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Gitte Keidser - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • conversational interaction is the brain in action implications for the evaluation of hearing and hearing interventions
    Ear and Hearing, 2020
    Co-Authors: Simon Carlile, Gitte Keidser
    Abstract:

    Humans have evolved the unique capacity to efficiently communicate using the spoken word. Hearing plays a key role as a receiver in this process and dysfunction leads to difficulties in listening and Communication. It is widely accepted that effective Communication is not adequately captured with current behavioral speech tests that principally focus on passive sound detection and speech recognition with idealized stimuli. To address the question of what it will take to obtain more ecologically valid outcomes from behavioral speech tests, recent approaches, and test paradigms devised to address some of the acknowledged shortcomings of current speech tests were reviewed. Additionally, some recent work which has focused on understanding brain function in social and dynamic interaction scenarios, so-called second person neuroscience, was reviewed. These reviews revealed that, while recent efforts in bridging the gap between behavioral speech tests and Everyday Communication situations represent important steps in the right direction, they are unlikely to provide a complete account of Everyday Communication situations. Further, brain imaging studies, together with our growing understanding of "mirror" neurons and the development of theories around embodied cognition, have demonstrated that the brain networks recruited during emotionally engaged interaction between interlocutors are far more complex when compared to that of a passive listener. Speech and nonspeech (e.g., gaze direction, body posture, etc.) interactions between the interlocutors give rise to the perception of effective interaction (sense of "agency") and activate neural networks important in decision-making and subsequent Communication interaction. Successful conversational interaction represents the negotiation of a dynamic context and the emergence of a state of shared understanding between participants. In conclusion, to achieve highly ecologically valid outcomes related to Communication, future testing will most likely require an interactive or conversational paradigm to elicit the brain states that are present in Everyday social interactions.

  • hearing aid amplification reduces Communication effort of people with hearing impairment and their conversation partners
    Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 2020
    Co-Authors: Jorg M Buchholz, Timothy Beechey, Gitte Keidser
    Abstract:

    Objectives This study investigates the hypothesis that hearing aid amplification reduces effort within conversation for both hearing aid wearers and their Communication partners. Levels of effort, in the form of speech production modifications, required to maintain successful spoken Communication in a range of acoustic environments are compared to earlier reported results measured in unaided conversation conditions. Design Fifteen young adult normal-hearing participants and 15 older adult hearing-impaired participants were tested in pairs. Each pair consisted of one young normal-hearing participant and one older hearing-impaired participant. Hearing-impaired participants received directional hearing aid amplification, according to their audiogram, via a master hearing aid with gain provided according to the NAL-NL2 fitting formula. Pairs of participants were required to take part in naturalistic conversations through the use of a referential Communication task. Each pair took part in five conversations, each of 5-min duration. During each conversation, participants were exposed to one of five different realistic acoustic environments presented through highly open headphones. The ordering of acoustic environments across experimental blocks was pseudorandomized. Resulting recordings of conversational speech were analyzed to determine the magnitude of speech modifications, in terms of vocal level and spectrum, produced by normal-hearing talkers as a function of both acoustic environment and the degree of high-frequency average hearing impairment of their conversation partner. Results The magnitude of spectral modifications of speech produced by normal-hearing talkers during conversations with aided hearing-impaired interlocutors was smaller than the speech modifications observed during conversations between the same pairs of participants in the absence of hearing aid amplification. Conclusions The provision of hearing aid amplification reduces the effort required to maintain Communication in adverse conditions. This reduction in effort provides benefit to hearing-impaired individuals and also to the conversation partners of hearing-impaired individuals. By considering the impact of amplification on both sides of dyadic conversations, this approach contributes to an increased understanding of the likely impact of hearing impairment on Everyday Communication.

Peter Hagoort - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Seeing and Hearing Meaning: ERP and fMRI Evidence of Word versus Picture Integration into a Sentence Context
    Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2008
    Co-Authors: Roel M. Willems, Aslı Özyürek, Peter Hagoort
    Abstract:

    Understanding language always occurs within a situational context and, therefore, often implies combining streams of information from different domains and modalities. One such combination is that of spoken language and visual information, which are perceived together in a variety of ways during Everyday Communication. Here we investigate whether and how words and pictures differ in terms of their neural correlates when they are integrated into a previously built-up sentence context. This is assessed in two experiments looking at the time course (measuring event-related potentials, ERPs) and the locus (using functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) of this integration process. We manipulated the ease of semantic integration of word and/or picture to a previous sentence context to increase the semantic load of processing. In the ERP study, an increased semantic load led to an N400 effect which was similar for pictures and words in terms of latency and amplitude. In the fMRI study, we found overlapping activations to both picture and word integration in the left inferior frontal cortex. Specific activations for the integration of a word were observed in the left superior temporal cortex. We conclude that despite obvious differences in representational format, semantic information coming from pictures and words is integrated into a sentence context in similar ways in the brain. This study adds to the growing insight that the language system incorporates (semantic) information coming from linguistic and extralinguistic domains with the same neural time course and by recruitment of overlapping brain areas.

  • when language meets action the neural integration of gesture and speech
    Cerebral Cortex, 2007
    Co-Authors: Roel M. Willems, Aslı Özyürek, Peter Hagoort
    Abstract:

    Although generally studied in isolation, language and action often co-occur in Everyday life. Here we investigated one particular form of simultaneous language and action, namely speech and gestures that speakers use in Everyday Communication. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we identified the neural networks involved in the integration of semantic information from speech and gestures. Verbal and/or gestural content could be integrated easily or less easily with the content of the preceding part of speech. Premotor areas involved in action observation (Brodmann area [BA] 6) were found to be specifically modulated by action information "mismatching" to a language context. Importantly, an increase in integration load of both verbal and gestural information into prior speech context activated Broca's area and adjacent cortex (BA 45/47). A classical language area, Broca's area, is not only recruited for language-internal processing but also when action observation is integrated with speech. These findings provide direct evidence that action and language processing share a high-level neural integration system.

Leanne Togher - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • the effectiveness of social Communication partner training for adults with severe chronic tbi and their families using a measure of perceived Communication ability
    NeuroRehabilitation, 2016
    Co-Authors: Leanne Togher, Emma Power, Rachael Rietdijk, Skye Mcdonald, Robyn L Tate
    Abstract:

    BACKGROUND: Training for Communication partners of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is efficacious when using blinded independent ratings of casual conversations measured in the clinic. However, the question remains as to whether participants with TBI and their significant other perceive changes to Everyday social Communication as a result of training. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether treatment focused on improving the conversational skills of Everyday Communication partners of people with severe TBI using a program called TBI Express resulted in improvements in perceived communicative ability as measured by the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ). METHODS: Non randomized controlled trial comparing treatment of people with TBI together with Communication partners (JOINT) with treatment of people with TBI without partner involvement (TBI SOLO) and a waitlist control group (CTRL) with follow-up at 6 months post-treatment. Forty-four outpatients from brain injury units in Sydney with severe chronic acquired brain injuries were recruited. A further 27 eligible outpatients refused to participate or could not be contacted. A total of 41 people completed treatment and 38 completed 6 month follow up assessment. The measure of perceived Communication ability is the report of the participant with TBI and their partner on the LCQ. RESULTS: Communication partner training (JOINT) improved conversational performance relative to training the person with TBI alone and a waitlist control group on the LCQ. The TBI SOLO group improved in terms of report on the LCQ relative to the CONTROL group. Results were maintained at six months post-training. CONCLUSION: Training Communication partners of people with chronic severe TBI using TBI Express led to perceived improvements in Everyday Communication ability by both the person with TBI and their family member.

  • describing conversations between individuals with traumatic brain injury tbi and Communication partners following Communication partner training using exchange structure analysis
    Brain Injury, 2013
    Co-Authors: Phoebe Sim, Emma Power, Leanne Togher
    Abstract:

    AbstractPrimary objective: To describe conversational discourse change after joint Communication training for individuals with TBI and their Everyday Communication partners (ECPs), as compared to untrained controls.Hypothesis: Joint training would lead to significantly greater changes in the discourse behaviour of trained participants.Methods and procedures: In this multi-centre non-randomized controlled trial, 29 participants with severe TBI and their ECPs were allocated to either the JOINT training or CONTROL group. Social Communication training aimed to train ECPs to better support their partner with TBI to produce more effective conversations. Pre- and post-training casual conversations were compared using exchange structure analysis (ESA) and productivity analysis.Results: ESA and productivity analysis revealed significant change in the use of testing moves by trained ECPs and significant change in productivity by trained participants with TBI. ESA facilitated development of discourse profiles (exces...

  • narrative after traumatic brain injury a comparison of monologic and jointly produced discourse
    Brain Injury, 2009
    Co-Authors: Mikaela Jorgensen, Leanne Togher
    Abstract:

    Primary objective: To investigate the effects of a familiar Communication partner on the production of narrative after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Ten participants with TBI were matched with 10 control participants for sex, age, and education. Participants independently retold a story from a picture sequence and also retold a video segment with a friend to a researcher. The resulting discourse was analyzed for productivity, cohesion, story grammar, informational content and exchange structure. Results: There was a significant difference between participants with and without TBI for all measures in the monologic narrative. In the jointly-produced narrative, there was no significant difference in performance and participation between individuals with TBI and control participants. Participants with TBI demonstrated a significant improvement between the monologic and the jointly-produced task in story grammar and informational content. Conclusions: The natural scaffolding provided by the friends of participants with TBI in a meaningful narrative task facilitated competent participation in and production of narrative. These findings indicate an avenue for training Everyday Communication partners in supporting narrative skills after TBI, and for the use of jointly-produced narrative as an additional assessment tool to create a holistic view of Everyday skills.

  • social participation for older people with aphasia the impact of Communication disability on friendships
    Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 2008
    Co-Authors: Bronwyn Davidson, Tami Howe, Linda Worrall, Louise Hickson, Leanne Togher
    Abstract:

    Purpose: The language changes experienced by a person with aphasia following a stroke often have sudden and longlasting negative impact on friendships. Friendship relationships are core to social engagement, quality of life, and emotional well-being. The aims of this study were to describe Everyday Communication with friends for older people with and without aphasia and to examine the nature of actual friendship conversations involving a person with aphasia. Method: This naturalistic inquiry drew data from two phases of research: a participant observation study of 30 older Australians, 15 of whom had aphasia following a stroke, and a collective case study using stimulated recall to examine friendship conversations involving an older person with aphasia. Results: People with aphasia communicated with fewer friends and had smaller social networks. “Friendship” was a core domain of Communication for older people and participation in leisure and educational activities was focal in Everyday Communication with friends. Case study data of conversations between three older people with aphasia and their friends illuminated features of “time,” the role of humour, and friends having shared interests. Conclusion: Aphasia has been found to impact on friendships. A need exists for research and intervention

Brigitte Rockstroh - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • long term stability of improved language functions in chronic aphasia after constraint induced aphasia therapy
    Stroke, 2005
    Co-Authors: Marcus Meinzer, Daniela Djundja, Gabriela Barthel, Thomas Elbert, Brigitte Rockstroh
    Abstract:

    Background and Purpose— In response to the established notion that improvement of language functions in chronic aphasia only can be achieved through long-term treatment, we examined the efficacy of a short-term, intensive language training, constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT). This program is founded on the learning principles of prevention of compensatory Communication (constraint), massed practice, and shaping (induced). Methods— Twenty-seven patients with chronic aphasia received 30 hours of training over 10 days. Twelve patients were trained with the CIAT program. For 15 patients the training included a module of written language and an additional training in Everyday Communication, which involved the assistance of family members (CIATplus). Outcome measures included standardized neurolinguistic testing and ratings of the quality and the amount of daily Communication. Results— Language functions improved significantly after training for both groups and remained stable over a 6-month follow-up period. Single case analyses revealed statistically significant improvements in 85% of the patients. Patients and relatives of both groups rated the quality and amount of Communication as improved after therapy. This increase was more pronounced for patients of the group CIATplus in the follow-up. Conclusions— Results confirm that a short-term intense language training, based on learning principles, can lead to substantial and lasting improvements in language functions in chronic aphasia. The use of family and friends in the training provides an additional valuable element. This effective intervention can be successfully used in the rehabilitation of chronic aphasia patients. Additionally, its short-term design makes it economically attractive for service providers.

Elvira Glaser - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Digitising Swiss German: how to process and study a polycentric spoken language
    Language Resources and Evaluation, 2019
    Co-Authors: Yves Scherrer, Tanja Samardžic, Elvira Glaser
    Abstract:

    Swiss dialects of German are, unlike many dialects of other standardised languages, widely used in Everyday Communication. Despite this fact, automatic processing of Swiss German is still a considerable challenge due to the fact that it is mostly a spoken variety and that it is subject to considerable regional variation. This paper presents the ArchiMob corpus, a freely available general-purpose corpus of spoken Swiss German based on oral history interviews. The corpus is a result of a long design process, intensive manual work and specially adapted computational processing. We first present the modalities of access of the corpus for linguistic, historic and computational research. We then describe how the documents were transcribed, segmented and aligned with the sound source. This work involved a series of experiments that have led to automatically annotated normalisation and part-of-speech tagging layers. Finally, we present several case studies to motivate the use of the corpus for digital humanities in general and for dialectology in particular.

  • normalising orthographic and dialectal variants for the automatic processing of swiss german
    Language and Technology Conference, 2015
    Co-Authors: Tanja Samardžic, Yves Scherrer, Elvira Glaser
    Abstract:

    Swiss dialects of German are, unlike most dialects of well standardised languages, widely used in Everyday Communication. Despite this fact, they lack tools and resources for natural language processing. The main reason for this is the fact that the dialects are mostly spoken and that written resources are small and highly inconsistent. This paper addresses the great variability in writing that poses a problem for automatic processing. We propose an automatic approach to normalising the variants to a single representation intended for processing tools’ internal use (not shown to human users). We manually create a sample of transcribed and normalised texts, which we use to train and test three methods based on machine translation: word-by-word mappings, character-based machine translation, and language modelling. We show that an optimal combination of the three approaches gives better results than any of them separately.