Carlomagno Sergio, Zulian Nicola, Razzano Carmelina, De Mercurio Ilaria, Marini Andrea
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Italy.
J Commun Disord. 2013 Jan-Feb;46(1):84-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2012.08.007. Epub 2012 Sep 4.
This post hoc study investigated coverbal gesture patterns in two persons with chronic Wernicke's aphasia. They had both received therapy focusing on multimodal communication therapy, and their pre- and post-therapy verbal and gestural skills in face-to-face conversational interaction with their speech therapist were analysed by administering a partial barrier Referential Communication Task (RCT). The RCT sessions were reviewed in order to analyse: (a) participant coverbal gesture occurrence and types when in speaker role, (b) distribution of iconic gestures in the RCT communicative moves, (c) recognisable semantic content, and (d) the ways in which gestures were combined with empty or paraphasic speech. At post-therapy assessment only one participant showed improved communication skills in spite of his persistent language deficits. The improvement corresponded to changes on all gesturing measures, suggesting thereby that his communication relied more on gestural information. No measurable changes were observed for the non-responding participant-a finding indicating that the coverbal gesture measures used in this study might account for the different outcomes. These results point to the potential role of gestures in treatment aimed at fostering recovery from severe fluent aphasia. Moreover, this pattern of improvement runs contrary to a view of gestures used as a pure substitute for lexical items, in the communication of people with severe fluent aphasia.
The readers will describe how to assess and interpret the patterns of coverbal gesturing in persons with fluent aphasia. They will also recognize the potential role of coverbal gestures in recovery from severe fluent aphasia.
本事后分析研究调查了两名患有慢性韦尼克失语症患者的伴随言语手势模式。他们都接受了以多模态沟通治疗为重点的治疗，并通过实施部分障碍参照沟通任务（RCT），分析了他们在与言语治疗师进行面对面对话互动时治疗前后的言语和手势技能。对RCT会话进行了回顾，以分析：（a）参与者在担任说话者角色时伴随言语手势的出现情况和类型，（b）RCT沟通动作中象似性手势的分布，（c）可识别的语义内容，以及（d）手势与空洞或错语言语相结合的方式。在治疗后评估中，尽管一名参与者仍存在语言缺陷，但只有他的沟通技能有所改善。这种改善与所有手势测量的变化相对应，从而表明他的沟通更多地依赖于手势信息。对于没有反应的参与者，未观察到可测量的变化——这一发现表明本研究中使用的伴随言语手势测量可能解释了不同的结果。这些结果指出了手势在旨在促进严重流利性失语症恢复的治疗中的潜在作用。此外，这种改善模式与严重流利性失语症患者在沟通中把手势用作词汇项目的纯粹替代品的观点相反。
读者将描述如何评估和解释流利性失语症患者的伴随言语手势模式。他们还将认识到伴随言语手势在严重流利性失语症恢复中的潜在作用。
