Biomedical subjects

Elise Caccappolo-van Vliet

Publications and source records attributed to Elise Caccappolo-van Vliet.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Phonological dyslexia: a test case for reading models.

Following brain damage, skilled readers may encounter more severe problems in reading nonwords than familiar words, a type of deficit referred to as phonological dyslexia. We report on 2 individuals with Alzheimer's disease who show phonological dyslexia. Although highly accurate in reading familiar words aloud (even those with irregular spelling, such as sew), they were quite impaired in nonword reading. Both patients performed well in phonological tasks involving the repetition, identification, and manipulation of phonemes of orally presented words and nonwords. These results challenge the idea, proposed in the context of connectionist and evolutionary theories, that phonological dyslexia originates from a phonological deficit. However, the results are consistent with reading models, such as the dual-route model, that attribute phonological dyslexia to a deficit that selectively affects the reading mechanisms responsible for deriving the sounds of nonwords. According to these models, such a deficit is not necessarily accompanied by a more general phonological impairment.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Where do perseverations come from?

RB, a patient with probable Alzheimer's disease, makes continuous perseverations of single letters when writing (e.g. fruit-->fruuit), particularly on high frequency letters. An analysis of her errors reveals that her perseverations do not reflect letter substitutions or transpositions, nor do they suggest difficulty with geminates. No continuous perseverations were found in oral production, in graphic and simple motor tasks, and in oral spelling. RB's data do not support an attention deficit as the basis of her continuous perseverations. It is proposed that a deficit at the level of abstract letter representations is the source of RB's perseverations. The implications of this conclusion for accounts of perseveration and of spelling models are discussed.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Anxiety sensitivity and depression in multiple chemical sensitivities and asthma.

Patients with sensitivities to multiple chemicals report symptoms of cognitive dysfunction, respiratory distress, and mood disturbance. Lifetime and current psychiatric disorders, personality traits associated with symptom reporting, and tests of cognitive function were compared between 30 subjects with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), 19 asthmatics, and 31 healthy controls. Relative to asthmatics and controls, more MCS subjects met criteria for current depression and somatization disorder. MCS subjects and asthmatics scored significantly higher than controls on scales of chemical odor intolerance and anxiety sensitivity, both of which were significant predictors of physical symptoms. Few differences on objective neuropsychological tests were noted. However, MCS subjects with comorbid depression performed significantly worse on a verbal memory test relative to asthmatics but not to controls. Anxiety and depression are significant contributors to the physical and cognitive symptoms of MCS subjects.

Adult↗