Influence of brain lesion and educational: background on language tests in aphasic subjects

Soares, Ellen Cristina Siqueira; Ortiz, Karin Zazo

doi:10.1590/S1980-57642009DN20400016

Abstract

In language assessment, several socio-demographic variables must be taken into account. Objectives: To characterize the performance of aphasic patients with different educational background on language tasks and to compare their performance to that of individuals with no language disorders.Methods: Thirty aphasic patients and 30 healthy individuals were selected. Patients were divided into two groups according to educational level: A (1-4 years) n=15 and B (5-11 years) n=15. Age ranged from 27 to 78 years. All subjects were submitted to the Montreal Toulouse language assessment protocol. The pertinent statistical tests were applied. Results: Educational level interfered in the linguistic performance of normal subjects but not in that of aphasic subjects, whose performance was influenced more by the lesion. Conclusions: The present study can contribute toward greater understanding of the influence of lesions and educational background on the language performance of aphasic subjects.

Key words:
language; aphasia; language test

Resumo

Para a avaliação de linguagem várias variáveis sócio-demográficas devem ser levadas em conta Objetivo: Estudar e caracterizar o desempenho de sujeitos afásicos com diferentes escolaridades em tarefas lingüísticas e comparar o desempenho destes pacientes com indivíduos sem alteração de linguagem. Métodos: Foram selecionados 30 pacientes afásicos e 30 indivíduos, pareados com mesma idade, sexo e escolaridade. A escolaridade variou em duas faixas de acordo com o nível educacional: A (1-4 anos) n=15 e B (5-11 anos) n=15. A idade variou entre 27 e 78 anos. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos ao protocolo de avaliação de linguagem Montreal Toulouse. Foram aplicados os testes estatísticos pertinentes. Resultados: A escolaridade interferiu no desempenho lingüístico de sujeitos normais, mas não de sujeitos afásicos, sendo para este grupo a lesão mais impactante e determinante do desempenho. Conclusões: Acreditamos que o nosso estudo contribua para a uma melhor compreensão do impacto da lesão e da escolaridade no desempenho lingüístico de sujeitos afásicos.

Palavras-chave:
linguagem; afasia; teste de linguagem

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text available only in PDF format.

References

¹
Rogers MA, Off CA, Silkes J, Potts A, Kenny A, Pompon RH. The effect of repetition priming on picture naming accuracy and latency in individuals with aphasia. Brain Lang 2006;199-200.
²
Nespoulous JL, Lecours AR, Lafond D, et al. Protocole Montréal-Toulouse d'examen linguistique de l'aphasie. MT 86. Module standard initial: MIB. Laboratoire Théophile-Alajouanine, Montréal; 1986.
³
Basso A. The aphasias: fall and renaissance of the neurological model? Brain Lang 2000;71:15-17.
⁴
Marsh EB, Hillis AE. Recovery from aphasia following brain injury: the role of reorganization. Prog Brain Res 2006;157: 143-156.
⁵
Berndt RS, Mitchum CC, Wayland S. Patterns of Sentence Comprehension in Aphasia: A Consideration of Three Hypotheses. Brain Lang 1997; 60:197-221.
⁶
Basso A, Marangolo P. Cognitive neuropsychological rehabilitation: The emperor's new clothes? Neuropsychol Rehab 2000;10:219-229.
⁷
Ellis AW, Young AW. Human cognitive neuropsychology. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1988.
⁸
Reis A, Castro-Caldas A. Illiteracy: a bias for cognitive development. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 1997; 3:444-450.
⁹
Martin N, Bunta F. Effects of lexical processing on primacy effects in repetition of words and nonwords: Evidence from aphasia. Brain Lang 2007;103 :183-184.
¹⁰
Noppeney U, Price CD. Functional imaging of the semantic system retrieval of sensory - experienced and verbally learned knowledge. Brain Lang 2003;84:120-133.
¹¹
Caramazza, A. How Many Levels of Processing Are There in Lexical Access? Cog Neuropsychol 1997;14:177-208.
¹²
Cohen L, Lehéricy S, Chochon F, Lemer C, Rivaud S, Dehaene S. Language-specific tuning of visual cortex? Functional properties of the visual word from area. Brain 2002; 125:1054-1069.
¹³
Moore CJ, Price CJ. Three distinct ventral occipitotemporal regions for reading and object naming. Neuroimage 1999;10: 181-192.
¹⁴
Binder JR, Frost JA, Hammeke TA, Cox RW, Rao SM, Prieto T. Human brain language areas identified by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neurocience 1997;17:353-362.
¹⁵
Lhermitte F, Chain F, Aron D, Leblanc ME. Southy O. Les troubles de la vision des couleurs dans les lesion postérieures du cerveau : a propôs de 42 observations. Rev Neurol (Paris) 1969;121:5-29.
¹⁶
Geschwind N, Fusillo MG. Color-naming defects in association with alexia. Trans Am Neurol Assoc1964;89:172-176.
¹⁷
Dronkers NFA. A new brain region for coordinating speech articulation. Nature 1996; 384:159-161.
¹⁸
Reitan RM, Wolfson D. Influence of age and education on neuropsychological test results. Clin Neuropsychol 1995;9: 151-158.
¹⁹
Rosseli M, Ardila A, Rosas P. Neuropsychological assessment in illiterates. II Language and praxic abilities. Brain Cog 1990;281-296.
²⁰
Finlayson MAJ, Johnson KA, Reitan RM. Relationship of level of education to neuropsychological measures in brain-damage and non-brain damage adults. J Consult Clin Psychol 1977;45:536-542.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Oct-Dec 2008

History

Received
02 Sept 2008
Accepted
30 Oct 2008

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

[1] ¹
Rogers MA, Off CA, Silkes J, Potts A, Kenny A, Pompon RH. The effect of repetition priming on picture naming accuracy and latency in individuals with aphasia. Brain Lang 2006;199-200.

[2] ²
Nespoulous JL, Lecours AR, Lafond D, et al. Protocole Montréal-Toulouse d'examen linguistique de l'aphasie. MT 86. Module standard initial: MIB. Laboratoire Théophile-Alajouanine, Montréal; 1986.

[3] ³
Basso A. The aphasias: fall and renaissance of the neurological model? Brain Lang 2000;71:15-17.

[4] ⁴
Marsh EB, Hillis AE. Recovery from aphasia following brain injury: the role of reorganization. Prog Brain Res 2006;157: 143-156.

[5] ⁵
Berndt RS, Mitchum CC, Wayland S. Patterns of Sentence Comprehension in Aphasia: A Consideration of Three Hypotheses. Brain Lang 1997; 60:197-221.

[6] ⁶
Basso A, Marangolo P. Cognitive neuropsychological rehabilitation: The emperor's new clothes? Neuropsychol Rehab 2000;10:219-229.

[7] ⁷
Ellis AW, Young AW. Human cognitive neuropsychology. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1988.

[8] ⁸
Reis A, Castro-Caldas A. Illiteracy: a bias for cognitive development. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 1997; 3:444-450.

[9] ⁹
Martin N, Bunta F. Effects of lexical processing on primacy effects in repetition of words and nonwords: Evidence from aphasia. Brain Lang 2007;103 :183-184.

[10] ¹⁰
Noppeney U, Price CD. Functional imaging of the semantic system retrieval of sensory - experienced and verbally learned knowledge. Brain Lang 2003;84:120-133.

[11] ¹¹
Caramazza, A. How Many Levels of Processing Are There in Lexical Access? Cog Neuropsychol 1997;14:177-208.

[12] ¹²
Cohen L, Lehéricy S, Chochon F, Lemer C, Rivaud S, Dehaene S. Language-specific tuning of visual cortex? Functional properties of the visual word from area. Brain 2002; 125:1054-1069.

[13] ¹³
Moore CJ, Price CJ. Three distinct ventral occipitotemporal regions for reading and object naming. Neuroimage 1999;10: 181-192.

[14] ¹⁴
Binder JR, Frost JA, Hammeke TA, Cox RW, Rao SM, Prieto T. Human brain language areas identified by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neurocience 1997;17:353-362.

[15] ¹⁵
Lhermitte F, Chain F, Aron D, Leblanc ME. Southy O. Les troubles de la vision des couleurs dans les lesion postérieures du cerveau : a propôs de 42 observations. Rev Neurol (Paris) 1969;121:5-29.

[16] ¹⁶
Geschwind N, Fusillo MG. Color-naming defects in association with alexia. Trans Am Neurol Assoc1964;89:172-176.

[17] ¹⁷
Dronkers NFA. A new brain region for coordinating speech articulation. Nature 1996; 384:159-161.

[18] ¹⁸
Reitan RM, Wolfson D. Influence of age and education on neuropsychological test results. Clin Neuropsychol 1995;9: 151-158.

[19] ¹⁹
Rosseli M, Ardila A, Rosas P. Neuropsychological assessment in illiterates. II Language and praxic abilities. Brain Cog 1990;281-296.

[20] ²⁰
Finlayson MAJ, Johnson KA, Reitan RM. Relationship of level of education to neuropsychological measures in brain-damage and non-brain damage adults. J Consult Clin Psychol 1977;45:536-542.

Brasil