New ways to analyze word generation performance in brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis of additional performance measures

Abstract

The potential of additional performance measures is not yet fully exhausted in patients with brain injury. The temporal measure of response latencies in particular is not adequately represented, though it may be a reliable measure especially for identifying subtle impairments. Unfortunately, there is no general consensus as of yet on which additional measures are best suited to characterizing word generation performance. Further research is needed to specify the additional parameters that are best qualified for identifying and characterizing impaired word generation performance.

Comparison of animal, action and phonemic fluency in aphasia

“…) and of a variety of neuropsychiatric diagnoses (reviewed in Thiele et al . ). Even mildly impaired PWA (WAB‐R AQ > 80) demonstrated diminished verbal fluency scores (table ), indicating the sensitivity of verbal fluency measures to the presence of mild aphasia.…”

“…In a meta‐analysis of verbal fluency measures, Thiele et al . () found that clustering and perseverations had larger effect sizes than other response analyses. Very little is known about these measures in PWA, except that, for animal fluency, PWA produce smaller cluster sizes, pause longer between clusters and produce fewer clusters than neurotypical adults (Bose et al .…”

“…The number and size of clusters (subcategories) reflects the integrity of semantic networks, the number of subcategory switches reflects executive strategic search processes, and the number of perseverative responses, reflects an inability to inhibit prior responses. In a meta-analysis of verbal fluency measures, Thiele et al (2016) found that clustering and perseverations had larger effect sizes than other response analyses. Very little is known about these measures in PWA, except that, for animal fluency, PWA produce smaller cluster sizes, pause longer between clusters and produce fewer clusters than neurotypical adults (Bose et al 2017, Kiran et al 2014.…”

“…Hence, these measures are sensitive to a wide range of neuropsychological aberrations including subtle communicative and cognitive changes in conditions such as mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mild cognitive impairment (reviewed by Thiele et al . ).…”

“…Successful verbal fluency performance relies on the integrity of semantic networks for word retrieval and cognitive control for effective search strategies. Hence, these measures are sensitive to a wide range of neuropsychological aberrations including subtle communicative and cognitive changes in conditions such as mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mild cognitive impairment (reviewed by Thiele et al 2016).…”