Unit:
Speciality Clinical NeuropsychologyLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Supervisors info:
Πόταγας Κωνσταντίνος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ζαλώνης Ιωάννης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Σμυρνής Νικόλαος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Διερεύνηση του νευρωνικού υποστρώματος και της σχέσης μεταξύ δοκιμασιών ενεργού μνήμης και ακουστικής κατανόησης στην αφασία
Translated title:
Investigation of the neural substrate and the relationship between working memory and auditory comprehension tasks in aphasia
Summary:
Aphasia is a common consequence of damage caused by ischemic vascular events. Traditionally, it has been considered a group of language disorders resulting from damage to "centers" responsible for speech. However, studies of other cognitive functions in patients with aphasic disorders suggest that, in reality, it involves deficits in basic cognitive functions with prominent language symptoms. A significant body of research has focused on working memory, which not only coexists with aphasia but is also correlated with it in such a way that working memory impairment is observed only when there is aphasia due to left hemispheric damage. The relationship between working memory and sentence comprehension, in particular, appears to be noteworthy. The literature suggests that working memory and comprehension are supported by a common network of areas around the Sylvian fissure, leading to the hypothesis of a deeper relationship between working memory and language. To investigate this relationship, a sample of 42 patients with chronic-phase aphasia was gathered, and a regression analysis was conducted to determine if part of the variance of sentence comprehension could be explained by working memory. Additionally, a multivariate symptom-lesion mapping analysis was performed to identify critical areas for performance in comprehension and working memory tasks. The analyses showed that not only does working memory predict a significant portion of the variance of sentence comprehension, but performance in both tasks is also largely dependent on the same temporoparietal areas.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Neuropsychology, Language, Aphasia, Comprehension, Working memory, Neural substrate, Lesion-symptom mapping
