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Spaccavento S, Caliendo S, Galetta R, Picciola E, Losavio E, Glueckauf R. Pragmatic Communication Deficit and Functional Outcome in Patients with Right- and Left-Brain Damage: A Pilot Study. Brain Sci 2024; 14:387. [PMID: 38672036 PMCID: PMC11048654 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14040387] [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: 02/25/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Pragmatic communication abilities refer to the capacity to use language in a social context. Despite evidence to the contrary, the left cerebral hemisphere of the majority of right handers has been considered exclusively specialized for control of language phonology, syntax and semantics, whereas the right hemisphere has been specialized for the control of language pragmatics. Many studies have shown the non-exclusivity of the left hemisphere for language skills. Communication deficits observed in these studies for patients with right hemisphere damage confirmed the necessity for integrity of the right hemisphere across a number of language components. The aim of this study is to investigate the specific role of the right and left hemispheres across several aspects of communication deficits, with particular attention given to the influence of these deficits on functional outcome. The second aim is to characterize possible correlations between pragmatic and other cognitive deficits. We evaluated 22 patients, 15 with left- and 7 with right-brain ischemic or hemorrhagic damage, using cognitive, pragmatic and language tests. We deployed the Right Hemisphere Language Battery-Santa Lucia and Montreal d'Evaluation de la Communication to assess pragmatic abilities. The results showed no statistically significant differences between patients with left- and right-brain damage, highlighting the importance of integration between the two hemispheres in the communication process. Multiple significant correlations were found between pragmatic abilities and cognitive tests assessing global cognitive functioning, pantomime expression and comprehension. Pragmatic deficits were also shown to correlate with functional cognitive outcome. It is important to assess pragmatic abilities in patients with cognitive deficits after both left and right stroke for tailoring neuropsychological intervention to mitigate pragmatic disabilities in functional outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Spaccavento
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri—IRCCS, Institute of Bari, Via Generale Bellomo 73/75, 70124 Bari, Italy; (S.C.); (R.G.); (E.P.); (E.L.)
| | - Sofia Caliendo
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri—IRCCS, Institute of Bari, Via Generale Bellomo 73/75, 70124 Bari, Italy; (S.C.); (R.G.); (E.P.); (E.L.)
| | - Roberta Galetta
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri—IRCCS, Institute of Bari, Via Generale Bellomo 73/75, 70124 Bari, Italy; (S.C.); (R.G.); (E.P.); (E.L.)
| | - Emilia Picciola
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri—IRCCS, Institute of Bari, Via Generale Bellomo 73/75, 70124 Bari, Italy; (S.C.); (R.G.); (E.P.); (E.L.)
| | - Ernesto Losavio
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri—IRCCS, Institute of Bari, Via Generale Bellomo 73/75, 70124 Bari, Italy; (S.C.); (R.G.); (E.P.); (E.L.)
| | - Robert Glueckauf
- Department of Behavioral Sciences & Social Medicine, College of Medicine, Florida State University, 1115 W. Call St., Suite 4112, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300, USA;
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Tsolakopoulos D, Kasselimis D, Laskaris N, Angelopoulou G, Papageorgiou G, Velonakis G, Varkanitsa M, Tountopoulou A, Vassilopoulou S, Goutsos D, Potagas C. Exploring Pragmatic Deficits in Relation to Theory of Mind and Executive Functions: Evidence from Individuals with Right Hemisphere Stroke. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1385. [PMID: 37891754 PMCID: PMC10605575 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13101385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Research investigating pragmatic deficits in individuals with right hemisphere damage focuses on identifying the potential mechanisms responsible for the nature of these impairments. Nonetheless, the presumed shared cognitive mechanisms that could account for these deficits have not yet been established through data-based evidence from lesion studies. This study aimed to examine the co-occurrence of pragmatic language deficits, Theory of Mind impairments, and executive functions while also exploring their associations with brain lesion sites. Twenty-five patients suffering from unilateral right hemisphere stroke and thirty-seven healthy participants were recruited for this study. The two groups were tested in pragmatics, Theory of Mind, and executive function tasks. Structural imaging data were also obtained for the identification of the lesion sites. The findings of this study suggest a potential convergence among the three aforementioned cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, we postulate a hypothesis for a neural circuitry for communication impairments observed in individuals with right hemisphere damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Tsolakopoulos
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
| | - Dimitrios Kasselimis
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
- Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, 17671 Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Laskaris
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
- Department of Industrial Design and Production Engineering, School of Engineering, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgia Angelopoulou
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgios Papageorgiou
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgios Velonakis
- Second Department of Radiology, Attikon General University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Maria Varkanitsa
- Center for Brain Recovery, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Argyro Tountopoulou
- Stroke Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Sofia Vassilopoulou
- Stroke Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Dionysis Goutsos
- Department of Linguistics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
| | - Constantin Potagas
- Neuropsychology and Language Disorders Unit, 1st Department of Neurology, Eginition Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 72-74 Vas. Sofias Av., 11528 Athens, Greece
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Argyriou P, Mohr C, Kita S. Hand matters: Left-hand gestures enhance metaphor explanation. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2017; 43:874-886. [PMID: 28080121 PMCID: PMC5447392 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2015] [Revised: 08/02/2016] [Accepted: 08/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Research suggests that speech-accompanying gestures influence cognitive processes, but it is not clear whether the gestural benefit is specific to the gesturing hand. Two experiments tested the "(right/left) hand-specificity" hypothesis for self-oriented functions of gestures: gestures with a particular hand enhance cognitive processes involving the hemisphere contralateral to the gesturing hand. Specifically, we tested whether left-hand gestures enhance metaphor explanation, which involves right-hemispheric processing. In Experiment 1, right-handers explained metaphorical phrases (e.g., "to spill the beans," beans represent pieces of information). Participants kept the one hand (right, left) still while they were allowed to spontaneously gesture (or not) with their other free hand (left, right). Metaphor explanations were better when participants chose to gesture when their left hand was free than when they did not. An analogous effect of gesturing was not found when their right hand was free. In Experiment 2, different right-handers performed the same metaphor explanation task but, unlike Experiment 1, they were encouraged to gesture with their left or right hand or to not gesture at all. Metaphor explanations were better when participants gestured with their left hand than when they did not gesture, but the right hand gesture condition did not significantly differ from the no-gesture condition. Furthermore, we measured participants' mouth asymmetry during additional verbal tasks to determine individual differences in the degree of right-hemispheric involvement in speech production. The left-over-right-side mouth dominance, indicating stronger right-hemispheric involvement, positively correlated with the left-over-right-hand gestural benefit on metaphor explanation. These converging findings supported the "hand-specificity" hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christine Mohr
- Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne
| | - Sotaro Kita
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick
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Mumford KH, Kita S. At 10-12 Months, Pointing Gesture Handedness Predicts the Size of Receptive Vocabularies. INFANCY 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Sotaro Kita
- School of Psychology; University of Birmingham
- Department of Psychology; University of Warwick
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