Cognition and aphasia: a discussion and a study.
The relation between other aspects of cognition and language status of individuals with aphasia is not well-established, although there is some evidence that integrity of non-linguistic skills of attention, memory, executive function and visuospatial skills can not be predicted on the basis of aphasia severity. At the same time, there is a growing realization among rehabilitation specialists, based on clinical experience and preliminary studies, that all domains of cognition are important to aphasia therapy outcomes. This paper describes a new study of the relation between linguistic and nonlinguistic skill in a group of individuals with aphasia. No significant relationship was found between linguistic and nonlinguistic skills, and between nonlinguistic skills and age, education or time post onset. Instead, individual profiles of strengths and weaknesses were found. The implications of these findings for management of aphasia patients is discussed.


OBJECTIVE
Readers of this papers will be able to: list five primary domains of cognition and relate each to an aspect of aphasia therapy; describe at least three studies that examined the relation between cognition and aphasia; describe four nonlinguistic tasks of cognition that can be used with a wide range of aphasia patients.
Helm-Estabrooks
Nancy
N
Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center, Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, MA 02130, USA. nancyhe@bu.edu
D000368:Aged; D001037:Aphasia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests