ABSTRACT

Background

Attention deficits frequently accompany language impairments in aphasia. Most research on attention in aphasia focuses on selective attention measured by executive control tasks such as the color-word Stroop or Erickson flanker. This is despite ample evidence in neurotypical adults indicating the existence of multiple, distinct attention subtypes. Thus, there is a disconnect between the documented attention impairments in persons with aphasia (PWA) and the literature in neurotypical adults indicating that multiple attention components independently modulate an individual’s interactions with the world.

Aims

This study aimed to use the well-studied Attention Network Test (ANT) to quantify three subtypes of attention (alerting, orienting, and executive control) in PWA and matched controls. It was hypothesized that significant effects of alerting, orienting, and executive control would be observed in both groups; however, the effects would be reduced in PWA compared to the neurotypical controls. It was additionally expected that alerting, orienting, and executive control would not be correlated with one another in either group.

Methods & Procedures

Twenty-two PWA along with 20 age, gender, and education-matched controls completed the ANT. Briefly, the ANT consists of a cued-flanker task where the cues provide information about when and where the flanker executive control task will be presented. The combination of cues and flanker targets embedded within the ANT provides measures of alerting, orienting, and executive control. Participants are expected to respond faster and more accurately to the flanker task when cued as to when and where the task will be presented.

Outcomes & Results

In line with previous work, the control group demonstrated significant effects of alerting, orienting, and executive control. However, we only find significant orienting and executive control effects in the aphasia group. Between-group differences were only identified within orienting attention: the control group benefitted more from the orienting cue than the aphasia group. Additionally, alerting, orienting, and executive control were not correlated in the control group, yet, a relationship between orienting and executive control was observed in the aphasia group.

Conclusions

Overall, our findings demonstrate that attention differs between PWA and controls, and that the ANT may provide a more complete picture of attention in aphasia; this may be particularly important when characterizing the relationship between attention and language in aphasia.

中文翻译：

---

使用注意力网络测试评估失语症患者的警觉、定向和执行控制

摘要

背景

注意缺陷经常伴随失语症的语言障碍。大多数关于失语症注意力的研究都集中在通过执行控制任务测量的选择性注意力上，例如颜色词 Stroop 或 Erickson 侧翼。尽管在神经典型的成年人中有充分的证据表明存在多种不同的注意力亚型。因此，记录在案的失语症患者 (PWA) 的注意力障碍与神经典型成人的文献之间存在脱节，表明多个注意力成分独立地调节个人与世界的互动。

目标

本研究旨在使用经过充分研究的注意力网络测试 (ANT) 来量化 PWA 和匹配控制中的三种注意力亚型（警报、定向和执行控制）。假设在两组中都会观察到警觉、定向和执行控制的显着效果；然而，与神经型对照相比，PWA 中的效果会降低。还预计在任一组中，警报、定向和执行控制不会相互关联。

方法和程序

22 个 PWA 以及 20 个年龄、性别和教育匹配的对照完成了 ANT。简而言之，ANT 由一个提示侧翼任务组成，其中提示提供有关何时何地呈现侧翼执行控制任务的信息。嵌入在 ANT 中的提示和侧翼目标的组合提供了警报、定向和执行控制的措施。当被提示任务将在何时何地进行时，参与者应更快、更准确地响应侧卫任务。

结果和结果

与之前的工作一致，对照组表现出警觉、定向和执行控制的显着效果。然而，我们仅在失语症组中发现显着的定向和执行控制作用。仅在定向注意力中发现了组间差异：对照组比失语组从定向提示中受益更多。此外，在对照组中，警报、定向和执行控制不相关，但在失语组中观察到定向和执行控制之间的关系。

结论

总体而言，我们的研究结果表明 PWA 和对照组之间的注意力不同，并且 ANT 可以提供更完整的失语症注意力图；这在描述失语症的注意力和语言之间的关系时可能特别重要。