Double dissociation of object and action naming: evidence from Gulf Arabic aphasia

Several studies have observed double dissociations in the production of nouns and verbs in persons with aphasia. However, whether or not these dissociations point to grammatical class being a principle of organization in the brain remains contested. Cross-linguistic considerations are important for drawing conclusions in this regard. As such, this study provides the first exploration of Gulf Arabic, a non-concatenative language with complex morphology. Utilizing Bayesian approach, the study tested for dissociations in 8 Gulf Arabic-speaking persons with aphasia (PWA) performance on object and action naming tasks. A double dissociation of nouns and verbs was found across the group, with 4 individuals exhibiting preserved action naming and impaired object naming, while 1 demonstrated the opposite pattern. Further error analysis and theoretical discussion are provided, considering existing explanations for dissociation phenomena in light of our novel findings within the understudied domain of Gulf Arabic aphasia.