Improvement of phonemic fluency following leftward prism adaptation

Abstract

Anatomo functional studies of prism adaptation (PA) have been shown to modulate a brain frontal-parieto-temporal network, increasing activation of this network in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the side of prism deviation. This effect raises the hypothesis that left prism adaptation, modulating frontal areas of the left hemisphere, could modify subjects’ performance on linguistic tasks that map on those areas. To test this hypothesis, 51 healthy subjects participated in experiments in which leftward or rightward prism adaptation were applied before the execution of a phonemic fluency task, i.e., a task with strict left hemispheric lateralization onto frontal areas. Results showed that leftward PA significantly increased the number of words produced whereas rightward PA did not significantly modulate phonemic fluency. The present findings document modulation of a language ability following prism adaptation. The results could have a huge clinical impact in neurological populations, opening new strategies of intervention for language and executive dysfunctions.

Overestimation of Phonological Judgments on the Right Side of Space

“…The recent report on the modulation of linguistic functions following left hemispheric activation via spatial adaptation procedures [18] also aligns with the model of interaction between spatial attention and language in the left hemisphere.…”

Prismatic adaptation coupled with cognitive training as novel treatment for developmental dyslexia: a randomized controlled trial

“…This is further supported by the evidence that in both patients with neglect as well as in healthy individuals, different lines of evidence support that PA enhances visual search abilities 54 , orienting of attention 55 – 57 , and spatial/temporal representations of stimuli 58 – 60 . More specifically, rightward-deviating lenses have shown to strengthen the activation of brain attentional networks 61 – 63 , while leftward-deviating lenses to improve phonological skills 64 . Moreover, unlike other complex visual stimulation techniques requiring extended exposure, adaptation to prisms quickly develops over the course of a 5-min simple pointing session 65 , 66 , thus ensuring good affordability and tolerability.…”

From real to virtual prism adaptation therapy: a systematic review on benefits and challenges of a new potential rehabilitation approach

“…Several studies have reported the beneficial effects of PA on various populations including healthy individuals ( Bonaventura et al, 2020 ; Turriziani et al, 2021 ; Magnani et al, 2022 ), psychiatric populations ( Magnani et al, 2022 ), and neurological populations, particularly those suffering from USN ( Shiraishi et al, 2008 ; Serino et al, 2009 ) characterized by an improvement in daily activities such as reading, writing, and wheelchair navigation ( Dijkerman et al, 2003 ; Angeli et al, 2004a , b ; Rode et al, 2006 ; Jacquin-Courtois et al, 2008 ; Watanabe and Amimoto, 2010 ). Furthermore, PA based-rehabilitation has been shown to reduce deficits in various domains, including neglect ( Rossetti et al, 1998 ; Làdavas et al, 2001 ; Dijkerman et al, 2003 ; Maravita et al, 2003 ; Jacquin-Courtois et al, 2010 ), visuospatial ( Farnè, 2002 ) and postural deficits ( Tilikete et al, 2001 ; Hugues et al, 2015 ).…”