Stability Over Time of Word Syllable Duration for Speakers With Acquired Apraxia of Speech.

PURPOSE: Neurogenic speech and language disorders-such as acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) and aphasia with phonemic paraphasia (APP)-are often misdiagnosed due to similarities in clinical presentation. Word syllable duration (WSD)-a measure of average syllable length in multisyllabic words-serves as a proxy for speech rate, which is an important and arguably more objective clinical characteristic of AOS and APP. This study reports stability of WSD over time for speakers with AOS (and aphasia). METHOD: Twenty-nine participants with AOS and aphasia (11 women and 18 men, Mage = 53.5 years, SD = 13.3) repeated 30 multisyllabic words (of three-, four-, and five-syllable lengths) on three occasions across 4 weeks. WSDs were calculated for each word and then averaged across each list (i.e., word length), as well as across combined lists (i.e., all 30 words) to yield four WSDs for each participant at each time point. Stability over time was calculated using Friedman's test for the group and using Spearman's rho for the individual level. Effects of time and word length were examined using robust mixed-effects linear regression. RESULTS: Friedman's tests and correlations indicated no significant difference in WSDs across sampling occasions for each word length separately or combined. WSD correlated positively with AOS severity and negatively with intelligibility but was not correlated with aphasia severity. Regression analyses confirmed WSD to be stable over time, while WSD calculated from only five tokens (i.e., WSD-5) was less stable over time. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that WSD can be a stable measure over time, at the individual and group level, providing support for its use in diagnosis and/or as an outcome measure, both clinically and for research. In general, WSD outperformed WSD-5, suggesting that it may be better to calculate WSD from more than five tokens. Stability of WSD in other populations and suitability for differential diagnosis need to be determined. Currently, differentiating disorders by speaking rate, alone, is not recommended. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25438735.

White Matter Hyperintensities as a Predictor of Aphasia Recovery.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between baseline white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and change in naming, content production, and efficiency after treatment in subacute aphasia. We hypothesized that more severe baseline WMH would result in less improvement with treatment. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a cohort from a double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT). SETTING: Outpatient clinical setting or participant home. PARTICIPANTS: We retrospectively reviewed imaging and behavioral data for 52 participants with subacute aphasia due to left-hemisphere ischemic stroke enrolled in the RCT. RCT inclusion criteria: English proficiency, normal/corrected-to-normal hearing/vision, and no history of neurologic conditions other than the stroke resulting aphasia. One participant with a chronic right-hemisphere lesion was retained as she presented with no residual deficits on neurologic examination. Individuals with scalp sensitivities or on medications that lower seizure threshold or any N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists were excluded. Of the 52 participants, for this analysis, 2 were excluded for not having a magnetic resonance imaging, and 7 were excluded for not participating in treatment or pre/post assessment for at least 1 outcome, resulting in final sample of 43 participants (20 women sex, M [SD] age=64.4 [11.9] and M [SD] education=14.9 [3.1] years). INTERVENTIONS: Participants received 15 sessions (2-3 times/week) of computerized lexical-semantic (ie, verification) treatment with [sham/active] transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Sessions were approximately 45 minutes each (tDCS for first 20 minutes). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Naming accuracy, content units (CUs, a measure of semantically accurate production), and efficiency (ie, syllables/CU) on a picture description task. RESULTS: Periventricular WMH severity was independently associated with recovery in picture naming for the active tDCS group. Deep WMH severity was associated with recovery for CU production for the sham tDCS group. CONCLUSION: Baseline periventricular and deep WMH, among other factors, may be an important consideration for prognosis and treatment planning, especially when considered in conjunction with tDCS treatment.

Resting-State Connectivity in Acute and Subacute Poststroke Aphasia: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Pilot Study.

Background: Understanding how brain function and language skills change during early (acute and subacute) stroke phases is critical for maximizing patient recovery, yet functional neuroimaging studies of early aphasia are scarce. In this pilot study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate how resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in early aphasia differs from neurologically healthy adults and is related to language deficits. Materials and Methods: Twenty individuals with aphasia (12 acute and 8 subacute phase) and 15 healthy controls underwent rs-fNIRS imaging with a 46-channel montage centered over bilateral perisylvian language areas. FC was computed using a prewhitening, autoregressive Pearson correlation routine applied to preprocessed oxyhemoglobin (HbO) data. Connections were classified as left intra-, right intra-, or interhemispheric. We then compared rs-FC between groups by connection type and examined Spearman correlations between rs-FC averages and language measures within patients. Results: Participants in the acute phase had significantly reduced global rs-FC across all HbO-based connections compared to healthy controls. No significant differences were found in rs-FC between controls and patients in the subacute phase. Controlling for days since stroke, stronger right intra- and interhemispheric rs-FC was related to milder aphasia across all patients. Exploratory correlations revealed that relationships between language measures and rs-FC differed between acute and subacute patient groups. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence that fNIRS-based rs-FC measures may be a viable metric to index the early impacts of stroke in people with aphasia.

Location of Hyperintense Vessels on FLAIR Associated with the Location of Perfusion Deficits in PWI.

Perfusion imaging is preferred for identifying hypoperfusion in the management of acute ischemic stroke, but it is not always feasible/available. An alternative method for quantifying hypoperfusion, using FLAIR-hyperintense vessels (FHVs) in various vascular regions, has been proposed, with evidence of a statistical relationship with perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) deficits and behavior. However, additional validation is needed to confirm that areas of suspected hypoperfusion (per the location of FHVs) correspond to the location of perfusion deficits in PWI. We examined the association between the location of FHVs and perfusion deficits in PWI in 101 individuals with acute ischemic stroke, prior to the receipt of reperfusion therapies. FHVs and PWI lesions were scored as present/absent in six vascular regions (i.e., the ACA, PCA, and (four sub-regions of) the MCA territories). Chi-square analyses showed a significant relationship between the two imaging techniques for five vascular regions (the relationship in the ACA territory was underpowered). These results suggest that for most areas of the brain, the general location of FHVs corresponds to hypoperfusion in those same vascular territories in PWI. In conjunction with prior work, results support the use of estimating the amount and location of hypoperfusion using FLAIR imaging when perfusion imaging is not available.

Reversing the Ruin: Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Restoration After Stroke.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Stroke is a common cause of disability in aging adults. A given individual's needs after stroke vary as a function of the stroke extent and location. The purpose of this review was to discuss recent clinical investigations addressing rehabilitation of an array of overlapping functional domains. RECENT FINDINGS: Research is ongoing in the domains of movement, cognition, attention, speech, language, swallowing, and mental health. To best assist patients' recovery, innovative research has sought to develop and evaluate behavioral approaches, identify and refine synergistic approaches that augment the response to behavioral therapy, and integrate technology where appropriate, particularly to introduce and titrate real-world complexity and improve the overall experience of therapy. Recent and ongoing trials have increasingly adopted a multidisciplinary nature - augmenting refined behavioral therapy approaches with methods for increasing their potency, such as pharmaceutical or electrical interventions. The integration of virtual reality, robotics, and other technological advancements has generated immense excitement, but has not resulted in consistent improvements over more universally accessible, lower technology therapy.

No evidence of impediment by three common classes of prescription drugs to post-stroke aphasia recovery in a retrospective longitudinal sample.

A number of pharmaceuticals have been identified as potential adjuvants to speech language therapy following stroke, but it is also important to consider which pharmaceuticals may result in a less robust recovery. Here we examine whether post-stroke language recovery was meaningfully impeded by cholinergic, GABAergic, or dopaminergic medications patients received. Eighty participants with left hemisphere stroke were examined retrospectively to see whether the use of one of these three classes of medication prior to admission for acute stroke, during their inpatient stay, or at discharge was associated with differences in recovery on three common measures of language. While prescription of any of the candidate drugs was relatively uncommon, groups were very well matched for many common factors that impact performance. When age, education, and acute lesion volume were controlled, there were no significant differences in performance among those taking cholinergic, GABAergic, or dopaminergic medications and those who were not. Those who experienced a "good recovery" of language (≥10% improvement on any one language measure over time) had similar exposure to these drugs to those with a poor recovery. This work represents a first look at these drug classes with regard to their effects on the recovery of language after stroke and should not be interpreted as resolving all potential for concern, but these results do offer modest reassurance that these common classes of pharmacotherapy, when given for short periods in this population, do not appear to have marked deleterious effects on post-stroke recovery of language.

Hyperintense vessels on imaging account for neurological function independent of lesion volume in acute ischemic stroke.

In acute ischemic stroke, reported relationships between lesion metrics and behavior have largely focused on lesion volume and location. However, hypoperfusion has been shown to correlate with deficits in the acute stage. Hypoperfusion is typically identified using perfusion imaging in clinical settings, which requires contrast. Unfortunately, contrast is contraindicated for some individuals. An alternative method has been proposed to identify hypoperfusion using hyperintense vessels on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging. This study aimed to validate the clinical importance of considering hypoperfusion when accounting for behavior in acute stroke and demonstrate the clinical utility of scoring the presence of hyperintense vessels to quantify it. One hundred and fifty-three participants with acute ischemic stroke completed a battery of commonly-used neurological and behavioral measures. Clinical MRIs were used to determine lesion volume and to score the presence of hyperintense vessels seen on FLAIR images to estimate severity of hypoperfusion in six different vascular regions. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, naming accuracy (left hemisphere strokes), and language content produced during picture description were examined in relation to lesion volume, hypoperfusion, and demographic variables using correlational analyses and multivariable linear regression. Results showed that lesion volume and hypoperfusion, in addition to demographic variables, were independently associated with performance on NIHSS, naming, and content production. Specifically, hypoperfusion in the frontal lobe independently correlated with NIHSS scores, while hypoperfusion in parietal areas independently correlated with naming accuracy and content production. These results correspond to previous reports associating hypoperfusion with function, confirming that hypoperfusion is an important consideration-beyond lesion volume-when accounting for behavior in acute ischemic stroke. Quantifying hypoperfusion using FLAIR hyperintense vessels can be an essential clinical tool when other methods of identifying hypoperfusion are unavailable or time prohibitive.

Vascular syndromes: Revisiting classification of poststroke aphasia.

Over 150 years have passed since the first formal description of aphasia associated with localized neurologic damage. In the years since that time, a significant amount of research has been conducted to identify/explain the locations and functions of the brain regions responsible for (or associated with) language as well as to describe the various types of aphasia resulting from injury to these locations. Many of these attempts to associate somewhat predictable patterns of language deficits with damage to specific structures have been confounded by atypical reports and considerable variability in either the behavioral presentation and/or structural damage that directly contradict/oppose some of the proposed theories. However, considering the aphasias as vascular syndromes, or a collection of symptoms associated with damage to various structures supplied by a specific artery, accounts for both the predictability and the variability seen. This chapter presents a brief history of aphasia classification, the vascular territories commonly associated with aphasia, the different aphasic vascular syndromes, and the typical recovery/evolution of aphasia presentation over time.

Interrater Reliability and Concurrent Validity for the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale 3.0: Application With Persons With Acquired Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia.

Purpose This investigation was designed to provide interrater reliability data for the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale 3.0 (ASRS 3.0; Strand, Duffy, Clark, & Josephs, 2014 ). Importantly, ratings were completed by investigators who were not involved with the ASRS development. Another aim was to evaluate the relationship of the ASRS 3.0 total score to word intelligibility. Method Two investigators independently completed ASRS 3.0 ratings for 28 participants with chronic apraxia of speech and aphasia. Intelligibility scores were obtained for all participants. Results Consistency of ratings for each feature and total score of the ASRS 3.0 was measured using intraclass correlation coefficients. Twelve of 13 intraclass correlation coefficients for feature ratings reached significance; clinical meaningfulness ranged from poor to excellent. Interrater reliability for the total scores was excellent. Similarly, absolute difference of ratings was minimal for the total scores, but varied across the 13 feature ratings. Correlations between the intelligibility scores and ASRS 3.0 total score were moderate to strong. Conclusion The total ASRS 3.0 score may be viewed as a reliable indicator of prevalence of apraxia of speech features. Although there was good to acceptable correspondence in ratings of the majority of the individual features, additional operationalization of rating procedures may be needed to improve interrater reliability for a few features.

Effect Size Benchmarks for Response Elaboration Training: A Meta-Analysis.

Purpose With a number of single-case experimental design studies reporting the effects of treatment for response (and modified response) elaboration training (RET/M-RET), it is important to consolidate data over multiple participants to allow comparison within/between individuals and across similar treatments. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of single-case experimental design studies of RET/M-RET and to determine effect size (ES) benchmarks to allow comparison to "group" data. Method Database and bibliographical searches identified 20 investigations of RET/M-RET. Nine studies had sufficient experimental quality, compliance with the essential components of the RET protocol, and consistency in the dependent variable (i.e., accurate content production in response to picture stimuli) to be retained for the meta-analysis. Probe data for a total of 26 persons with aphasia (PWA) were extracted from published graphs (if raw data were not available) to calculate weighted ESs at the end of treatment and at follow-up for both treated and untreated stimuli. The first, second, and third quartiles of the distributions were used to serve at benchmarks for small, medium, and large effects. Results Nearly all participants demonstrated positive effects as a result of RET/M-RET, indicating an association with positive changes in content production for PWA. Small, medium, and large benchmarks are reported for treated items after treatment and at follow-up, as well as for untreated items after treatment and at follow-up. Conclusions With a larger sample of 26 participants, this analysis indicates that RET/M-RET are associated with positive changes in content production for PWA. ES benchmarks allow clinicians/researchers to compare an individual's performance across multiple applications of treatment to performance of other PWA and to other treatments with similar outcomes.

Language Changes Following Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment.

Purpose: Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment (CAAST) is a newly developed treatment shown to increase production of accurate content in narrative discourse for persons with aphasia and apraxia of speech. The purpose of this post hoc study was to further describe lexical and morphosyntactic changes associated with changes in content production. Method: Existing probe data from 8 persons with aphasia who had completed CAAST were used to complete analyses of morphosyntactic production, lexical diversity, and novelty of content. Language analyses were completed using discourse samples obtained at numerous pretreatment and posttreatment intervals. Results: All participants demonstrated gains in morphosyntactic language output for treated items, which extended to untreated sets for 7 participants. All 8 increased in production of novel content. Lexical diversity increases were evident for most participants. Although there were some similarities in language changes, there was substantial variability across response profiles. Conclusion: CAAST, previously associated with positive treatment effects for production of accurate content, also appears to facilitate acquisition and generalization of morphosyntactic complexity, lexical diversity, and novelty of content for individuals with nonfluent aphasia. Further investigation is needed to determine causality and appropriate clinical application. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5912530.