Semantic reconstruction of continuous language from non-invasive brain recordings

Faculty from the Departments of Neuroscience and of Computer Science at The University of Texas–Austin have published results of research into the non-invasive capture, recording, and interpretation of the dynamically evolving images from sequential brain scans that are induced when neurotypical adults listen to people relating tales from their lives in extended, unscripted narratives. The…

Persevering through communication challenges

Researchers from Departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Brigham Young University and University of Pittsburgh have published an article qualitatively describing and characterizing internal and external factors that affect the experiences of person with aphasia (PWA) engaged in situated communication.  In particular, the investigators focused their attention on how the communication experiences of PWA…

Clinical dimensions along the non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia spectrum

Twenty specialists in neurology and aphasiology, collaborating from leading hospitals and universities in Spain, the USA, and Chile, have published the results of a large-scale study using clinical data derived from persons with degenerative non-fluent speech-language involvement, in order to determine the degree and nature of overlap between their agrammatism – i.e., their variety of…

Cerebellar tDCS enhances functional communication skills in chronic aphasia

A team of rehabilitation specialists, neurologists, and aphasia researchers led by faculty from Johns Hopkins University have published results of a study on the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on everyday functional communication in chronic aphasia.  The goals of the study were to investigate the therapeutic effects of tDCS, when administered in conjunction…

Apraxia of speech in the spontaneous speech of nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia

Nine researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine report results of a study into the prevalence and presentation of apraxia of speech (AoS) phenomena in the spontaneous, connected verbal productions of persons with nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (naPPA).  The two goals of their investigation were:  [1]  to assess the types and frequencies of…

What Conversation Topics are Meaningful to People with Aphasia?

Specialists in rehabilitation and speech-communication disorders from hospitals, universities, and the National Health Service Foundation in the United Kingdom have conducted a study to identify conversation topics of greatest meaningfulness to persons with aphasia.  Their key motivation was to provide a basis, empirically, for choosing vocabulary to target in therapies for word-finding in conversation, observing…

How artificial intelligence (AI) is used in aphasia rehabilitation

Aphasia researchers and computer scientists from universities, hospitals, and research centers in Montréal and Paris have collaborated on a scoping review of the uses of artificial intelligence in service of aphasia rehabilitation during the years 1990 to 2023.  Their study objectives were – firstly – to describe how AI is being used to advance the…

Research Gaps in Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs

Aphasia researchers in the communication disorders programs at Idaho State University and University of Montana have published a qualitative study of research gaps in the available literature investigating benefits to communicatively challenged participants in Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs (ICAP).  The goals of this investigation are to characterize such gaps from the perspective of international implementers…

Telepractice in the treatment of speech and voice disorders

An interdisciplinary team of specialists from the leading hospitals and medical schools of the Boston area, with expertise in communication disorders, clinical service delivery, and telemedicine have published an article identifying and assessing opportunities and issues around incorporating emerging technologies in the clinical management of voice-, speech-, language- and communication-disorders.  The goals of their publication…

The Outcomes of Remote Administration of Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment

Investigators from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Utah report results from single-subject experimental research into outcome improvements in three persons with aphasia (PWA) who remotely received Combined Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Treatment (CAAST). The goals of the research were to document outcome changes – in terms of acquisition,…