About this Research Topic
Connected speech tasks can be a valuable resource for the investigation of language processes in individuals with acquired neurological disorders. Several quantitative and qualitative indices, derived from different elicitation techniques, may provide significant information with regard to the cognitive mechanisms underlying verbal production. In contrast to standardized neuropsychological testing, narrative tasks have increased ecological validity, as they simulate natural verbal/communicative behavior in everyday life. Moreover, the use of such tasks allows a much more detailed assessment of speech output and therefore may be utilized to identify and quantify subtle language deficits, which could not be easily revealed by standard language tasks. Nevertheless, very few studies thus far have thoroughly investigated the structural and functional anatomical correlates of connected speech in neurological disorders.
The current Research Topic’s aim is to promote a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disrupted narrative abilities in neurological disorders. This will be accomplished through studies focusing on a thorough investigation of different quantitative indices and their anatomical/lesional correlates, in patients with various pathologies affecting the central nervous system. The ultimate goal is a collection of articles towards an integration of scientific evidence from neurolinguistics, neuropsychology, neurology, and neuroanatomy. Thus far, there are scarce and contradicting findings on the possible relationships between disrupted language indices and focal lesions or atrophy patterns, usually derived from small patients cohorts. Moreover, insufficient evidence exists with regard to the level of disruption of the aforementioned indices in different elicitation tasks, and how these could be related to damage in distinct networks of cortical and subcortical regions of interest. In sum, we argue that studies using detailed protocols of connected speech analysis and advanced neuroimaging techniques may provide useful findings on the neural correlates of specific aspects of language disturbances and further offer insight into recovery as well as therapeutic implications.
We welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Methods, and Brief/Case Reports focused on the investigation of the neural substrate of connected speech indices, such as speech and articulation rate, silent pauses, morphosyntactical structure and content organization, derived from different speech genres, in various neurological populations such as stroke patients with aphasia or patients with neurodegenerative diseases, including patients with primary progressive aphasia, but also Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. We are particularly interested in papers describing the possible relations between brain lesions or atrophy patterns in certain regions of interest and the aforementioned quantitative indices derived from a thorough and detailed connected speech analysis.
The current Research Topic’s aim is to promote a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disrupted narrative abilities in neurological disorders. This will be accomplished through studies focusing on a thorough investigation of different quantitative indices and their anatomical/lesional correlates, in patients with various pathologies affecting the central nervous system. The ultimate goal is a collection of articles towards an integration of scientific evidence from neurolinguistics, neuropsychology, neurology, and neuroanatomy. Thus far, there are scarce and contradicting findings on the possible relationships between disrupted language indices and focal lesions or atrophy patterns, usually derived from small patients cohorts. Moreover, insufficient evidence exists with regard to the level of disruption of the aforementioned indices in different elicitation tasks, and how these could be related to damage in distinct networks of cortical and subcortical regions of interest. In sum, we argue that studies using detailed protocols of connected speech analysis and advanced neuroimaging techniques may provide useful findings on the neural correlates of specific aspects of language disturbances and further offer insight into recovery as well as therapeutic implications.
We welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Methods, and Brief/Case Reports focused on the investigation of the neural substrate of connected speech indices, such as speech and articulation rate, silent pauses, morphosyntactical structure and content organization, derived from different speech genres, in various neurological populations such as stroke patients with aphasia or patients with neurodegenerative diseases, including patients with primary progressive aphasia, but also Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. We are particularly interested in papers describing the possible relations between brain lesions or atrophy patterns in certain regions of interest and the aforementioned quantitative indices derived from a thorough and detailed connected speech analysis.
Keywords: Connected speech, aphasia, neurodegenerative diseases, focal lesions, cortical atrophy, stroke, primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer’s Disease
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