Choinski Mateusz, Szelag Elzbieta, Wolak Tomasz, Szymaszek Aneta
Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Kajetany, Poland.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2020 Dec 23;14:589802. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.589802. eCollection 2020.
Aphasia is an acquired impairment of language functions resulting from a brain lesion. It is usually accompanied by deficits in non-linguistic cognitive processes. This study aimed to investigate in patients with aphasia the complex interrelationships between selected cognitive functions: auditory speech comprehension, working memory (WM), and temporal information processing (TIP) in the millisecond time range. Thirty right-handed subjects (20 males) aged from 27 to 82 years suffering from post-stroke aphasia participated in the study. Verbal working memory (VWM) and spatial working memory (SWM) were assessed with: (1) a receptive verbal test and (2) the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, respectively. Both these WM tests used the forward tasks (mainly engaging maintenance processes, i.e., storing, monitoring, and matching information) and backward tasks (engaging both maintenance and manipulation processes, i.e., reordering and updating information). Auditory comprehension was assessed by receptive language tests, and TIP efficiency was assessed by auditory perception of temporal order in the millisecond time range. We observed better performance of forward WM tasks than backward ones, independently of the type of material used. Furthermore, the severity of auditory comprehension impairment correlated with the efficiency on both forward and backward VWM tasks and the backward SWM task. Further analysis revealed that TIP plays a crucial role only in the latter task. These results indicate the divergent pattern of interactions between WM and TIP depending on the type of WM tasks. Level of verbal competency appeared to play an important role in both VWM tasks, whereas TIP (which is associated with manipulation processes) appeared to be important for SWM, but only on the backward task.
失语症是一种由脑损伤导致的后天性语言功能障碍。它通常伴随着非语言认知过程的缺陷。本研究旨在调查失语症患者中特定认知功能之间的复杂相互关系：听觉言语理解、工作记忆（WM）以及毫秒时间范围内的时间信息处理（TIP）。30名年龄在27至82岁之间的右利手中风后失语症患者参与了这项研究。分别通过以下方式评估言语工作记忆（VWM）和空间工作记忆（SWM）：（1）一项接受性言语测试和（2）Corsi方块敲击测试。这两项WM测试都使用了正向任务（主要涉及维持过程，即存储、监测和匹配信息）和反向任务（涉及维持和操作过程，即重新排序和更新信息）。通过接受性语言测试评估听觉理解，通过毫秒时间范围内对时间顺序的听觉感知评估TIP效率。我们观察到，无论使用何种材料类型，正向WM任务的表现都优于反向任务。此外，听觉理解障碍的严重程度与正向和反向VWM任务以及反向SWM任务的效率相关。进一步分析表明，TIP仅在后者任务中起关键作用。这些结果表明，WM和TIP之间的相互作用模式因WM任务类型而异。语言能力水平在两项VWM任务中似乎都起着重要作用，而TIP（与操作过程相关）似乎对SWM很重要，但仅在反向任务中如此。
