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Vigilant Attention During Cognitive and Language Processing in Aphasia.
Dannielle Hibshman1, Ellyn A Riley1
1Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Syracuse University, NY.
Persons with aphasia (PWA) show increased vigilant attention during language tasks compared to non-language tasks. This suggests PWA may allocate more attentional resources for language processing after stroke.
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Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Speech and Language Pathology
Background:
- Individuals with aphasia (PWA) often exhibit attention deficits post-stroke, impacting cognitive and language functions.
- Understanding attention patterns in PWA is crucial for effective rehabilitation strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate vigilant attention during linguistic and nonlinguistic tasks in PWA using electroencephalogram (EEG).
- To compare attention states between PWA and control participants during tasks with varying cognitive demands.
Main Methods:
- Collected continuous EEG data from PWA and controls during a sentence-reading (linguistic) task and a shape-discrimination (nonlinguistic) task.
- Utilized a validated EEG algorithm to classify vigilant attention into high, moderate, distracted, or no attention states for each trial.
- Measured task accuracy and the duration spent in each attention state.
Main Results:
- PWA made more errors on the linguistic task than controls; performance was similar on the nonlinguistic task.
- Controls spent more time in a moderate-attention state during the linguistic task compared to PWA.
- PWA exhibited significantly more high-attention states during the linguistic task versus the nonlinguistic task, unlike controls.
Conclusions:
- PWA demonstrate heightened vigilant attention during demanding linguistic tasks.
- Results suggest PWA may reallocate attentional resources, prioritizing language processing over other cognitive tasks.

