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Biomedical subjects

B E Murdoch

Publications and source records attributed to B E Murdoch.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Speech and language skills in children with early treated phenylketonuria.

The speech and language skills of 29 children with early treated phenylketonuria (PKU) were reported. The performances of two experimental groups that differed in language development level on standardized speech/language tests were compared with the performances of appropriate control groups matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic level. No significant differences were found on speech and/or language measures between either of the two experimental groups and their respective controls. Examination of individual scores, however, did reveal linguistic impairment in a small number of persons with PKU. No pattern of linguistic deficit was found nor were there any consistent relations between individual speech/language scores, cognitive abilities, or dietary control ratings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Semantic abilities in dementia of the Alzheimer type. 1. Lexical semantics.

The lexical semantic abilities of 18 Alzheimer patients were investigated using confrontation naming tasks (including both visual and tactile naming tests) and compared to those of a group of institutionalized, nonneurologically impaired control subjects matched for age, sex, and educational level. The Alzheimer patients produced a greater number of naming errors than the control subjects. The errors made by subjects during the naming tasks were analyzed according to a set of 16 error response types. The Alzheimer patients' response patterns suggest that they do recognize objects which they are unable to name and are able to identify the semantic class to which the target belongs, but cannot provide the lexeme corresponding to the correct individual class member. The results support a semantic network disruption rather than a visual perceptual deficit as the basis of the naming disturbance observed in Alzheimer patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Semantic abilities in dementia of the Alzheimer type. II. Grammatical semantics.

The grammatical semantic abilities of 18 Alzheimer patients were investigated using picture description tasks and compared to those of a group of institutionalized, nonneurologically impaired control subjects matched for age, sex, and educational level. During picture description, Alzheimer patients showed that they were able to provide as much information about the target picture as control subjects, but were less concise in their verbal representation of the information. The lack of conciseness was reflected in the DAT patients requiring more time and more syllables to communicate a similar quantity of information than the control subjects. The appropriateness of using a picture description task which involves a perceptual step-by-step account of unrelated events to assess sentential semantics and the conveying of information at a conceptual level is discussed.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1989

Respiratory function in Parkinson's subjects exhibiting a perceptible speech deficit: a kinematic and spirometric analysis.

The respiratory abilities of a group of 19 speech-disordered subjects with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were assessed using both spirometric and kinematic techniques and compared to those of a group of 19 nonneurologically impaired controls matched for age and sex. Results of the spirometric assessment showed that only a minority of the Parkinson's subjects had lung volumes and capacities outside normal limits. Consequently in the majority of cases, the speech disorder could not be related to any abnormality in lung function determined spirometrically. Chest wall dynamics during both conversation and reading were essentially normal in all cases. Approximately half of the Parkinson's subjects, however, exhibited irregularities in their chest wall movements while performing vowel prolongation and syllable repetition tasks. The same irregularities were not present in the chest wall movements exhibited by the control subjects, suggesting that their presence was in some way related to the Parkinson's disease. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of Parkinson's disease on neuromuscular function.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Linguistic status subsequent to childhood immersion injury.

The linguistic abilities of two groups of children who had been involved in immersion incidents are reported--one group at 12 months after the immersion incident (n = 25), and the second group at five years after the immersion incident (n = 9). The performances of the two experimental groups on standardized language tests were compared with the performances of appropriate control groups that were matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. The speech and language skills of the 12-months post-immersion group and the matched control group were assessed by means of the sequenced inventory of communication development. Subjects who were assessed 12 months after the immersion injury scored significantly lower results than did control subjects on receptive and expressive language ages that were calculated as percentages of the chronological age. No differences in language scores were evident between the subjects who were at five years after the immersion incident and their control subjects as assessed by the test of language development--primary. The language abilities of the victims of an immersion incident were correlated with their neurological status at presentation to hospital. The results suggest a need to monitor the linguistic development of all children who present initially in a coma after an immersion incident. The need for a longitudinal study of the linguistic abilities of these children is indicated.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1987

Aphasia following right thalamic hemorrhage in a dextral.

A 74-year-old, right-handed woman with a right thalamic hemorrhage and aphasia is described. Sequential neurologic examinations and aphasia testing were carried out during a 1-year period and the results are reported. The patient exhibited a language deficit resembling a transcortical aphasia in the acute stage. Reduced spontaneous speech, fading voice volume, fluent verbal output with paraphasia, anomia, and a mild comprehension difficulty were present. Repetition was good. At 1 year postonset, the primary language problem exhibited by the patient was in object naming, all other components of the original language deficit having shown good recovery. This is the first reported case of right thalamic involvement in speech/language in the absence of personal and familial sinistrality.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Language disorders in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

The language profile of a group of 18 Alzheimer patients is documented and their performance on a standard aphasia test battery compared to a group of institutionalized, nonneurologically impaired control subjects matched for age, sex, and educational level. The Alzheimer patients scored significantly lower than the controls in the areas of verbal expression, auditory comprehension, repetition, reading, and writing. Articulation abilities were the same in each group. A language deficit was evident in all Alzheimer patients. The language disorder exhibited resembled a transcortical sensory aphasia. Syntax and phonology remained relatively intact but semantic abilities were impaired. The results support the inclusion of a language deficit as a diagnostic criterion of Alzheimer's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Acute computerized tomographic scans: their value in the localization of lesions and as prognostic indicators in aphasia.

Twenty three patients with past or present evidence of aphasia following either stroke (n = 19) or head trauma (n = 4) were given the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination in order to classify their aphasia type and determine their language deficit at least three months postonset of their neurological disorder. The location and extent of brain lesions identified from computerized tomographic (C.T.) scans taken in the acute stage and, wherever possible, in the chronic stage (n = 7) were correlated with the type of aphasia. Lesions associated with global, Wernicke's, Broca's, conduction, and anomic aphasia are described and discussed in relation to the findings of previously reported clinico-C.T. scan correlation studies. The value of the acute stage C.T. scan as a predictor of long-term language deficits is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

alpha-Glucosidase activity in the reproductive tract of the ewe.

alpha-Glucosidase activity has been estimated in the tissues and rinsings of the reproductive tract of the ewe. There were peaks of activity in the oviducal mucosa at pH 4.0 and 5.7. In the endometrium, caruncles and cervical mucosa and pH optimum occurred from pH 4.0 to pH 5.7. A sharp peak in the activity in the vaginal mucosa occurred at pH 5.7. The only tissue in which changes in enzyme activity were consistently related to one endocrinological state of the ewe was the cervical mucosa. Cervical alpha-glucosidase activity was greater at oestrus than during the rest of the oestrous cycle, declined during early pregnancy, and increased in ovariectomized ewes following the injection of oestradiol-17 beta.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Real-time continuous visual biofeedback in the treatment of speech breathing disorders following childhood traumatic brain injury: report of one case.

The efficacy of traditional and physiological biofeedback methods for modifying abnormal speech breathing patterns was investigated in a child with persistent dysarthria following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). An A-B-A-B single-subject experimental research design was utilized to provide the subject with two exclusive periods of therapy for speech breathing, based on traditional therapy techniques and physiological biofeedback methods, respectively. Traditional therapy techniques included establishing optimal posture for speech breathing, explanation of the movement of the respiratory muscles, and a hierarchy of non-speech and speech tasks focusing on establishing an appropriate level of sub-glottal air pressure, and improving the subject's control of inhalation and exhalation. The biofeedback phase of therapy utilized variable inductance plethysmography (or Respitrace) to provide real-time, continuous visual biofeedback of ribcage circumference during breathing. As in traditional therapy, a hierarchy of non-speech and speech tasks were devised to improve the subject's control of his respiratory pattern. Throughout the project, the subject's respiratory support for speech was assessed both instrumentally and perceptually. Instrumental assessment included kinematic and spirometric measures, and perceptual assessment included the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment, Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech, and analysis of a speech sample. The results of the study demonstrated that real-time continuous visual biofeedback techniques for modifying speech breathing patterns were not only effective, but superior to the traditional therapy techniques for modifying abnormal speech breathing patterns in a child with persistent dysarthria following severe TBI. These results show that physiological biofeedback techniques are potentially useful clinical tools for the remediation of speech breathing impairment in the paediatric dysarthric population.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The resolution of lexical ambiguity with reference to context in dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

The present study investigated how a dementing illness such as Alzheimer's disease, might affect an individual's recourse to higher order contextual information in the access and integration of lexical material in on-line discourse comprehension. More specifically, the experiment investigated the priming of homophones in a discourse context, by use of a cross-modal lexical decision task, and compared the performances of a group of six subjects with mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) with those of a matched control group. The subjects listened to 2-sentence paragraphs and performed a lexical decision on visually presented targets that followed ambiguous prime words (or homophones) at two inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs): 330 and 1000 msec. When the target was a word, it was either an associate of the prime word, a probable inference suggested by the discourse, or an unrelated word. The control subjects primed both the discourse-appropriate and discourse-inappropriate associate of the homophone at short (330 msec) ISIs (but not an appropriate inference word), a finding which supports the exhaustive access model of ambiguity resolution. As the ISI was lengthened to 1000 msec, however, the discourse-appropriate inference word was primed, and reflects the operation of attention-dependent integrative strategies. The subjects with DAT primed both appropriate associates and inference words at the short ISI. At ISI of 1000 msec, the DAT subjects primed the appropriate associate and showed substantial inhibition priming of the inappropriate associate. These results point to disturbances in the selective automatic activation of lexical material, and in the conscious integration and elaboration of lexical material in ongoing discourse comprehension in persons with DAT.

Aged↗