Aphasia Neuroplasticity Review

Belin et al. (1996)

Reference

AuthorsBelin P, Van Eeckhout P, Zilbovicius M, Remy P, François C, Guillaume S, Chain F, Rancurel G, Samson Y
TitleRecovery from nonfluent aphasia after melodic intonation therapy: a PET study
ReferenceNeurology 1996; 47: 1504-1511
PMID8960735
DOI10.1212/wnl.47.6.1504

Participants

LanguageFrench
Inclusion criteriaMCA; persistent severe non-fluent aphasia followed by marked improvement with MIT
Number of individuals with aphasia7
Number of control participants0
Were any of the participants included in any previous studies?No
Is age reported for patients and controls, and matched?Yes (mean 49.7 years, range 40-58 years)
Is sex reported for patients and controls, and matched?No
Is handedness reported for patients and controls, and matched?Yes (right: 7; left: 0)
Is time post stroke onset reported and appropriate to the study design?Yes (range 15-149 months; including MIT for the most recent 1-108 months)
To what extent is the nature of aphasia characterized?Severity and type
Language evaluationBDAE
Aphasia severityPersistent severe non-fluent aphasia followed by marked improvement with MIT
Aphasia type5 global, 2 Broca's
First stroke only?Not stated
Stroke typeNot stated
To what extent is the lesion distribution characterized?Individual lesions
Lesion extentNot stated, but note that hypoperfusion greatly exceeded the infarct in all but 1 patient
Lesion locationL MCA; 2 also had ACA
Participants notes

Imaging

ModalityPET (rCBF)
Is the study cross-sectional or longitudinal?Cross-sectional
If longitudinal, at what time point(s) were imaging data acquired?
If longitudinal, was there any intervention between the time points?
Is the scanner described?Yes (CEA LETI-TTV03)
Is the timing of stimulus presentation and image acquisition clearly described and appropriate?Yes
Design typePET
Total images acquired4
Are the imaging acquisition parameters, including coverage, adequately described and appropriate?Yes (7 transaxial slices 12 mm apart)
Is preprocessing and intrasubject coregistration adequately described and appropriate?Yes
Is first level model fitting adequately described and appropriate?Yes
Is intersubject normalization adequately described and appropriate?Yes
Imaging notes

Conditions

Are the conditions clearly described?Yes
ConditionResponse typeRepetitionsAll groups could do?All individuals could do?
word repetition with MIT-like intonationWord (overt)1YesUnknown
word repetitionWord (overt)1YesUnknown
listening to wordsNone1N/AN/A
restNone1N/AN/A
Conditions notes

Contrasts

Are the contrasts clearly described?Yes

Contrast 1: word repetition with MIT-like intonation vs word repetition

Language conditionWord repetition with MIT-like intonation
Control conditionWord repetition
Are the conditions matched for visual demands?Yes
Are the conditions matched for auditory demands?Yes
Are the conditions matched for motor demands?Yes
Are the conditions matched for cognitive/executive demands?Yes
Is accuracy matched between the language and control tasks for all relevant groups?No, by design
Is reaction time matched between the language and control tasks for all relevant groups?Unknown, not reported
Behavioral data notesMore words were correctly repeated with MIT (16.3 ± 8) than without (12.4 ± 8; p < 0.03)
Are control data reported in this paper or another that is referenced?N/A
Does the contrast selectively activate plausible relevant language regions in the control group?N/A
Are activations lateralized in the control data?N/A
Control activation notes
Contrast notes

Analyses

Are the analyses clearly described?Yes

ROI analysis 1

First level contrastWord repetition with MIT-like intonation vs word repetition
Analysis classCross-sectional performance-defined conditions
Group(s)Aphasia
Covariate
Is the second level contrast valid in terms of the group(s), time point(s), and measures involved?Yes
Is accuracy matched across the second level contrast?No, by design
Is reaction time matched across the second level contrast?Unknown, not reported
Behavioral data notesMore words were correctly repeated with MIT (16.3 ± 8) than without (12.4 ± 8; p < 0.03)
Type of analysisRegions of interest (ROI)
ROI typeAnatomical
How many ROIs are there?18
What are the ROI(s)?(1) L Broca's area; (2) L prefrontal; (3) L sensorimotor mouth; (4) L parietal; (5) L Wernicke's area; (6) L Heschl's gyrus; (7) L anterior STG; (8) L MTG; (9) L temporal pole; (10-18) homotopic counterparts
How are the ROI(s) defined?Individual anatomical images; activation quantified as mean rCBF, not including any intersection of the infarct with the ROI
Correction for multiple comparisonsNo correction
Statistical detailsThree left hemisphere ROIs were excluded (3, 6, 9) because they were completely infarcted in 4 or more patients
Findings↑ L IFG
↑ L dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
↓ R posterior STG
Findings notes

Notes

Excluded analysesTwo other contrasts are also reported, but do not fall within the scope of this review