Research Projects by Evy Visch-Brink
by Marian Brady, Audrey Bowen, Andrew Elders, Ann Charlotte Laska, Brian Macwhinney, Evy Visch-Brink, Erin Godecke, Jon Godwin, Katerina Hilari, Linda Worrall, Simon Horton, and Tarja Kukkonen Background
Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke, but to date, we lack high quality data on r... more Background
Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke, but to date, we lack high quality data on recovery profiles, the individual and treatment characteristics that contribute to optimum recovery. The RELEASE study plans to use retrospective secondary analyses of aphasia research datasets to generate high quality data on the natural history of language recovery following stroke, the predictors of language recovery and the components of effective aphasia rehabilitation interventions.
Funding
RELEASE is funded by the National Institutes of Health Research (HS&DR - 14/04/22) for 2 years, and is supported by the activities of the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs: www.aphasiatrials.org).
It aims to bring together many (53 at the last count) sets of aphasia research data involving more than 3000 individual participants. By pooling these various sources of data we will create a large dataset from which we plan to address some key aphasia research questions.
Our research questions
• What are the components of aphasia therapy that best facilitate recovery after stroke?
• What is the natural history of recovery from aphasia (with and without access to therapy)?
• What are the individual (demographic and stroke related) factors that contribute to recovery from aphasia?
Papers by Evy Visch-Brink
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Oct 1, 2012
Trials, 2013
Background: Aphasia is a severely disabling condition occurring in 20 to 25% of stroke patients. ... more Background: Aphasia is a severely disabling condition occurring in 20 to 25% of stroke patients. Most patients with aphasia due to stroke receive speech and language therapy. Methodologically sound randomised controlled trials investigating the effect of specific interventions for patients with aphasia following stroke are scarce. The currently available evidence suggests that intensive speech and language therapy is beneficial for restoration of communication, but the optimal timing of treatment is as yet unclear. In the Rotterdam Aphasia Therapy Study-3 we aim to test the hypothesis that patients with aphasia due to stroke benefit more from early intensive cognitive-linguistic therapy than from deferred regular language therapy. Methods/design: In a single blinded, multicentre, randomised controlled trial, 150 patients with first ever aphasia due to stroke will be randomised within two weeks after stroke to either early intensive cognitive-linguistic therapy (Group A) or deferred regular therapy (Group B). Group A will start as soon as possible, at the latest two weeks after stroke, with a four week period of one hour a day treatment with cognitive-linguistic therapy. In Group B professional speech and language therapy is deferred for four weeks. After this period, patients will follow the conventional procedure of speech and language therapy. Participants will be tested with an extensive linguistic test battery at four weeks, three months and six months after inclusion. Primary outcome measure is the difference in score between the two treatment groups on the Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test, a measure of everyday verbal communication, four weeks after randomisation. Trial registration: This trial is registered in the Dutch Trial Register (www.trialregister.nl), NTR3271.
Assessment, Feb 17, 2023
The ScreeLing is a screening instrument developed to assess post-stroke aphasia, via the linguist... more The ScreeLing is a screening instrument developed to assess post-stroke aphasia, via the linguistic levels Syntax, Phonology, and Semantics. It could also be a useful test for the clinical subtypes of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), as specific and often selective disorders are expected. Its ability to differentiate between the clinical subtypes of FTD and AD is, however, still unknown. We investigated differences in ScreeLing total and subscores, linguistic-level disorders’ relationship with disease severity, and classification abilities, in patients with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD; n = 46), patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA; n = 105) (semantic variant primary progressive aphasia [svPPA], non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia [nfvPPA], and logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia [lvPPA], AD [ n = 20] and controls [ n = 35]). We examined group differences in ScreeLing total and subscores, and one-, two- or three-level linguistic disorders using one-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) or Quade’s rank ANCOVA. We used frequency analyses to obtain the occurrence of the linguistic-level disorders. We determined sensitivity and specificity by the area under the curve by receiver-operating characteristics analyses to investigate classification abilities. The total score was lower in patients (bvFTD: 63.8 ± 8.5, svPPA: 58.8 ± 11.3, nfvPPA: 63.5 ± 8.4, lvPPA: 61.7 ± 6.6, AD: 63.8 ± 5.5) than controls (71.3 ± 1.0) ( p < .001). Syntax subscores were lower in svPPA (19.4 ± 4.6; p < .001) and lvPPA (20.3 ± 3.2; p = .002) than controls (23.8 ± 0.4). Phonology subscores were lower in lvPPA (19.8 ± 2.6) than bvFTD (21.7 ± 2.8) ( p = .010). Semantics subscores were lowest in svPPA (17.8 ± 5.0; p < .002). A selective phonological disorder was most prevalent in lvPPA (34.9%). The higher the disease severity, the more linguistic-level disorders. The optimal cutoff for the total score was 70, and 23 for all three subscores. Good classification abilities were found for the Semantics (svPPA vs. bvFTD), Phonology (lvPPA vs. svPPA), and Syntax (nfvPPA vs. lvPPA) subscores. This easy to administer test gives information about language processing with the potential to improve differential diagnosis in memory clinics and in the future potentially also clinical trial planning.
Aphasiology, Apr 22, 2014
ABSTRACT Background: Aphasia due to stroke is often very severe immediately after onset. However,... more ABSTRACT Background: Aphasia due to stroke is often very severe immediately after onset. However, knowledge about the impact of severity on therapeutic potential in the first months is scarce. The optimal therapeutic approach for patients with severe aphasia is still subject to debate. Aims: To explore the recovery pattern of verbal communication in stroke patients with aphasia of varying degrees of severity receiving language therapy during the first 6 months poststroke. Methods & Procedures: We used data from our previous trial in which 80 patients with aphasia due to stroke were randomised within the first 3 weeks postonset for either cognitive-linguistic therapy (CLT) or communicative therapy. All patients were tested at baseline and at 3 and 6 months postaphasia onset. We formed three severity groups, based on baseline Amsterdam–Nijmegen Everyday Language Test scores. We used repeated measures ANOVA to compare test scores at baseline and at 3 and 6 months poststroke onset for each of the three severity groups, stratified for the two treatments. Outcomes & Results: Patients with severe or very severe aphasia improved substantially during follow-up, especially during the first 3 months poststroke. Improvement was less pronounced in the moderate to mild group. Although improvement did not differ significantly between the two treatment arms of the trial during the first 6 months poststroke, the very severe group seemed to benefit particularly from CLT (mean difference between treatments was 4.1 points; 95% CI: −4.0 to 12.2). Conclusions: Even in very severely aphasic patients, considerable improvement of functional communication is possible. These patients might benefit more from early initiated CLT than generally assumed. Hence, speech and language therapists should not refrain from applying CLT in the acute phase of rehabilitation of severe aphasia.
Stem-, spraak- en taalpathologie, Nov 27, 2013
We are very pleased to welcome you to the 14 th Science of Aphasia conference which is held in Br... more We are very pleased to welcome you to the 14 th Science of Aphasia conference which is held in Brussels, Belgium from September 20 th to September 25 th 2013. The Science of Aphasia conferences are intended to bring together senior and junior scientists working in the multidisciplinary field of the Neurocognition of Language and it focuses on both the typical and atypical aspects of neurocognition. The number of participants is restricted to about 120 in order to facilitate interaction between the delegates. The focus of this year's conference is on Cognition, language and their impairments. We wish you an intellectually stimulating conference and a most enjoyable stay in Brussels.
Stem-, spraak- en taalpathologie, 2005
Verbale semantische stoornissen komen frequent voor bij afatische patienten. De relatie tussen he... more Verbale semantische stoornissen komen frequent voor bij afatische patienten. De relatie tussen het woord en datgene waar het woord naar verwijst, is gestoord. Er zijn inadequate inhoudswoorden in de spontane taal en bij het benoemen, en er zijn problemen met het begrijpen van geschreven en gesproken woorden. Dit is een overzichtsartikel over het tot nu toe verrichte onderzoek op dit terrein. In de jaren '70 was de aandacht gericht op het onderscheiden van semantische en syntactische stoornissen. Ernstige verbale semantische stoornissen werden gekoppeld aan een afasie van Wernicke en een achter de fissura Sylvii gelegen lesie. Meer recent onderzoek toonde aan, dat deze relatie minder eenduidig was dan werd aangenomen. Psycholinguistisch onderzoek gaf aan dat een semantische stoornis vooral tot uiting komt in het afgrenzen van semantische velden. Binnen eenzelfde semantisch veld kunnen er echter dissociaties bestaan tussen het benoemen van afbeeldingen en het begrijpen van woorden. De bijdrage van de cognitieve neuropsychologie bestaat uit het onderscheiden van verbale en nonverbale semantische representaties met verschillende in- en outputkanalen: afbeeldingen, geschreven en gesproken woorden / handelen, schrijven en spreken. Een in dit artikel verwerkte opvatting is, dat de nonverbale en de verbale semantiek onafhankelijk van elkaar gestoord kunnen zijn. Het aantonen van semantische stoornissen bij afatische patienten is relevant in relatie tot therapie. Een op de semantiek gerichte therapie blijkt effectief te zijn.
Bohn Stafleu van Loghum eBooks, 1999
Het diagnosticeren van afasie heeft verschillende doelen: ten eerste het vaststellen van een afas... more Het diagnosticeren van afasie heeft verschillende doelen: ten eerste het vaststellen van een afasie, ten tweede het afgrenzen van de afasie van andere stoornissen die de communicatie beinvloeden, ten derde het nader typeren van de afasie met het oog op de revalidatie van de afasiepatient, en ten slotte het meten van voor– of achteruitgang. De wijze van diagnosticeren wordt uiteraard bepaald door het doel waarmee de diagnostiek wordt verricht.
Alzheimers & Dementia, Jul 1, 2018
P3-476 DESIGNING A CROSS-CULTURAL NAMING TEST FOR LOW-EDUCATED AND ILLITERATE IMMIGRANTS Sanne Fr... more P3-476 DESIGNING A CROSS-CULTURAL NAMING TEST FOR LOW-EDUCATED AND ILLITERATE IMMIGRANTS Sanne Franzen, Esther van den Berg, Evy G. Visch-Brink, Djaina Satoer, Rozemarijn L. van Bruchem-Visser, Marleen Harkes, Frank Jan de Jong, JanneM. Papma, Erasmus University Medical Center-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Erasmus University Medical Center-University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Erasmus University Medical Center-University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Maasstadziekenhuis, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Contact e-mail: [email protected]
Bohn Stafleu van Loghum eBooks, 2018
Fonologische Afasietherapie FIKS, 2018
markdownabstractCognitive performance is an important outcome measure in treatment of lowgrade gl... more markdownabstractCognitive performance is an important outcome measure in treatment of lowgrade gliomas (LGGs), since it is a crucial aspect of Quality of Life. LGGs are slow growing brain tumours infiltrating the central nervous system, often in the proximity of eloquent areas. During brain surgery, direct electrocortical stimulation is nowadays used to identify individual functional boundaries to prevent permanent neurological and/or cognitive damage. Previous studies have shown that LGG patients have pre-operative deficits in one or more cognitive domains, such as language, memory, attentional and executive functions which may even deteriorate after glioma surgery. Most studies claim that these impairments are transient and recover within 3 months. Our short follow-up at 3 months, however, still showed cognitive deterioration5 post surgery. Long term follow-up is necessary to gain more insight into the course of recovery.
Stem Spraak En Taalpathologie, Jun 21, 2014
In de behandeling van afasiepatiënten bestaan er grofweg twee stromingen: cognitieflinguïstische ... more In de behandeling van afasiepatiënten bestaan er grofweg twee stromingen: cognitieflinguïstische therapie (CLT) en communicatieve therapie. De Rotterdamse Afasie Therapie Studie-2 (RATS-2) wees uit dat beide therapiemethoden niet verschilden in het effect op de verbale communicatie, maar CLT had wel een groter effect dan communicatieve therapie op de woordvinding, gemeten met de woordvloeiendheid-en lettervloeiendheidtaken. Het doel van dit onderzoek is te onderzoeken of CLT effectief is voor het benoemen, gemeten met de Boston Naming Test (BNT). De scores op de BNT van 79 afasiepatiënten zijn geanalyseerd, drie weken, drie maanden en zes maanden post onset. Na een half jaar CLT (n=37) of communicatieve therapie (n=42), is het effect van de therapie op het benoemen van objecten onderzocht door de totaalscore op de BNT na opleidings-en leeftijdscorrectie te analyseren middels een multilevel analyse. Daarnaast is onderzocht of de scoringsmethode van Heesbeen en van Loon-Vervoorn (2001) sensitiever is voor het meten van woordvindingsproblemen via de BNT dan de internationaal gebruikte methode van Kaplan, Goodglass en Weintraub (1983). CLT bleek niet effectiever te zijn dan communicatieve therapie, wat betreft de BNT-resultaten. Wel laat de scoringsmethode van Heesbeen en van Loon-Vervoorn (2001) een groter verschil zien tussen de twee therapiegroepen dan de methode van Kaplan et al. (1983) ten gunste van CLT en deze methode blijkt dus een sensitiever meetinstrument te zijn. De afname van bepaalde foutsoorten kan niet toegeschreven worden aan het therapietype en de afasieernst is bij vrijwel alle analyses de verklarende factor van het herstel.
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Research Projects by Evy Visch-Brink
Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke, but to date, we lack high quality data on recovery profiles, the individual and treatment characteristics that contribute to optimum recovery. The RELEASE study plans to use retrospective secondary analyses of aphasia research datasets to generate high quality data on the natural history of language recovery following stroke, the predictors of language recovery and the components of effective aphasia rehabilitation interventions.
Funding
RELEASE is funded by the National Institutes of Health Research (HS&DR - 14/04/22) for 2 years, and is supported by the activities of the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs: www.aphasiatrials.org).
It aims to bring together many (53 at the last count) sets of aphasia research data involving more than 3000 individual participants. By pooling these various sources of data we will create a large dataset from which we plan to address some key aphasia research questions.
Our research questions
• What are the components of aphasia therapy that best facilitate recovery after stroke?
• What is the natural history of recovery from aphasia (with and without access to therapy)?
• What are the individual (demographic and stroke related) factors that contribute to recovery from aphasia?
Papers by Evy Visch-Brink
Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke, but to date, we lack high quality data on recovery profiles, the individual and treatment characteristics that contribute to optimum recovery. The RELEASE study plans to use retrospective secondary analyses of aphasia research datasets to generate high quality data on the natural history of language recovery following stroke, the predictors of language recovery and the components of effective aphasia rehabilitation interventions.
Funding
RELEASE is funded by the National Institutes of Health Research (HS&DR - 14/04/22) for 2 years, and is supported by the activities of the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (CATs: www.aphasiatrials.org).
It aims to bring together many (53 at the last count) sets of aphasia research data involving more than 3000 individual participants. By pooling these various sources of data we will create a large dataset from which we plan to address some key aphasia research questions.
Our research questions
• What are the components of aphasia therapy that best facilitate recovery after stroke?
• What is the natural history of recovery from aphasia (with and without access to therapy)?
• What are the individual (demographic and stroke related) factors that contribute to recovery from aphasia?