A new study from a team of international researchers has revealed why people with aphasia have difficulty talking about past and future events. The findings could lead to the development of more comprehensive diagnostic techniques.
As you know, aphasia is a severe speech disorder, often resulting from a stroke, in which individuals lose the ability to speak coherently. In particular, this can manifest as incorrect use of verb tenses, making it difficult for patients to talk about past or future events, significantly complicating everyday communication.
To investigate the origins of these difficulties, researchers from universities in Russia, Greece, Italy, the US, and Norway conducted an experiment.
They hypothesised that tense expression impairments could stem from two distinct processes: encoding and retrieval.
During encoding, a speaker forms the concept of time (for example, whether an action occurred in the past, present, or future).
During retrieval, they select the correct verb form to express that concept.
To understand the impact of each process, the scientists carried out experiments with aphasia patients speaking four different languages: Greek, Russian, Italian, and English.
These languages were chosen because they structure verb tenses differently, allowing the researchers to examine how language-specific features influence encoding and retrieval of tense in aphasia patients.
To aid in diagnosis, the researchers designed two sentence-completion tasks.
The first task asked participants to fill in blanks in sentences, requiring both processes—encoding and retrieval.
They had to complete the sentence according to the model, considering the change in the tense form of the verb.
For example: ‘Yesterday, the gardener watered the flowers. Tomorrow, the gardener will… the flowers.’
The second tasks expected participants to complete sentences without changing the verb tense.
They were given the phrase ‘to water the plants’ and heard the example sentence ‘The gardener is currently collecting mushrooms.’
Then they were then prompted to begin a sentence with ‘The gardener is currently…’ and complete it with the phrase ‘watering the plants’ in the correct form, resulting in ‘is watering the plants.’
By comparing the results from these tasks, the researchers could determine whether the primary difficulties arose during encoding or retrieval.
The study revealed that most participants experienced impairments in both encoding and retrieval, but the severity of these issues varied depending on the language and the individual.
For instance, Russian- and English-speaking participants struggled more with the retrieval task, while Greek- and Italian-speaking participants faced challenges primarily during encoding.
Interestingly, difficulties in expressing time were selective. Some patients had trouble referencing the past, while others struggled with the future.
Olga Buivolova is Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain and one of the study’s authors.
The researcher said: ‘These findings are crucial for understanding how aphasia patients lose the ability to express time differently, depending on the characteristics of their language.
“We can now better evaluate which aspects of time pose the greatest challenges for patients and begin developing more tailored therapeutic approaches.”
As researchers note, the main conclusions of the study may also have practical implications for neurorehabilitation.
Firstly, this experimental method can help identify the underlying causes of difficulties with using verb tenses.
This means that speech therapists and neuropsychologists will be able to work more thoroughly and effectively with patients on speech recovery.
Secondly, the study helps to understand how differences between languages can affect the symptoms of aphasia.
This is important for developing standardised tests and methods that consider the specifics of a speaker’s native language, ultimately leading to more accurate and comprehensive diagnosis of patients with aphasia.
See: Valantis Fyndanis, Francesca Burgio, Olga Buivolova, Laura Danesin, Qingyuan Gardner, Theodora Kalpakidi, Michael Scimeca, Marielena Soilemezidi, Swathi Kiran & Olga Dragoy (2024) Teasing apart time reference-related encoding and retrieval deficits in aphasia: evidence from Greek, Russian, Italian and English, Aphasiology, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2024.2415927
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CIMT is a great example of task training for the upper-limb.
First, you may see no reason to try and use your bad arm and therefore remain ignorant of underlying motor potential.
Second, you may not know how to use any emerging isolated movement for functional performance.
In fact, emerging movement often overlooked: it is considered non-functional. But this is wrong. You actually need to try and regain an increase in active range of motion (AROM) in as many planes and pivots as possible. Increase in non-functional AROM increases strength and muscle bulk, encourages muscular activity which promotes vascular return, decreases the potential for soft-tissue shortening, and damage with resultant pain and stiffness – and increases osteoblastic activity on the affected and often osteoporetic) side.
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Your own hard work and determination... ...plus a trained ARNI instructor is the MOST POWERFUL WAY (backed by clinical research) to regain that precious gift of strength and mobility.
Contact us on 0203 053 0111 or email support@arni.uk.com to find out if there's an instructor near you who can work with you on your recovery.
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For shoulder subluxation after stroke the root cause of the problem is miscommunication from the brain.
Movement is controlled by the brain as nerves carry messages from the brain to the muscles to initiate muscle contraction. Therefore, mobility issues like shoulder subluxation after stroke are best treated by retraining the brain to effectively communicate with the affected muscles.
This is possible thanks to neuroplasticity, the mechanism the brain uses to rewire itself and create new neural pathways. Neuroplasticity is activated by “massed practice,” or high repetition of a specific task. The more an exercise is practiced, the stronger the neural connection or “blueprint” for this motion will become.
Therefore, to improve shoulder subluxation after stroke, individuals can practice safe shoulder rehab exercises to retrain the brain and body to move correctly. With time and consistent adherence to a rehabilitation regimen, the arm bone, or humerus, will be encouraged to stay in the socket while also improving your overall shoulder mobility and function.
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Had A Stroke – now what? By Tom Balchin (with a foreword by Andrew Marr)
Written by a stroke survivor for stroke survivors and their families, carers and friends.
Learn Everything You Need To Know
What happened and what to expect next
How your family, carers and friends can best help you recover your strength, balance and stability
How to get back action control in your arm and hand
How to develop physical coping strategies
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Which available treatments are optimal for you
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Have you got your copy yet?
www.strokesolutions.co.uk/product/had-a-stroke-now-what-book/
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What's the difference between compensation and recovery?
Compensation involves performing an old movement in a new manner. Recovery involves restoring the ability to perform a movement in the same manner as it was performed before injury.
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No consultant, therapist or expert in stroke research would attempt to answer the majority of these without preceding and qualifying the answer with an ‘if’. You are different from anyone else; from injury to the brain and plastic potential to occupational difficulties, demographic details to rate of recovery and lifestyles, making your presentation unique.
3 Comments
I have left sided weakness following stroke 8 years ago, I am now being referred for possible B (the anti-spasticity injection) to see if would help the spasticity in my hand do you have any knowledge of this? Is it helpful or can it do more damage?
I would like to join am a stroke survivor
I am very concerned to help my daughter, Selina Girling, to recover as much as possible from the stroke she had three and a half years ago at the age of 45. So any information you can provide me with would be very welcome.