Recent studies have shown that action observation treatment without concomitant verbal cue has a positive impact on the recovery of verb retrieval deficits in aphasic patients. In agreement with an embodied cognition viewpoint, a hypothesis has been advanced that gestures and language form a single communication system and words whose retrieval is facilitated by gestures are semantically represented through sensory-motor features. However, it is still an open question as to what extent this treatment approach works. Results from the recovery of motor deficits have suggested that action observation promotes motor recovery only for actions that are part of the motor repertoire of the observer. The aim of the present experiment was to further investigate the role of action observation treatment in verb recovery. In particular, we contrasted the effects induced by observing human actions (e.g. dancing, kicking, pointing, eating) versus non human actions (e.g. barking, printing). Seven chronic aphasic patients with a selective deficit in verb retrieval underwent an intensive rehabilitation training that included five daily sessions over two consecutive weeks. Each subject was asked to carefully observe 115 video-clips of actions, one at a time and, after observing them, they had to produce the corresponding verb. Two groups of actions were randomly presented: humans versus nonhuman actions. In all patients, significant improvement in verb retrieval was found only by observing video-clips of human actions. Moreover, follow-up testing revealed long-term verb recovery that was still present two months after the two treatments had ended. In support of the multimodal concept representation's proposal, we suggest that just the observation of actions pertaining to the human motor repertoire is an effective rehabilitation approach for verb recovery.
References
[1]
Hanlon RE, Brown JW, Gerstman LJ (1990) Enhancement of naming in nonfluent aphasia through gesture. Brain Lang 38: 298–314.
[2]
Richards K, Singletary F, Koehler S, Crosson B, Rothi LJG (2002) Treatment of nonfluent aphasia through the pairing of a non-symbolic movement sequence and naming. J Rehabil Res Dev 39: 7–16.
[3]
Pashek GV (1998) Gestural facilitation of noun and verb retrieval in aphasia: A case study. Brain Lang 65: 177–180.
[4]
PasheK GV (1997) A case study of gesturally cued naming in aphasia: dominant versus nondominant hand training. J Comm Dis 30: 349–366.
[5]
Richards K, Singletary F, Rothi LJG, Koehler S, Crosson B (2002) Activation of intentional mechanisms through utilization of nonsymbolic movements in aphasia rehabilitation. J Rehabil Res Dev 39(4): 7–16.
[6]
Raimer AM, Singletary F, Rodriquez A, Ciampitti M, Heilman KM, et al. (2006) Effects of gesture + verbal treatment for noun and verb retrieval in aphasia. J Int Neuropsych Soc 12: 867–882.
[7]
Rodriquez A, Raimer AM, Rothi LJG (2006) Effects of gestural + verbal and semantic-phonologic treatments for verb retrieval in aphasia. Aphasiology 20: 286–297.
[8]
Rose M, Douglas J, Matyas T (2011) The comparative effectiveness of gesture and verbal treatments for specific phonologic naming impairment. Aphasiology 16: 1001–1030.
[9]
Hadar U, Wenkert-Olenik D, Krauss RM, Soroker N (1998) Gesture and the processing of speech: Neuropsychological evidence. Brain Lang 62: 107–26.
[10]
Krauss RM, Hadar U (1999) The role of speech related-arm/hand gestures in word retrieval. In R. Campbell, & L. Messing (Eds), Gesture, speech, and sign (93-116). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[11]
Krauss RM, Chen Y, Gottesman RF (2000) Lexical gestures and lexical access: a process model. In D. McNeill (Ed), Language and gesture. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Gallese V, Lakoff G (2005) The Brain's concepts: the role of the Sensory-motor system in conceptual knowledge. Cogn Neuropsychol 22(3): 455–79.
[14]
Martin A, Wiggs CL, Ungerleider LG, Haxby JV (2000) Category specificity and the brain: the sensory/motor model of semantic representations of objects. In M.S. Gazzaniga (Ed), The new cognitive neurosciences, second Edition (1023–1036). Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press.
[15]
Marangolo P, Bonifazi S, Tomaiuolo F, Craighero L, Coccia M, et al. (2010) Improving Language without words: first evidence from aphasia. Neuropsychologia 48: 3824–33.
[16]
Binkofski F, Buccino G (2006) The role of ventral premotor cortex in action execution and action understanding. J Physiol-Paris 99: 396–405.
[17]
Fadiga L, Craighero L, Buccino G, Rizzolatti G (2002) Speech listening specifically modulates the excitability of tongue muscles: A TMS study. Eur J Neurosci 15: 399–402.
[18]
Hauk O, Pulvermuller F (2004) Neurophysiological distinction of Action Words in the Fronto-Central Cortex. Hum Brain Mapp 21: 191–201.
[19]
Pulvermuller F, Hauk O, Nikulin VV, Ilmoniemi RJ (2005) Functional links between motor and language systems. Eur J Neurosci 21: 793–797.
[20]
Rizzolatti G, Fabbri-Destro M, Cattaneo L (2009) Mirror neurons and their clinical relevance. Nat Clin Pract Neuro 5: 24–34.
[21]
Franceschini M, Agosti M, Cantagallo A, Sale P, Mancuso , et al. (2010) Mirror neurons: action observation treatment as a tool in stroke rehabilitation. Eur J Phys Rehab Med 46: 517–23.
[22]
Ertelt D, Small S, Solodkin A, Dettmers C, McNamara A, et al. (2007) Action observation has a positive impact on rehabilitation of motor deficits after stroke. Neuroimage 36: 164–173.
[23]
Buccino G, Gatti R, Giusti MC, Negrotti A, Rossi A, et al. (2011) Action observation treatment improves autonomy in daily activities in Parkinson's disease patients: Results from a pilot study. Mov Disord 15: 1963–64.
[24]
Bellelli G, Buccino G, Bernardini B, Padovani A, Trabucchi M (2010) Action observation treatment improves recovery of postsurgical orthopedic patients: evidence for a top-down effect? Arch Phys Med Rehab 91: 1489–94.
[25]
Buccino G, Lui F, Canessa N, Patteri I, Lagravinese G, et al. (2004) Neural circuits involved in the recognition of actions performed by nonconspecifics: An FMRI study. J Cognitive Neurosci 16: 114–126.
[26]
Calvo-Merino B, Glaser DE, Grezes J, Passingham RE, Haggard P (2005) Action observation and acquired motor skills: An FMRI study with expert dancers. Cereb Cortex 15: 1243–1249.
[27]
Cross ES, Hamilton AF, Kraemer DJ, Kelley WM, Grafton ST (2009a) Dissociable substrates for body motion and physical experience in the human action observation network. Eur J Neurosci 30: 1383–1392.
[28]
Cross ES, Kraemer DJ, Hamilton AF, Kelley WM, Grafton ST (2009b) Sensitivity of the action observation network to physical and observational learning. Cereb Cortex 19: 315–326.
[29]
Tai YF, Scherfler C, Brooks DJ, Sawamoto N, Castiello U (2004) The human premotor cortex is ‘mirror’ only for biological actions. Curr Biol 14: 117–120.
[30]
Shimada S (2010) Deactivation in the sensorimotor area during observation of a human agent performing robotic actions. Brain Cognition 72: 394–399.
[31]
Chaminade T, Zecca M, Blakemore SJ, Takanishi A, Frith CD, et al. (2010) Brain response to a humanoid robot in areas implicated in the perception of human emotional gestures. PLoS One 21: e11577.
[32]
Miura N, Sugiura M, Takahashi M, Sassa Y, Miyamoto A, et al. (2010) Effect of motion smoothness on brain activity while observing a dance: An fMRI study using a humanoid robot. Soc Neurosci 5: 40–58.
[33]
Odfield RC (1971) The Assessment and Analysis of Handedness: The Edinburgh Inventory. Neuropsychologia 9: 97–113.
[34]
De Renzi E, Faglioni P (1978) Normative data and screening power of a shortened version of Token Test. Cortex 14: 41–49.
[35]
Miceli G, Laudanna A, Burani C, Capasso R (1994) Batteria per l'analisi dei deficit afasici. BADA. Cepsag. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Policlinico Gemelli.
[36]
De Renzi E, Motti F, Nichelli P (1980) Imitating gestures. A quantitative approach to ideomotor apraxia. Arch Neurol 37: 6–10.
[37]
Della Sala S, Spinnler H, Venneri A (2005) Walking difficulties in patients with Alzheimer's disease might originate from gait apraxia. J Neurol Neurosur Ps 75: 196–201.
[38]
Capitani E, Laiacona M, Mahon B, Caramazza A (2003) What are the facts of semantic category-specific deficits? A critical review of the clinical evidence. Cog Neuropsychol 20: 213–61.
[39]
Moore JL, Roth EJ, Killian C, Hornby TG (2010) Locomotor training improves daily stepping activity and gait efficiency in individuals post-stroke who have reached a “plateau” in recovery. Stroke 41: 129–35.
[40]
Hornby TG, Straube DS, Kinnaird CR, Holleran CL, Echaur AJ (2011) Importance of specificity, amount and intensity of locomotor training to improve ambulatory function in patients poststroke. Top Stroke Rehabil 18: 293–307.
[41]
Bhogal SK, Teasell R, Speechley M, Albert ML (2003) Intensity of Aphasia Therapy, Impact on Recovery* Aphasia Therapy Works! Stroke 34: 987–993.
