target string was the speech act associated with the preceding utterance. In contrast, people with PD did not demonstrate this effect, suggesting that speech act activation is slowed or is not an automatic component of comprehension for people with PD. In a second study, participants were given unlimited time to indicate their recognition of the speech act performed with an utterance. PD participants were significantly poorer at this task than were control participants. We conclude that a previously undocumented language disorder exists in PD and that this disorder involves a selective deficit in speech act comprehension. Frontostriatal systems (the systems impaired in PD) likely contribute to normal speech act comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Holtgraves
- Department of Psychological Science, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA.
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36
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Copland DA, Sefe G, Ashley J, Hudson C, Chenery HJ. Impaired semantic inhibition during lexical ambiguity repetition in Parkinson's disease. Cortex 2009; 45:943-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2008] [Revised: 12/28/2008] [Accepted: 02/25/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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37
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Hochstadt J. Set-shifting and the on-line processing of relative clauses in Parkinson's disease: Results from a novel eye-tracking method. Cortex 2009; 45:991-1011. [PMID: 19473654 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2008] [Revised: 03/18/2009] [Accepted: 03/24/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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38
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Péran P, Cardebat D, Cherubini A, Piras F, Luccichenti G, Peppe A, Caltagirone C, Rascol O, Démonet JF, Sabatini U. Object naming and action-verb generation in Parkinson's disease: A fMRI study. Cortex 2009; 45:960-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2008] [Revised: 10/02/2008] [Accepted: 02/26/2009] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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39
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Stewart F, Worrall L, Egan J, Oxenham D. Addressing Internet training issues for people with Parkinson's disease. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1080/14417040400010165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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40
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Dominey PF, Inui T, Hoen M. Neural network processing of natural language: II. Towards a unified model of corticostriatal function in learning sentence comprehension and non-linguistic sequencing. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2009; 109:80-92. [PMID: 18835637 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2008.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2007] [Revised: 07/17/2008] [Accepted: 08/11/2008] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
A central issue in cognitive neuroscience today concerns how distributed neural networks in the brain that are used in language learning and processing can be involved in non-linguistic cognitive sequence learning. This issue is informed by a wealth of functional neurophysiology studies of sentence comprehension, along with a number of recent studies that examined the brain processes involved in learning non-linguistic sequences, or artificial grammar learning (AGL). The current research attempts to reconcile these data with several current neurophysiologically based models of sentence processing, through the specification of a neural network model whose architecture is constrained by the known cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) neuroanatomy of the human language system. The challenge is to develop simulation models that take into account constraints both from neuranatomical connectivity, and from functional imaging data, and that can actually learn and perform the same kind of language and artificial syntax tasks. In our proposed model, structural cues encoded in a recurrent cortical network in BA47 activate a CSTC circuit to modulate the flow of lexical semantic information from BA45 to an integrated representation of meaning at the sentence level in BA44/6. During language acquisition, corticostriatal plasticity is employed to allow closed class structure to drive thematic role assignment. From the AGL perspective, repetitive internal structure in the AGL strings is encoded in BA47, and activates the CSTC circuit to predict the next element in the sequence. Simulation results from Caplan's [Caplan, D., Baker, C., & Dehaut, F. (1985). Syntactic determinants of sentence comprehension in aphasia. Cognition, 21, 117-175] test of syntactic comprehension, and from Gomez and Schvaneveldts' [Gomez, R. L., & Schvaneveldt, R. W. (1994). What is learned from artificial grammars?. Transfer tests of simple association. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 20, 396-410] artificial grammar learning experiments are presented. These results are discussed in the context of a brain architecture for learning grammatical structure for multiple natural languages, and non-linguistic sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Ford Dominey
- INSERM U846 Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, 18 ave. Doyen Lepine, 69675 Bron Cedex, France.
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41
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Cortico-striatal function in sentence comprehension: insights from neurophysiology and modeling. Cortex 2009; 45:1012-8. [PMID: 19446801 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2008] [Revised: 12/17/2008] [Accepted: 03/13/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The characteristic organization of cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus can be considered a "canonical" macro-circuit of the primate brain. The intact function of the system requires intact function at the different nodes of the circuit. Cortico-striatal circuits are compromised in Parkinson's disease (PD) due to progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the basal ganglia. Among the cognitive deficits observed in PD is an ensemble of perturbations in language processing, thus implying a role for basal ganglia in language. Related studies have suggested that basal ganglia dysfunction results in a more general deficit in certain forms of rule-based processing. From a functional neurophysiology perspective, neuro-imaging studies reveal activation of the striatum in diverse aspects of language processing including syntactic comprehension. We present a model in which the unique capacity for the striatum to integrate functionally related cortical inputs is exploited for language processing. Converging cortico-striatal connections provide a mechanism that binds cortical representations of syntactic context in BA47 to structure mapping representations (corresponding to grammatical constructions) in BA44. This allows the retrieval of the appropriate grammatical construction to BA44 via thalamo-cortical connections, where it is subsequently used to perform the structure mapping. In this model, the rule retrieval function of the cortico-striatal systems is not unique to language. The model is evaluated in the context of behavioral and neurophysiological results from basal ganglia dysfunction. Likewise, as the model makes strong assumptions about the cortical and subcortical neuroanatomy, recent results in human neuroanatomy are reviewed in the context of these assumptions.
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McKinlay A, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Grace RC, Roger D. The effect of attentional set-shifting, working memory, and processing speed on pragmatic language functioning in Parkinson's disease. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1080/09541440802281266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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43
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Boulenger V, Mechtouff L, Thobois S, Broussolle E, Jeannerod M, Nazir TA. Word processing in Parkinson's disease is impaired for action verbs but not for concrete nouns. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46:743-56. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 210] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2007] [Revised: 09/18/2007] [Accepted: 10/12/2007] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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44
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Ueno A, Abe N, Suzuki M, Hirayama K, Mori E, Tashiro M, Itoh M, Fujii T. Reactivation of medial temporal lobe and occipital lobe during the retrieval of color information: A positron emission tomography study. Neuroimage 2007; 34:1292-8. [PMID: 17150375 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2006] [Revised: 10/20/2006] [Accepted: 10/22/2006] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
It is widely accepted that memory traces of an event include various types of information about the content of the event and about the circumstances in which the individual experienced it. However, how these various types of information are stored and later retrieved is poorly understood. One hypothesis postulates that the retrieval of specific event information reactivates regions that were active during the encoding of this information, with the aid of binding functions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures. We used positron emission tomography to identify the brain regions related to the encoding and retrieval of color information. Specifically, we assessed whether overlapping activity was found in both the MTL structures and color-related cortical regions during the encoding and retrieval of color information attached with meaningless shapes. During the study, subjects were asked to encode colored (red or green) and achromatic random shapes. At subsequent testing, subjects were presented with only achromatic shapes, which had been presented with or without colors during encoding, and were engaged in retrieval tasks of shapes and colors. Overlapping activity was found in the MTL and occipital lobe (the lingual and inferior occipital gyri) in the right hemisphere during the encoding and retrieval of meaningless shapes with color information compared with those without color information. Although there are some limitations to be considered, the present findings seem to support the view that the retrieval of specific event information is associated with reactivation of both the MTL structures and the regions involved during encoding of the information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aya Ueno
- Department of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
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Hochstadt J, Nakano H, Lieberman P, Friedman J. The roles of sequencing and verbal working memory in sentence comprehension deficits in Parkinson's disease. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2006; 97:243-57. [PMID: 16332387 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2005.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2005] [Revised: 09/24/2005] [Accepted: 10/18/2005] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Studies of sentence comprehension deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients suggest that language processing involves circuits connecting subcortical and cortical regions. Anatomically segregated neural circuits appear to support different cognitive and motor functions. To investigate which functions are implicated in PD comprehension deficits, we tested comprehension, verbal working memory span, and cognitive set-switching in a non-linguistic task in 41 PD patients; we also obtained speech measurements reflecting motor sequencing processes that may be involved in articulatory rehearsal within working memory. Comprehension of sentences with center-embedded or final relative clauses was impaired when they could not be understood from lexical semantic content alone. Overall comprehension error rates correlated strongly with impaired set-switching and significantly with reduced working memory span and speech motor sequencing deficits. Correlations with comprehension of different sentence structures indicate that these impairments do not represent a single deficit; rather, PD comprehension deficits appear to arise from several independent mechanisms. Deficits in cognitive set-switching or underlying inhibitory processes may compromise the ability to process relative clauses. Deficits in verbal working memory appear to impair comprehension of long-distance dependencies. Speech sequencing correlated with neither set-switching nor verbal working memory span, consistent with their being supported by independent, segregated cortico-subcortical circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse Hochstadt
- Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
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46
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Cooke A, Grossman M, DeVita C, Gonzalez-Atavales J, Moore P, Chen W, Gee J, Detre J. Large-scale neural network for sentence processing. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2006; 96:14-36. [PMID: 16168473 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2005.07.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2004] [Revised: 07/09/2005] [Accepted: 07/11/2005] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Our model of sentence comprehension includes at least grammatical processes important for structure-building, and executive resources such as working memory that support these grammatical processes. We hypothesized that a core network of brain regions supports grammatical processes, and that additional brain regions are activated depending on the working memory demands associated with processing a particular grammatical feature. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test this hypothesis by comparing cortical activation patterns during coherence judgments of sentences with three different syntactic features. We found activation of the ventral portion of left inferior frontal cortex during judgments of violations of each grammatical feature. Increased recruitment of the dorsal portion of left inferior frontal cortex was seen during judgments of violations of specific grammatical features that appear to involve a more prominent working memory component. Left posterolateral temporal cortex and anterior cingulate were also implicated in judging some of the grammatical features. Our observations are consistent with a large-scale neural network for sentence processing that includes a core set of regions for detecting and repairing several different kinds of grammatical features, and additional regions that appear to participate depending on the working memory demands associated with processing a particular grammatical feature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayanna Cooke
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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47
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Stowe LA, Paans AMJ, Wijers AA, Zwarts F. Activations of "motor" and other non-language structures during sentence comprehension. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2004; 89:290-299. [PMID: 15068911 DOI: 10.1016/s0093-934x(03)00359-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/26/2003] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
In this paper we report the results of an experiment in which subjects read syntactically unambiguous and ambiguous sentences which were disambiguated after several words to the less likely possibility. Understanding such sentences involves building an initial structure, inhibiting the non-preferred structure, detecting that later input is incompatible with the initial structure, and reactivating the alternative structure. The ambiguous sentences activated four areas more than the unambiguous sentences. These areas are the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the right basal ganglia (BG), the right posterior dorsal cerebellum (CB) and the left median superior frontal gyrus (SFG). The left IFG is normally activated when syntactic processing complexity is increased and probably supports that function in the current study as well. We discuss four hypotheses concerning how these areas may support comprehension of syntactically ambiguous sentences. (1) The left IFG, right CB and BG could support articulatory rehearsal used to support the processing of ambiguous sentences. This seems unlikely since the activation pattern associated with articulatory rehearsal in other studies is not similar to that seen here. (2) The CB acts as an error detector in motor processing. Error detection is important for recognizing that the wrong sentence structure has been chosen initially. (3) The BG acts to select and sequence movements in the motor domain and in cognitive domains may serve to inhibit competing and completed plans which is not unlike inhibiting the initially non-preferred structure or "unchoosing" the initial choice when incompatible syntactic input is received. (4) The left median SFG is relevant for the evaluation of plausibility. Evaluating the plausibility of the two possibilities provides an important basis for choosing between them. The notion of the use of domain general cognitive processes to support a linguistic process is in line with recent suggestions that the a given area may subserve a specific cognitive task because it carries out an appropriate sort of computation rather than because it supports a specific cognitive domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurie A Stowe
- Department of Linguistics, Graduate School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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48
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Zgaljardic DJ, Borod JC, Foldi NS, Mattis P. A review of the cognitive and behavioral sequelae of Parkinson's disease: relationship to frontostriatal circuitry. Cogn Behav Neurol 2004; 16:193-210. [PMID: 14665819 DOI: 10.1097/00146965-200312000-00001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 289] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative hypokinetic movement disorder presenting with subcortical pathology and characterized by motor deficits. However, as is frequently reported in the literature, patients with Parkinson's disease can also exhibit cognitive and behavioral impairments. These impairments may be attributed to dysfunction of multiple systems associated with the disease process in Parkinson's disease that are not necessarily related to motor symptoms. In recent years, considerable attention has addressed the circuits connecting the frontal cortical regions and the basal ganglia (i.e., frontostriatal circuits) and how they mediate cognition and behavior in humans. It has been suggested that these same circuits are disrupted in Parkinson's disease and may be responsible for the frontal/executive deficits predominantly reported in this patient population. OBJECTIVE The current survey of the literature provides a critique and analysis of the neuropsychological profile of Parkinson's disease, including cognitive impairments, behavioral alterations, and emotional processing deficits. A special feature of this paper is to ascertain how frontostriatal circuitry might provide the substrate for the neuropsychological impairments exhibited in Parkinson's disease. In so doing, studies involving nonhuman subjects, neurologically healthy adults, brain-lesioned individuals, and patients with Parkinson's disease are reviewed to provide a novel perspective in conceptualizing and categorizing the cognitive and behavioral sequelae concomitant to specific frontostriatal circuit dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. CONCLUSIONS The current review suggests that the neuropsychological profile of Parkinson's disease, which predominantly reflects frontal/executive dysfunction, may be attributed to disruption of the frontostriatal circuitry. The information generated from this review can serve as a guide in the assessment of frontal/executive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease with suggestions for a clinical neuropsychological test battery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis J Zgaljardic
- Queens College and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Flushing, New York 11367, USA.
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Angwin AJ, Chenery HJ, Copland DA, Arnott WL, Murdoch BE, Silburn PA. Dopamine and semantic activation: an investigation of masked direct and indirect priming. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004; 10:15-25. [PMID: 14751003 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617704101033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2002] [Revised: 02/12/2003] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
To investigate the effects of dopamine on the dynamics of semantic activation, 39 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to ingest either a placebo (n = 24) or a levodopa (n = 16) capsule. Participants then performed a lexical decision task that implemented a masked priming paradigm. Direct and indirect semantic priming was measured across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 250, 500 and 1200 ms. The results revealed significant direct and indirect semantic priming effects for the placebo group at SOAs of 250 ms and 500 ms, but no significant direct or indirect priming effects at the 1200 ms SOA. In contrast, the levodopa group showed significant direct and indirect semantic priming effects at the 250 ms SOA, while no significant direct or indirect priming effects were evident at the SOAs of 500 ms or 1200 ms. These results suggest that dopamine has a role in modulating both automatic and attentional aspects of semantic activation according to a specific time course. The implications of these results for current theories of dopaminergic modulation of semantic activation are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony J Angwin
- Centre for Research in Language Processing and Linguistics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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Troyer AK, Black SE, Armilio ML, Moscovitch M. Cognitive and motor functioning in a patient with selective infarction of the left basal ganglia: evidence for decreased non-routine response selection and performance. Neuropsychologia 2004; 42:902-11. [PMID: 14998704 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2003] [Revised: 12/01/2003] [Accepted: 12/03/2003] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Focal damage to the basal ganglia is relatively rare, and little is known about the cognitive effects of damage to specific basal ganglia structures. A 28-year-old, highly educated male (patient RI) sustained a unilateral left ischemic infarction involving primarily the putamen and secondarily the head of the caudate and the anterior internal capsule. Two detailed neuropsychological assessments, at 3 and 16 months post-infarction, revealed that a majority of cognitive abilities were spared. RI's general intelligence, simple attention, concept formation, cognitive flexibility, and explicit memory were unaffected. Select cognitive abilities were affected, and these appeared to be related to direct involvement of the putamen and/or to indirect disruption of circuits between the basal ganglia and frontal lobes. Consistent with involvement of the left putamen, RI showed micrographia with his right hand. Interestingly, his micrographia was context-dependent, appearing only when verbal expression was involved (e.g., present when writing spontaneously, but not when copying sentences or when drawing). Evidence of disruption to frontal systems included variably decreased sustained attention, mildly decreased ability to generate words and to generate ideas, and significantly impaired abstraction ability in both verbal and visual modalities. Although there are several possible interpretations for these findings, this pattern of cognitive and motor functioning is consistent with neuroimaging research suggesting that the frontal/subcortical circuit between the putamen and frontal motor areas plays a role in non-routine response selection and performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela K Troyer
- Psychology Department, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ont., Canada M6A 2E1.
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