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Description
Language and music are fundamentally entwined within human culture. The two domains share similar properties including rhythm, acoustic complexity, and hierarchical structure. Although language and music have commonalities, abilities in these two domains have been found to dissociate after brain damage, leaving unanswered questions about their interconnectedness, including can one domain support the other when damage occurs? Evidence supporting this question exists for speech production. Musical pitch and rhythm are employed in Melodic Intonation Therapy to improve expressive language recovery, but little is known about the effects of music on the recovery of speech perception and receptive language. This research is one of the first to address the effects of music on speech perception. Two groups of participants, an older adult group (n=24; M = 71.63 yrs) and a younger adult group (n=50; M = 21.88 yrs) took part in the study. A native female speaker of Standard American English created four different types of stimuli including pseudoword sentences of normal speech, simultaneous music-speech, rhythmic speech, and music-primed speech. The stimuli were presented binaurally and participants were instructed to repeat what they heard following a 15 second time delay. Results were analyzed using standard parametric techniques. It was found that musical priming of speech, but not simultaneous synchronized music and speech, facilitated speech perception in both the younger adult and older adult groups. This effect may be driven by rhythmic information. The younger adults outperformed the older adults in all conditions. The speech perception task relied heavily on working memory, and there is a known working memory decline associated with aging. Thus, participants completed a working memory task to be used as a covariate in analyses of differences across stimulus types and age groups. Working memory ability was found to correlate with speech perception performance, but that the age-related performance differences are still significant once working memory differences are taken into account. These results provide new avenues for facilitating speech perception in stroke patients and sheds light upon the underlying mechanisms of Melodic Intonation Therapy for speech production.
ContributorsLaCroix, Arianna (Author) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Thesis advisor) / Gray, Shelley (Committee member) / Liss, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The activation of the primary motor cortex (M1) is common in speech perception tasks that involve difficult listening conditions. Although the challenge of recognizing and discriminating non-native speech sounds appears to be an instantiation of listening under difficult circumstances, it is still unknown if M1 recruitment is facilitatory of second language speech perception. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of M1 associated with speech motor centers in processing acoustic inputs in the native (L1) and second language (L2), using repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) to selectively alter neural activity in M1. Thirty-six healthy English/Spanish bilingual subjects participated in the experiment. The performance on a listening word-to-picture matching task was measured before and after real- and sham-rTMS to the orbicularis oris (lip muscle) associated M1. Vowel Space Area (VSA) obtained from recordings of participants reading a passage in L2 before and after real-rTMS, was calculated to determine its utility as an rTMS aftereffect measure. There was high variability in the aftereffect of the rTMS protocol to the lip muscle among the participants. Approximately 50% of participants showed an inhibitory effect of rTMS, evidenced by smaller motor evoked potentials (MEPs) area, whereas the other 50% had a facilitatory effect, with larger MEPs. This suggests that rTMS has a complex influence on M1 excitability, and relying on grand-average results can obscure important individual differences in rTMS physiological and functional outcomes. Evidence of motor support to word recognition in the L2 was found. Participants showing an inhibitory aftereffect of rTMS on M1 produced slower and less accurate responses in the L2 task, whereas those showing a facilitatory aftereffect of rTMS on M1 produced more accurate responses in L2. In contrast, no effect of rTMS was found on the L1, where accuracy and speed were very similar after sham- and real-rTMS. The L2 VSA measure was indicative of the aftereffect of rTMS to M1 associated with speech production, supporting its utility as an rTMS aftereffect measure. This result revealed an interesting and novel relation between cerebral motor cortex activation and speech measures.
ContributorsBarragan, Beatriz (Author) / Liss, Julie (Thesis advisor) / Berisha, Visar (Committee member) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / Restrepo, Adelaida (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Cognitive deficits often accompany language impairments post-stroke. Past research has focused on working memory in aphasia, but attention is largely underexplored. Therefore, this dissertation will first quantify attention deficits post-stroke before investigating whether preserved cognitive abilities, including attention, can improve auditory sentence comprehension post-stroke. In Experiment 1a, three components of attention (alerting, orienting, executive control) were measured in persons with aphasia and matched-controls using visual and auditory versions of the well-studied Attention Network Test. Experiment 1b then explored the neural resources supporting each component of attention in the visual and auditory modalities in chronic stroke participants. The results from Experiment 1a indicate that alerting, orienting, and executive control are uniquely affected by presentation modality. The lesion-symptom mapping results from Experiment 1b associated the left angular gyrus with visual executive control, the left supramarginal gyrus with auditory alerting, and Broca’s area (pars opercularis) with auditory orienting attention post-stroke. Overall, these findings indicate that perceptual modality may impact the lateralization of some aspects of attention, thus auditory attention may be more susceptible to impairment after a left hemisphere stroke.
Prosody, rhythm and pitch changes associated with spoken language may improve spoken language comprehension in persons with aphasia by recruiting intact cognitive abilities (e.g., attention and working memory) and their associated non-lesioned brain regions post-stroke. Therefore, Experiment 2 explored the relationship between cognition, two unique prosody manipulations, lesion location, and auditory sentence comprehension in persons with chronic stroke and matched-controls. The combined results from Experiment 2a and 2b indicate that stroke participants with better auditory orienting attention and a specific left fronto-parietal network intact had greater comprehension of sentences spoken with sentence prosody. For list prosody, participants with deficits in auditory executive control and/or short-term memory and the left angular gyrus and globus pallidus relatively intact, demonstrated better comprehension of sentences spoken with list prosody. Overall, the results from Experiment 2 indicate that following a left hemisphere stroke, individuals need good auditory attention and an intact left fronto-parietal network to benefit from typical sentence prosody, yet when cognitive deficits are present and this fronto-parietal network is damaged, list prosody may be more beneficial.
Prosody, rhythm and pitch changes associated with spoken language may improve spoken language comprehension in persons with aphasia by recruiting intact cognitive abilities (e.g., attention and working memory) and their associated non-lesioned brain regions post-stroke. Therefore, Experiment 2 explored the relationship between cognition, two unique prosody manipulations, lesion location, and auditory sentence comprehension in persons with chronic stroke and matched-controls. The combined results from Experiment 2a and 2b indicate that stroke participants with better auditory orienting attention and a specific left fronto-parietal network intact had greater comprehension of sentences spoken with sentence prosody. For list prosody, participants with deficits in auditory executive control and/or short-term memory and the left angular gyrus and globus pallidus relatively intact, demonstrated better comprehension of sentences spoken with list prosody. Overall, the results from Experiment 2 indicate that following a left hemisphere stroke, individuals need good auditory attention and an intact left fronto-parietal network to benefit from typical sentence prosody, yet when cognitive deficits are present and this fronto-parietal network is damaged, list prosody may be more beneficial.
ContributorsLaCroix, Arianna (Author) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Thesis advisor) / Azuma, Tamiko (Committee member) / Braden, B. Blair (Committee member) / Liss, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The label-feedback hypothesis (Lupyan, 2007) proposes that language can modulate low- and high-level visual processing, such as “priming” a visual object. Lupyan and Swingley (2012) found that repeating target names facilitates visual search, resulting in shorter reaction times (RTs) and higher accuracy. However, a design limitation made their results challenging to assess. This study evaluated whether self-directed speech influences target locating (i.e. attentional guidance) or target identification after location (i.e. decision time), testing whether the Label Feedback Effect reflects changes in visual attention or some other mechanism (e.g. template maintenance in working memory). Across three experiments, search RTs and eye movements were analyzed from four within-subject conditions. People spoke target names, nonwords, irrelevant (absent) object names, or irrelevant (present) object names. Speaking target names weakly facilitates visual search, but speaking different names strongly inhibits search. The most parsimonious account is that language affects target maintenance during search, rather than visual perception.
ContributorsHebert, Katherine P (Author) / Goldinger, Stephen D (Thesis advisor) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / McClure, Samuel M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Audiovisual (AV) integration is a fundamental component of face-to-face communication. Visual cues generally aid auditory comprehension of communicative intent through our innate ability to “fuse” auditory and visual information. However, our ability for multisensory integration can be affected by damage to the brain. Previous neuroimaging studies have indicated the superior temporal sulcus (STS) as the center for AV integration, while others suggest inferior frontal and motor regions. However, few studies have analyzed the effect of stroke or other brain damage on multisensory integration in humans. The present study examines the effect of lesion location on auditory and AV speech perception through behavioral and structural imaging methodologies in 41 left-hemisphere participants with chronic focal cerebral damage. Participants completed two behavioral tasks of speech perception: an auditory speech perception task and a classic McGurk paradigm measuring congruent (auditory and visual stimuli match) and incongruent (auditory and visual stimuli do not match, creating a “fused” percept of a novel stimulus) AV speech perception. Overall, participants performed well above chance on both tasks. Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) across all 41 participants identified several regions as critical for speech perception depending on trial type. Heschl’s gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus were identified as critical for auditory speech perception, the basal ganglia was critical for speech perception in AV congruent trials, and the middle temporal gyrus/STS were critical in AV incongruent trials. VLSM analyses of the AV incongruent trials were used to further clarify the origin of “errors”, i.e. lack of fusion. Auditory capture (auditory stimulus) responses were attributed to visual processing deficits caused by lesions in the posterior temporal lobe, whereas visual capture (visual stimulus) responses were attributed to lesions in the anterior temporal cortex, including the temporal pole, which is widely considered to be an amodal semantic hub. The implication of anterior temporal regions in AV integration is novel and warrants further study. The behavioral and VLSM results are discussed in relation to previous neuroimaging and case-study evidence; broadly, our findings coincide with previous work indicating that multisensory superior temporal cortex, not frontal motor circuits, are critical for AV integration.
ContributorsCai, Julia (Author) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Thesis advisor) / Azuma, Tamiko (Committee member) / Liss, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Repetitive practice of functional movement patterns during motor rehabilitation are known to drive learning (or relearning) of novel motor skills, but the learning process is highly variable between individuals such that responsiveness to task-specific training is often patient-specific. A number of neuroimaging and neurophysiological methods have been proposed to better predict a patient’s responsiveness to a given type or dose of motor therapy. However, these methods are often time- and resource-intensive, and yield results that are not readily interpretable by clinicians. In contrast, standardized visuospatial tests may offer a more feasible solution. The work presented in this dissertation demonstrate that a clinical paper-and-pencil test of visuospatial function may improve predictive models of motor skill learning in older adults and individuals with stroke pathology. To further our understanding of the neuroanatomical correlates underlying this behavioral relationship, I collected diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images from 19 nondemented older adults to determine if diffusion characteristics of white matter tracts explain shared variance in delayed visuospatial memory test scores and motor skill learning. Consistent with previous work, results indicated that the structural integrity of regions with the bilateral anterior thalamic radiations, corticospinal tracts, and superior longitudinal fasciculi are related to delayed visuospatial memory performance and one-week skill retention. Overall, results of this dissertation suggest that incorporating a clinical paper-and-pencil test of delayed visuospatial memory may prognose motor rehabilitation outcomes and support that personalized variables should be considered in standards of care. Moreover, regions within specific white matter tracts may underlie this behavioral relationship and future work should investigate these regions as potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
ContributorsLingo VanGilder, Jennapher (Author) / Schaefer, Sydney Y (Thesis advisor) / Santello, Marco (Committee member) / Buneo, Christopher (Committee member) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / Duff, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to show impairments in various domains of executive function (EF) such as behavioral flexibility or inhibitory control. Research suggests that EF impairment in adults with ASD may relate to ASD core symptoms, restrictive behaviors and social communication deficits. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has shown promise for improving EF abilities in neurotypical adults, but research has not explored its efficacy or neural mechanisms in adults with ASD. This pilot study examines the effects of an 8-week MBSR intervention on self-report measures of EF and resting-state functional connectivity in a sample of adults with ASD. Fifty-four participants were assigned either to an MBSR group (n = 29) or a social support group (n = 25). Executive function was measured using the BRIEF-2 before and after the intervention for the twenty-seven participants in the second cohort. MBSR-specific improvements in EF were found for BRIEF measures of initiation, inhibition, and working-memory. Resting-state fMRI data was analyzed using independent component analysis (ICA), and group by time resting-state functional connectivity differences were observed between the cerebellar network and frontal regions including the right frontal pole (rFP), medial frontal cortex (MFC) and left and right superior frontal gyri (SFG). The MBSR group showed increases in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and EF regions which correlated with improvements in BRIEF-2 measures. These findings suggest that MBSR may improve EF domains in adults with ASD, and that increases in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and frontal regions while at rest may be a mechanism for such improvements.
ContributorsGuerithault, Nicolas (Author) / Braden, B. Blair (Thesis advisor) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / Dixon, Maria (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
ABSTRACTAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with social communication challenges and restrictive and repetitive behaviors [2]. Despite known lifelong challenges, understanding of cognitive and brain aging with ASD is lacking. Middle-aged adults with ASD have a higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease (Alz) and other dementias compared to neurotypical (NT) adults [12].
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a lipid transport protein involved in neuronal repair and cholesterol transport and is the strongest genetic risk factor for Alz [22]. Others demonstrated that individuals with ASD are more likely to carry the APOE ε4-allele [21]. This study aimed to determine if the APOE ε4-allele negatively impacts verbal learning and memory in ASD compared to NT adults.
Participants were intellectually able 76 middle-age and older adults (MA+) between the ages of 40-71, including 35 with ASD [mean age=53.06 (±8.91)] and 41 NT adults [mean age=53.90 (±8.44)]. APOE allelic distribution was determined from salivary samples via polymerase chain reaction amplification and genotyped on a tapestation. The Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) variables were short-term memory, long-term memory, and total learning.
There was a main effect of APOE ε4 for short-term memory and verbal learning, with ε4 carriers performing worse across diagnosis groups. For verbal learning, sex was a significant predictor. So, exploratory analyses separating diagnosis groups by sex were conducted. Only males with ASD were found to be carrying APOE ε4 associated with reduced verbal learning (p=0.02). Finally, the APOE ε4-allele did not significantly affect the participants’ long-term memory.
These findings suggest that the APOE ε4-allele negatively impacts short-term memory and verbal learning in MA+ adults, and that autistic men may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of APOE ε4 on verbal learning. This study is the first to incorporate ASD in APOE’s association with cognition and investigate how sex differences impact memory function. Future research is needed to replicate these findings using a larger sample size to further understand how the ε4-allele affects memory function trajectories in MA+ ASD as they grow older.
ContributorsAl-Hassan, Lamees (Author) / Braden, Blair (Thesis advisor) / Lewis, Candace (Committee member) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Diffusion weighted imaging utilizes magnetic resonance imaging to capture white matter tracts in the brain. Many studies have utilized this technique to measure white matter structures looking for evidence of anatomical and physiological differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Parkinsonian-like symptoms have been documented and self-reported in aging autistic individuals, opening up questions about a possible link between ASD and an increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease. Utilizing MRtrix3, an image processing proof-of-concept pipeline was developed for the Autism and Brain Aging (ABA) lab to generate and visualize the brain’s structural connectivity network in these populations of interest. The pipeline provides the opportunity for white matter tractography analysis in the lab’s Aging in Autism study.
ContributorsFeldman, Leslie (Author) / Ofori, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Braden, Blair (Committee member) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Previous research of impulse control disorders, common in adults with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s, were reviewed to determine possible links between impulse control
disorders in in adults with aphasia. Aphasia is a disorder often caused by a stroke that can
impact speech and language both receptively and expressively. Impulse control disorders
(ICDs) (i.e., pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive eating and shopping, etc.)
have drastic consequences and can cause harm to the individual affected as well as their
caregivers and family. This study sought to identify if symptoms of ICDs are prevalent in
adults with aphasia by utilizing self-report surveys and a Go/No-Go impulsivity computer
task. The findings of this study indicate that some impulsive factors are significantly
heightened in adults who have had a stroke when compared to healthy same-age peers
and that these differences are perhaps best captured by the self-report surveys. Despite a
large amount of literature on the impact of stroke and quality of life, this area of impulse
control has remained largely unexplored. Further investigation is warranted for the
prevalence of impulse control disorders in adults with aphasia, however, this study is a
step forward into understanding how aphasia and stroke affect the quality of life of those
impacted.
ContributorsMajors, Madilyn (Author) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Thesis advisor) / Trueba, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Azuma, Tamiko (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023