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Farcy C, Chauvigné LAS, Laganaro M, Corre M, Ptak R, Guggisberg AG. Neural mechanisms underlying improved new-word learning with high-density transcranial direct current stimulation. Neuroimage 2024; 294:120649. [PMID: 38759354 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Neurobehavioral studies have provided evidence for the effectiveness of anodal tDCS on language production, by stimulation of the left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG) or of left Temporo-Parietal Junction (TPJ). However, tDCS is currently not used in clinical practice outside of trials, because behavioral effects have been inconsistent and underlying neural effects unclear. Here, we propose to elucidate the neural correlates of verb and noun learning and to determine if they can be modulated with anodal high-definition (HD) tDCS stimulation. Thirty-six neurotypical participants were randomly allocated to anodal HD-tDCS over either the left IFG, the left TPJ, or sham stimulation. On day one, participants performed a naming task (pre-test). On day two, participants underwent a new-word learning task with rare nouns and verbs concurrently to HD-tDCS for 20 min. The third day consisted of a post-test of naming performance. EEG was recorded at rest and during naming on each day. Verb learning was significantly facilitated by left IFG stimulation. HD-tDCS over the left IFG enhanced functional connectivity between the left IFG and TPJ and this correlated with improved learning. HD-tDCS over the left TPJ enabled stronger local activation of the stimulated area (as indexed by greater alpha and beta-band power decrease) during naming, but this did not translate into better learning. Thus, tDCS can induce local activation or modulation of network interactions. Only the enhancement of network interactions, but not the increase in local activation, leads to robust improvement of word learning. This emphasizes the need to develop new neuromodulation methods influencing network interactions. Our study suggests that this may be achieved through behavioral activation of one area and concomitant activation of another area with HD-tDCS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Farcy
- Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Geneva, Av. de Beau-Séjour 26, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Lea A S Chauvigné
- Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Geneva, Av. de Beau-Séjour 26, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Marina Laganaro
- Neuropsycholinguistics Laboratory, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marion Corre
- Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Geneva, Av. de Beau-Séjour 26, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Radek Ptak
- Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Geneva, Av. de Beau-Séjour 26, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Adrian G Guggisberg
- Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Geneva, Av. de Beau-Séjour 26, Geneva 1211, Switzerland; Universitäre Neurorehabilitation, Universitätsklinik für Neurologie, Inselspital, University Hospital of Berne, Berne 3010, Switzerland.
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Bonte M, Brem S. Unraveling individual differences in learning potential: A dynamic framework for the case of reading development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 66:101362. [PMID: 38447471 PMCID: PMC10925938 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Children show an enormous capacity to learn during development, but with large individual differences in the time course and trajectory of learning and the achieved skill level. Recent progress in developmental sciences has shown the contribution of a multitude of factors including genetic variation, brain plasticity, socio-cultural context and learning experiences to individual development. These factors interact in a complex manner, producing children's idiosyncratic and heterogeneous learning paths. Despite an increasing recognition of these intricate dynamics, current research on the development of culturally acquired skills such as reading still has a typical focus on snapshots of children's performance at discrete points in time. Here we argue that this 'static' approach is often insufficient and limits advancements in the prediction and mechanistic understanding of individual differences in learning capacity. We present a dynamic framework which highlights the importance of capturing short-term trajectories during learning across multiple stages and processes as a proxy for long-term development on the example of reading. This framework will help explain relevant variability in children's learning paths and outcomes and fosters new perspectives and approaches to study how children develop and learn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milene Bonte
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Maastricht Brain Imaging Center, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; URPP Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Dignam J, Rodriguez AD, O'Brien K, Burfein P, Copland DA. Early within therapy naming probes as a clinically-feasible predictor of anomia treatment response. Neuropsychol Rehabil 2024; 34:196-219. [PMID: 36811618 DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2023.2177312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between early within-therapy probe naming performance and anomia therapy outcomes in individuals with aphasia. Thirty-four adults with chronic, post-stroke aphasia participated in the Aphasia Language Impairment and Functioning Therapy (Aphasia LIFT) programme, comprised of 48 h of comprehensive aphasia therapy. Sets of 30 treated and 30 untreated items identified at baseline were probed during impairment therapy which targeted word retrieval using a combined semantic feature analysis and phonological component analysis approach. Multiple regression models were computed to determine the relationship between baseline language and demographic variables, early within-therapy probe naming performance (measured after 3 h of impairment therapy) and anomia treatment outcomes. Early within-therapy probe naming performance emerged as the strongest predictor of anomia therapy gains at post-therapy and at 1-month follow-up. These findings have important clinical implications, as they suggest that an individual's performance after a brief period of anomia therapy may predict response to intervention. As such, early within-therapy probe naming may provide a quick and accessible tool for clinicians to identify potential response to anomia treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jade Dignam
- Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) Education and Research Alliance, The University of Queensland and Metro North Hospital Service, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Amy D Rodriguez
- Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA Health Care System, Decatur GA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA, USA
| | - Kate O'Brien
- Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) Education and Research Alliance, The University of Queensland and Metro North Hospital Service, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Penni Burfein
- Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) Education and Research Alliance, The University of Queensland and Metro North Hospital Service, Brisbane, Australia
- Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, Australia
- Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, Australia
| | - David A Copland
- Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) Education and Research Alliance, The University of Queensland and Metro North Hospital Service, Brisbane, Australia
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Peñaloza C, Grasemann U, Miikkulainen R, Kiran S. Modeling Bilingualism as a Dynamic Phenomenon in Healthy and Neurologically Affected Speakers Across the Lifespan: A Commentary on "Computational Modeling of Bilingual Language Learning: Current Models and Future Directions". LANGUAGE LEARNING 2023; 73:78-82. [PMID: 38143780 PMCID: PMC10746181 DOI: 10.1111/lang.12566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Peñaloza
- University of Barcelona
- Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute–IDIBELL
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Navarrete-Orejudo L, Cerda-Company X, Olivé G, Martin N, Laine M, Rodríguez-Fornells A, Peñaloza C. Expressive recall and recognition as complementary measures to assess novel word learning ability in aphasia. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 243:105303. [PMID: 37453400 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Novel word learning ability has been associated with language treatment outcomes in people with aphasia (PWA), and its assessment could inform prognosis and rehabilitation. We used a brief experimental task to examine novel word learning in PWA, determine the value of phonological cueing in assessing learning outcomes, and identify factors that modulate learning ability. Twelve PWA and nineteen healthy controls completed the task, and recall and recognition tests of learning ability. Most PWA showed comparable learning outcomes to those of the healthy controls. Learning assessed via expressive recall was more clearly evidenced with phonological cues. Better single word processing abilities and phonological short-term memory and higher integrity of the left inferior frontal gyrus were related to better learning performance. Brief learning tasks like this one are clinically feasible and hold promise as screening tools of verbal learning in PWA once validated and evaluated for their capacity to predict treatment outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Navarrete-Orejudo
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xim Cerda-Company
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Feixa Llarga, s/n, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Guillem Olivé
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Feixa Llarga, s/n, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Nadine Martin
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadephia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Matti Laine
- Department of Psychology, Abo Akademi University, Tehtaankatu 2, 20500 Turku, Finland
| | - Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Feixa Llarga, s/n, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Claudia Peñaloza
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Feixa Llarga, s/n, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
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Olivé G, Peñaloza C, Vaquero L, Laine M, Martin N, Rodriguez-Fornells A. The right uncinate fasciculus supports verbal short-term memory in aphasia. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:875-893. [PMID: 37005932 PMCID: PMC10147778 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02628-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
Verbal short-term memory (STM) deficits are associated with language processing impairments in people with aphasia. Importantly, the integrity of STM can predict word learning ability and anomia therapy gains in aphasia. While the recruitment of perilesional and contralesional homologous brain regions has been proposed as a possible mechanism for aphasia recovery, little is known about the white-matter pathways that support verbal STM in post-stroke aphasia. Here, we investigated the relationships between the language-related white matter tracts and verbal STM ability in aphasia. Nineteen participants with post-stroke chronic aphasia completed a subset of verbal STM subtests of the TALSA battery including nonword repetition (phonological STM), pointing span (lexical-semantic STM without language output) and repetition span tasks (lexical-semantic STM with language output). Using a manual deterministic tractography approach, we investigated the micro- and macrostructural properties of the structural language network. Next, we assessed the relationships between individually extracted tract values and verbal STM scores. We found significant correlations between volume measures of the right Uncinate Fasciculus and all three verbal STM scores, with the association between the right UF volume and nonword repetition being the strongest one. These findings suggest that the integrity of the right UF is associated with phonological and lexical-semantic verbal STM ability in aphasia and highlight the potential compensatory role of right-sided ventral white matter language tracts in supporting verbal STM after aphasia-inducing left hemisphere insult.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillem Olivé
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Claudia Peñaloza
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lucía Vaquero
- Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Center for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Matti Laine
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Nadine Martin
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, ICREA, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.
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Caffrey M, Commins S. Preservation of long-term memory in older adults using a spaced learning paradigm. Eur J Ageing 2023; 20:2. [PMID: 36723694 PMCID: PMC9892402 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-023-00750-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
How much information we retain depends on type/schedule of training. It has been widely acknowledged that spaced learning is advantageous compared to massed learning for cognitively healthy young adults and should be considered an educational standard. Literature would suggest that the spacing effect is preserved with age, though it is unclear whether this effect translates to more ecologically valid concepts such as face-name associations, which are particularly susceptible to deterioration with age. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of spacing across recent/remote retention intervals, and the effect of age on spacing in cognitively healthy older adults using the Face-Name Pairs task. Experiment 1 results suggest that the beneficial memory effects of spacing are particularly observed with long-term memory. Experiment 2 results suggest that older adults are impaired at learning compared to younger adults, that the spacing effect influences both older and younger adults at longer intervals, and that spaced-trained participants display similar forgetting patterns at longer intervals, irrespective of age. These results may have some implications regarding improving the conditions under which optimum retention occurs (namely, whether spacing is beneficial when learning ecologically valid concepts at longer intervals outside of laboratory settings), and may provide insight into the effect of age on our ability to learn and remember face-name associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Caffrey
- Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
| | - Sean Commins
- Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland
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Schevenels K, Michiels L, Lemmens R, De Smedt B, Zink I, Vandermosten M. The role of the hippocampus in statistical learning and language recovery in persons with post stroke aphasia. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 36:103243. [PMID: 36306718 PMCID: PMC9668653 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Although several studies have aimed for accurate predictions of language recovery in post stroke aphasia, individual language outcomes remain hard to predict. Large-scale prediction models are built using data from patients mainly in the chronic phase after stroke, although it is clinically more relevant to consider data from the acute phase. Previous research has mainly focused on deficits, i.e., behavioral deficits or specific brain damage, rather than compensatory mechanisms, i.e., intact cognitive skills or undamaged brain regions. One such unexplored brain region that might support language (re)learning in aphasia is the hippocampus, a region that has commonly been associated with an individual's learning potential, including statistical learning. This refers to a set of mechanisms upon which we rely heavily in daily life to learn a range of regularities across cognitive domains. Against this background, thirty-three patients with aphasia (22 males and 11 females, M = 69.76 years, SD = 10.57 years) were followed for 1 year in the acute (1-2 weeks), subacute (3-6 months) and chronic phase (9-12 months) post stroke. We evaluated the unique predictive value of early structural hippocampal measures for short-term and long-term language outcomes (measured by the ANELT). In addition, we investigated whether statistical learning abilities were intact in patients with aphasia using three different tasks: an auditory-linguistic and visual task based on the computation of transitional probabilities and a visuomotor serial reaction time task. Finally, we examined the association of individuals' statistical learning potential with acute measures of hippocampal gray and white matter. Using Bayesian statistics, we found moderate evidence for the contribution of left hippocampal gray matter in the acute phase to the prediction of long-term language outcomes, over and above information on the lesion and the initial language deficit (measured by the ScreeLing). Non-linguistic statistical learning in patients with aphasia, measured in the subacute phase, was intact at the group level compared to 23 healthy older controls (8 males and 15 females, M = 74.09 years, SD = 6.76 years). Visuomotor statistical learning correlated with acute hippocampal gray and white matter. These findings reveal that particularly left hippocampal gray matter in the acute phase is a potential marker of language recovery after stroke, possibly through its statistical learning ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara Schevenels
- Research Group Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 2 (O&N2), Herestraat 49 box 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 1020, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Laura Michiels
- Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Research Group Experimental Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 box 7003, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Laboratory of Neurobiology, VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 602, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 1020, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Robin Lemmens
- Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Research Group Experimental Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 box 7003, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Laboratory of Neurobiology, VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 602, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 1020, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Bert De Smedt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32 box 3765, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 1020, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Inge Zink
- Research Group Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 2 (O&N2), Herestraat 49 box 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 1020, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 2 (O&N2), Herestraat 49 box 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Onderwijs en Navorsing 5 (O&N 5), Herestraat 49 box 1020, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
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